Gold Star father says prior Afghanistan review smelled 'like a cover-up' as new look examines millions of docs
Pentagon panel says it has completed interviews and is preparing Abbey Gate bombing findings 'in the coming months'
By Jasmine Baehr Fox News
Published April 17, 2026 9:41pm EDT
Gold Star father Darin Hoover says a new Pentagon review of the deadly Abbey Gate bombing finally feels different after years of what he described as "crickets" from the Biden administration — but he is still asking whether critical information was deliberately kept from military families and the public.
Hoover, whose son, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin "Taylor" Hoover, was among the 13 U.S. service members killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing during the Afghanistan withdrawal, told Fox News Digital that for years families got little more than a "canned" response.
"For the first three-and-a-half years… we weren’t getting anything from the prior administration. It was crickets," Hoover said. "The only thing we all got was a canned letter saying how sorry they were. There was not anything individual mentioned about any of the kids."
Former President Joe Biden checked his watch during the dignified transfer of U.S. service members lost at Abbey Gate, which included 11 Marines, one Army soldier and one Navy sailor.
His frustration comes as the Pentagon’s Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel says it has completed the substantive phase of interviews with senior military and civilian leaders, and is now preparing findings and recommendations for a final report expected "in the coming months."
The panel reviewed more than nine million documents, according to chairman Sean Parnell. By contrast, a prior Pentagon review examined roughly 3,000 documents.
Parnell said the earlier review was "significantly narrower in scope" and "over-classified at the highest levels, which effectively kept the most critical and relevant information from public scrutiny."
That contrast is exactly what has Hoover demanding answers.
"The 3,000 pages… doesn’t even make a ripple," Hoover said. "Now we’ve got over a million pages being reviewed. Why was everything so top-secret that none of us could see it? They owe us the answers."
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gold-star-father-says-prior-afghanistan-review-smelled-like-cover-new-look-examines-millions-docs
