Jim said he does not blame any specific administration for the present situation in Afghanistan. But he does believe the Biden administration has botched the withdrawal.

“I’ve lost my son, but there are still Marines over there,” he said. “We gave them everything they need, and we are pinned down at the airport. I am scared shitless to see what’s going to happen next, and what’s going to come our way.”

What angers him most, Jim said, was the lack of immediate retaliation for his son and the other service members’ deaths. He described how he felt seeing the Taliban claim the Afghan presidential palace, thinking the best action was to “bomb the damn thing.”

“There is peace through strength,” he said. “We know where they are, and that is so frustrating. We’re sitting on our hands. That one is hard for me to swallow today.”