Abbey Gate heroes awarded upgraded Bronze Star medals for Kabul bravery.
Three Marines who stood at Abbey Gate during the August 2021 Kabul airport attack—Lance Cpl. Jordan Houston, Gunny Sgt. Jonathan Eby, and Cpl. Michael Gretzon—received upgraded valor awards: Bronze Star Medals with a ‘V’ for Houston and Eby, and a Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a ‘V’ for Gretzon. Houston treated others and dug shrapnel from his own hip, Gretzon applied a tourniquet and stayed at his post, and Eby directed casualty evacuations and security. The ceremony, led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, comes as the Kabul evacuation (about 124,000 people over two weeks) is reviewed, with a Pentagon panel expected to report by 2026.