今年8月，13名美军在喀布尔哈米德·卡尔扎伊国际机场外发生的炸弹爆炸中丧生，众议院周一晚间通过了一项法案，追授他们国会金质奖章。
11名海军陆战队员、1名海军水兵和1名陆军士兵死于爆炸8月26日在机场附近被自杀式炸弹袭击者引爆。几名阿富汗人和18名美国军人也受伤。
杰森·明托/美国空军通过美联社，文件
2021年8月29日，在德尔多佛空军基地进行有尊严的转移之前，挂着国旗的转移箱排列在运输机内部。阵亡的军人是在支持阿富汗喀布尔的非战斗行动时丧生的。
该法案称:“美国军人超越了保护美国公民和我们盟友的职责范围，以确保他们在塔利班重新控制阿富汗时，在极其危险的情况下被带到安全的地方。”。
该奖章是国会对国家赞赏的最高表达，也是美国最高的平民奖项。
这一荣誉被授予不到200次。一些获奖者包括数学家凯瑟琳·约翰逊，小石城九号和全息摄影幸存者埃利·威塞尔。
密歇根州众议员丽莎·麦克莱恩在8月份发起了这项法案，以“确保我们向这些付出了最大牺牲的军人致敬。”
“他们为我们的国家及其盟友做出的牺牲永远不会被忘记，我对这项立法获得压倒性的两党支持感到鼓舞，这项立法有325个共同提案国。我敦促参议院尽快通过这项法案，这样我们就可以适当地纪念这些牺牲的军人，”她告诉美国广播公司新闻。
一致投票是罕见的两党胜利。既然该法案已经获得众议院通过，它将被提交给参议院。
一旦法案签署成为法律，奖章将被移交给史密森学会并在那里展示。
这些部队的名字是:达林·泰勒·胡佛中士、约翰·罗萨里奥·皮查多中士、尼科尔·吉中士、亨特·洛佩斯下士、达根·佩吉下士、亨贝托·桑切斯下士、李尚义·埃斯皮诺萨下士、兰斯·贾里德·施密茨下士、兰斯·赖利·麦科勒姆下士、兰斯·迪伦·梅罗拉下士、兰斯·卡里姆·尼古伊下士、万塔尔曼·马克斯顿·索维亚克上尉和瑞安·克纳苏斯中士。
House passes bill to give Congressional Gold Medal to 13 US service members killed in Afghanistan
After 13 U.S. troops were killed in an August bomb blast outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport Kabul in August, the House passed a bill Monday evening to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to them.
Eleven Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier died from theblastset off by a suicide bomber near the airport on Aug. 26. Several Afghans and 18 U.S. service members were also injured.
"The American servicemembers went above and beyond the call of duty to protect citizens of the United States and our allies to ensure they are brought to safety in an extremely dangerous situation as the Taliban regained control over Afghanistan," the legislation says.
The medal is Congress' highest expression of national appreciation and is the highest civilian award in the United States.
The honor has been bestowed fewer than 200 times. Some recipients include mathematician Katherine Johnson, The Little Rock Nine and Holocasut survivor Elie Wiesel.
Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., sponsored the bill in August to "make sure we honor these servicemembers who paid the ultimate sacrifice."
"Their sacrifice for our country and its allies will never be forgotten and I'm encouraged by the overwhelming bipartisan support for this legislation, which has 325 cosponsors. I urge the Senate to quickly pass this bill so we can properly honor these fallen servicemembers," she told ABC News.
The unanimous vote was a rare bipartisan triumph. Now that the bill has cleared the House, it will head to the Senate.
Once the bill is signed into law, the medal will be handed over to the Smithsonian Institution and displayed there.
The names of the troops are: Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, Sgt. Nicole Gee, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Cpl. Daegan Page, Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, Cpl. David Lee Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola, Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, Hospitalman Maxton Soviak and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss.
