[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 27, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Tribute to Lieutenant Kristen Trindle

  Madam President, America's retreat from Afghanistan was a dark 
chapter for our country. We all remember the terrible scenes of 
desperate people clinging to the undersides of planes, of Taliban thugs 
beating innocent people, and most tragically of all, the 13 flag-draped 
remains of brave American service men and women killed by an ISIS 
suicide bomb. We will never forget those tragic events. They are grim 
reminders about the wages of weakness in Washington.
  But for every act of cowardice in Washington, for every act of evil 
by our enemies, there was an act of even greater bravery by our troops. 
As they always do, America's heroes redeem even the most forlorn 
missions through extraordinary action. I would like to recognize one of 
our Nation's heroes today.
  Navy LT Kristen Trindle is a member of my team in the Senate, where 
she does excellent work as my deputy national security adviser, after 
starting 6 years ago as my intern.
  I know that Lieutenant Trindle would be too humble to sit beside me 
today if she had any idea about what I am going to say. But last year 
she took a leave of absence from her Senate duties to deploy with the 
Navy Reserves. That deployment took her to Kabul, the eye of the storm.
  Lieutenant Trindle served as aide-de-camp to the general in charge of 
evacuation. Their mission: to save as many Americans and Afghan allies 
as possible from the advancing Taliban. Lieutenant Trindle immediately 
proved her worth. For weeks, she was everywhere at once, creating on-
the-fly methods to screen evacuees, coordinating evacuation efforts 
with counterparts from four countries--even helping orphans in the 
chaos of the Kabul airport.
  Those actions alone would have been worthy of commendation, but 
Lieutenant Trindle went above and beyond the call of duty. She 
volunteered to leave the relative safety of headquarters to lead a 
clandestine extraction team charged with finding and recovering 
Americans and Afghan allies. These dangerous rescue missions often 
required Lieutenant Trindle to go outside the wire to rescue highly 
vulnerable evacuees. She executed these missions in the dead of night, 
despite confirmed threats, within sight of the enemy.
  Armed Taliban fighters were regularly within 100 yards of her 
position, beating and whipping civilians and menacing Americans. 
Lieutenant Trindle was unfazed by this danger. She carried on with her 
mission.
  Lieutenant Trindle and her team rescued an astounding 961 Americans 
and Afghan allies. That group included young kids, pregnant women, 
injured civilians, as well as high-ranking generals, helicopter pilots, 
translators--even an Afghan Supreme Court justice. Suffice it to say, 
many of these evacuees would be in jail, or worse, if Lieutenant 
Trindle and her team hadn't been there.
  At this time, my staff in Washington and Arkansas were working around 
the clock to evacuate American citizens. Two of those Americans, a 
married couple, had visited Afghanistan for a wedding right before 
being trapped behind enemy lines. They made a harrowing journey through 
Taliban checkpoints to reach Kabul, where they got stuck for days, 
unable to get to the airport.
  They called my office's evacuation hotline for help, and we guided 
them as far as we could--to the chaos of the airport gate--while we 
updated the coordination cell just beyond the barricade. Suddenly, 
Lieutenant Trindle appeared. You can find the cell phone videos of that 
nighttime rescue online. The Americans were screaming for help. The 
Taliban fighters were savagely attacking civilians nearby. Then, over 
the roar and din of the crowd came the calm, resolute voice of 
Lieutenant Trindle, saying, ``She's with me.'' That couple is now home 
in America, in safety. Lieutenant Trindle was with them.
  The Nation has awarded Lieutenant Trindle the Bronze Star for her 
actions during the evacuation. I had the great honor of presenting that 
medal to her earlier today.
  As the official account of Lieutenant Trindle's actions note, she 
``achieved 100% mission success in the face of unparalleled chaos.'' I 
would add that Lieutenant Trindle met ``unparalleled chaos'' with 
unparalleled courage. She deserves every bit this high honor, and she 
deserves her country's sincere gratitude.
  Thank you very much, Kristen.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The senior Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I thank both her and Senator Cotton for 
their service to our country.