A Marine injured by a suicide bomb outside Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport tended to other Marines and provided cover in the wake of the attack. Later that night, he sat in his room digging shrapnel out of his own hip. He had avoided medics and his own platoon sergeant at the scene of the explosion, afraid he’d be ordered to leave the scene if they saw the severity of his wound.
On Wednesday, Lance Cpl. Jordan Houston was one of three Marines who received awards for their actions at Abbey Gate following the attack outside of the Kabul airport five years ago. The attack killed 13 U.S. service members and approximately 170 Afghans.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth awarded the Bronze Star Medal with “V” device for valor to Houston and Gunny Sgt. Jonathan Eby. Hegseth awarded Cpl. Michael Gretzon the Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal with “V” device.
All three served in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines during the operation when the blast went off. The unit had arrived in Kabul on Aug. 14, 2021, to do security at the airport for evacuating American citizens and Afghan allies.
Speaking at the ceremony, Marine Corps Commandant Eric Smith described how dozens of Marines were immediately injured. Shrapnel from the blast, he said, punctured tear gas canisters Marines carried, filling the blast zone with gas as the Marines began to rally.
“Each of today’s awardees demonstrated courage under extreme duress, under extreme personal risk. They remain committed to the mission and selflessly devoted to one another,” Smith said. “I won’t say ‘congratulations’ because it’s an award no one ever wants to get, but damn well earned.”
Just 10 meters from explosion
Houston was conducting crowd control at Abbey Gate, Smith said, when the blast went off just 10 meters from him, knocking him unconscious. He awoke after the blast, “maintained his exposed position to cover his fellow Marines,” and continued to treat others nearby who were more “grievously wounded than he was,” Smith said.
“He continued assisting with casualties, all the while concealing his own wounds for fear of being taken out of the fight. I don’t know where we find such men, but I’m not sure we deserve them,” Smith said. “Later that night, he quietly removed the shrapnel himself before receiving treatment from medical personnel, digging the shrapnel out of his own body.”
Gretzon was also assisting with crowd control when the bomb went off. He was injured by shrapnel and applied a tourniquet to his own arm.
“Despite his injuries, Lance Cpl. Gretzon remained at his position until he was ordered to receive care,” Smith said. “They once again had to be ordered to stand down.”
Nearby medical personnel bandaged his arm. Gretzon returned to help his squad until his platoon sergeant, Eby, ordered him to a casualty collection point.
Eby, who was running refugee screening, was also nearby when the blast went off.
“As soon as he regained his footing, he continuously exposed himself to scan for threats and reestablish a security perimeter,” Smith said. “With security already set, he began providing life-saving aid to other Marines.”
Eby began directing casualty evacuations while supervising security at Abbey Gate.
The Abbey Gate attack came as U.S. personnel gathered outside of the airport with American citizens and Afghans desperate to leave the country after the Taliban captured Kabul on Aug. 15. Over a two-week, round-the-clock airlift, more than 124,000 Americans, Afghans and other allies were evacuated.
The Marine battalion had spent months training for the mission, and one hospital corpsman attached to the battalion said in a Defense Department press release that troops were told to prepare for night combat once they landed.
In the years following the U.S. withdrawal and Abbey Gate attack, dozens of service members received awards such as Bronze Stars, Distinguished Flying Crosses, Air Medals and Presidential Unit Citations. In April, seven other Marines received upgrades to awards with a “V” device.
In July 2021, U.S. troops had withdrew from Bagram Airfield the only U.S.-controlled airport in the country at Kabul. A subsequent Defense Department investigation determined that Marines guarding the airport’s Abbey Gate were in an incredibly vulnerable position and one Marine general officer wanted to close the gate a day before the attack.
On Wednesday, Hegseth said that a Pentagon panel reviewing the Afghanistan withdrawal would deliver a full report by the end of 2026.
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