Defense secretary had said relatives of service members killed in refueling tanker crash told him ‘do not stop until the job is done’
Richard Luscombe
Fri 20 Mar 2026 23.50 AEDT
The father of a US military member killed in the Iran war has contradicted Pete Hegseth’s claim that bereaved families urged him to “finish” the job in the Middle East.
Hegseth, the defense secretary and a former weekend Fox News host, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday that he had spoken with relatives of all six service members killed in last week’s refueling tanker crash during a “dignified transfer” of their remains at Delaware’s Dover air force station the night before.
All six crew members confirmed dead after US military plane crash in Iraq
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“What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve, was the same from family after family. They said, ‘Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done,’” Hegseth said.
However, on Thursday night, Charles Simmons, the father of Tech Sgt Tyler Simmons, 28, from Ohio, said he had no such conversation.
“I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about,” he told NBC News.
Simmons said he had spoken separately with Hegseth and Donald Trump at the military base, and was grateful for the “warmth” he said both men had shown him.
But he recounted his meeting with the defense secretary differently from Hegseth’s own assertion.
“‘I understand there’s a lot of peril that goes into making decisions like this, and I just certainly hope the decisions being made are necessary,” Simmons said he told him.
Asked by NBC News if he said anything to the president or Hegseth about continuing the Iran war, which has so far seen the deaths of at least 13 members of the US military, Simmons was adamant that nothing like that had taken place.
“No, I didn’t say anything along those lines,” he said.
Charles Simmons is at least the third family member to voice unease about the Iran war, called Operation Epic Fury by the White House, or the Trump administration’s handling of it.
Stephan Douglas, cousin of Tyler Simmons, who was one of three Ohioans killed in the crash, said the conflict was unnecessary in a weekend interview with Columbus news station WCMH.
“This could have been prevented,” Douglas said. “We didn’t need to be in this war. This is uncalled for, and this is what we get.”
Bernice Smith, Simmons’ grandmother, was equally forthright. “Families are suffering right now,” she told WCMH. “Just to create a war because you want to create a war is not right.”
She said she encouraged people to register to vote if they wanted to see change.
Charles Simmons, meanwhile, told NBC that he did not “have all the data” to be able to establish if joint US-Israel bombing of Iran was justified.
“Who wants war? Sometimes it’s a necessity, and I just don’t know what’s going on,” he said.
In a statement to the network, Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, insisted Hegseth’s conversations with the relatives were “private”, even though the Trump loyalist chose to make a feature of them during the Thursday press conference at which he also berated the media for covering the conflict in ways he did not like.
“Secretary Hegseth has the utmost respect for our Gold Star families and has pledged to honor the sacrifice of their loved ones,” Parnell said.
“While at Dover, the secretary spoke with each family of our fallen heroes and the details of each individual conversation remain private.”
Olivia Wales, a White House spokesperson, told NBC that Trump had “grieved” with the families at Dover.
The president, she said, “shared his love and expressed the deep gratitude of our entire nation. These men and women gave up their lives in defense of our freedom, and President Trump will never forget their honorable service and selfless devotion. They represent the very best of America”.
Earlier this month Trump said he expected there will be more US military deaths before the conflict ends. “That’s the way it is,” he said in a video address to the nation.
The father of a US military member killed in the Iran war has contradicted Pete Hegseth’s claim that bereaved families urged him to “finish” the job in the Middle East.
Hegseth, the defense secretary and a former weekend Fox News host, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday that he had spoken with relatives of all six service members killed in last week’s refueling tanker crash during a “dignified transfer” of their remains at Delaware’s Dover air force station the night before.
All six crew members confirmed dead after US military plane crash in Iraq
Read more
“What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve, was the same from family after family. They said, ‘Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done,’” Hegseth said.
However, on Thursday night, Charles Simmons, the father of Tech Sgt Tyler Simmons, 28, from Ohio, said he had no such conversation.
“I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about,” he told NBC News.
Simmons said he had spoken separately with Hegseth and Donald Trump at the military base, and was grateful for the “warmth” he said both men had shown him.
But he recounted his meeting with the defense secretary differently from Hegseth’s own assertion.
“‘I understand there’s a lot of peril that goes into making decisions like this, and I just certainly hope the decisions being made are necessary,” Simmons said he told him.
Asked by NBC News if he said anything to the president or Hegseth about continuing the Iran war, which has so far seen the deaths of at least 13 members of the US military, Simmons was adamant that nothing like that had taken place.
“No, I didn’t say anything along those lines,” he said.
Charles Simmons is at least the third family member to voice unease about the Iran war, called Operation Epic Fury by the White House, or the Trump administration’s handling of it.
Stephan Douglas, cousin of Tyler Simmons, who was one of three Ohioans killed in the crash, said the conflict was unnecessary in a weekend interview with Columbus news station WCMH.
“This could have been prevented,” Douglas said. “We didn’t need to be in this war. This is uncalled for, and this is what we get.”
Bernice Smith, Simmons’ grandmother, was equally forthright. “Families are suffering right now,” she told WCMH. “Just to create a war because you want to create a war is not right.”
She said she encouraged people to register to vote if they wanted to see change.
Charles Simmons, meanwhile, told NBC that he did not “have all the data” to be able to establish if joint US-Israel bombing of Iran was justified.
“Who wants war? Sometimes it’s a necessity, and I just don’t know what’s going on,” he said.
In a statement to the network, Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, insisted Hegseth’s conversations with the relatives were “private”, even though the Trump loyalist chose to make a feature of them during the Thursday press conference at which he also berated the media for covering the conflict in ways he did not like.
“Secretary Hegseth has the utmost respect for our Gold Star families and has pledged to honor the sacrifice of their loved ones,” Parnell said.
“While at Dover, the secretary spoke with each family of our fallen heroes and the details of each individual conversation remain private.”
Olivia Wales, a White House spokesperson, told NBC that Trump had “grieved” with the families at Dover.
The president, she said, “shared his love and expressed the deep gratitude of our entire nation. These men and women gave up their lives in defense of our freedom, and President Trump will never forget their honorable service and selfless devotion. They represent the very best of America”.
Earlier this month Trump said he expected there will be more US military deaths before the conflict ends. “That’s the way it is,” he said in a video address to the nation.
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