Tyler Vargas-Andrews

“We were lacking in the support. We were giving [the refugees] our food. We were giving them our water. There was no tent set up to process refugees,”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said 2026-08-29 · reported 2026-08-31

Vargas-Andrews described Marines giving refugees their own food and water due to lack of support during the Afghanistan evacuation.

“And that decision was never made.”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said 2026-08-29 · reported 2026-08-31

Vargas-Andrews said the decision to better prepare for the evacuation was never made.

“decades of action and inaction and just poor decision-making.”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said 2026-08-29 · reported 2026-08-31

Vargas-Andrews attributed the failures to multiple administrations, the State Department, and other organizations rather than a single person or group.

“It's a good step in the right direction, is what I will say. I think that the real important things still haven't happened, but we hope it does and we pray that it does.,”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said 2026-08-29 · reported 2026-08-31

Vargas-Andrews welcomed recent recognition by the Department of War of Marines who served during the evacuation but said real accountability has not yet happened.

“Everything we were doing while we were there was like figuring it out on the go,”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said 2026-08-29 · reported 2026-08-31

Vargas-Andrews said Marines at Hamid Karzai International Airport had to figure out the evacuation on the go despite inadequate preparation.

“It was just hundreds of thousands of people. And if I filled up the whole room with sand, that's how many people it felt like [were] there.”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said 2026-08-29 · reported 2026-08-31

Vargas-Andrews compared the overwhelming crowd at the airport to a scene from the movie 'World War Z.'

“We were just put in a very, very precarious situation that could have been better prepared for over the weeks and months prior leading up to that,”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said 2026-08-29 · reported 2026-08-31

Vargas-Andrews said Marines were placed in a precarious situation that could have been better prepared for in the weeks and months before the evacuation.

“My whole abdomen, you know, had been ripped open. I took 150 ball bearings into my body, lost my left kidney. I lost 157 centimeters, large and small intestine.”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Vargas-Andrews described the severe injuries he sustained in the suicide bombing at Kabul's Abbey Gate.

“[This] mentally wounded the entirety of the 'GWOT' [Global War on Terrorism] generation.”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Vargas-Andrews spoke about the psychological impact of the Kabul attack on the Global War on Terrorism generation.

“Staff Sergeant Darren 'Taylor' Hoover was killed next to me,”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Vargas-Andrews, who lost his legs in the Abbey Gate explosion, described the moment a fellow Marine was killed beside him.

“I knew it was a place that I could hopefully go and become a man and help those less fortunate. And still to this day, enlisting in the Marine Corps is the best decision I've ever made in my life.”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Vargas-Andrews explained his motivations for enlisting and said it was the best decision he ever made.

“We'll never be forgotten,”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Vargas-Andrews vowed that he and his fellow soldiers impacted by the Kabul attack would never let the memory of the day fade away.

“I remember going up to my mom's room, and I was, like, 'Hey, I'm going to join the Marine Corps.'”

Tyler Vargas-Andrews · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-26

Vargas-Andrews recalled the moment he told his mother he was going to join the Marine Corps.