President Donald Trump on Monday signed a proclamation in the Oval Office declaring 26 Aug. 2025 a national day of remembrance for the 13 U.S. service members killed in the Abbey Gate suicide bombing during the chaotic 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan. The president was joined by Gold Star families, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for the signing. The Abbey Gate attack, carried out on 26 Aug. 2021 outside Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, killed 11 Marines, a Navy corpsman and an Army staff sergeant, wounded about 45 other U.S. personnel and injured more than 160 Afghan civilians. It was the deadliest day for U.S. forces in a decade and came amid the final U.S. troop withdrawal. Trump’s proclamation honors the fallen and those wounded, pledging that “we will never forget you; we will never forsake you.” Vance called the ceremony a “rectification of a wrong,” saying the victims had never been formally acknowledged by the previous administration. Hegseth said the Pentagon is conducting a deeper review of the decisions surrounding the withdrawal, with findings expected by mid-2026.