WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Monday marked three years since the suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. servicemembers during the Afghanistan War withdrawal.
Former president Donald Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery for a wreath laying ceremony.
“We had a celebration of some great people,” Trump said.
Trump said the fallen troops should still be alive today.
“It was a bloodbath,” he said of the scene at Kabul airport. “It was a horrible thing… the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country.”
Trump criticized how the Biden administration handled the withdrawal three years ago. He blamed his opponent in the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We have a fascist person running who is incompetent,” Trump said.
Harris said in a statement that President Joe Biden “made the courageous and right decision to end America’s longest war.”
Harris and the president both recognized each of the 13 servicemembers Monday, noting some were even born the same year the war in Afghanistan started.
“In their memory, let us re-dedicate ourselves to the cause they gave their lives for: to protect and defend the greatest democracy on Earth, the United States of America,” Harris said in a statement.
The president and vice president also remembered the more than 2,000 American troops killed over the course of the war, thanking them and their families for making the ultimate sacrifice.
“They were sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, spouses and friends,” President Biden said in a statement. “No matter how much time passes, the pain of their loss will remain real and raw. And so will the pride we feel in their service.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also marked the day, saying in a statement, “We will never forget these 13 brave Americans ;11 Marines, a soldier, and a sailor who lost their lives defending their teammates and helping to save tens of thousands of Afghans seeking freedom and the opportunity for a better life.”
More than 100 Afghans also died in the attack.