By The Guardian. 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.

“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. (Read more from “Father of Killed US Military Member Disputes Hegseth’s Claim He Said to ‘Finish’ the Job in Iran” HERE)

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Father of dead serviceman says he never told Hegseth to ‘finish the job’ in Iran: report

By The Independent. The father of a dead U.S. serviceman has denied claims by Pete Hegseth that he told the Defense Secretary to “not stop until the job is done” – referring to the war in Iran.

“No, I didn’t say anything along those lines,” Charles Simmons told NBC News in an interview Thursday, recalling his encounter with Hegseth at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. “I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about.” . . .

Simmons told NBC that he had spoken to Hegseth and President Donald Trump, and that both men had treated him warmly. He had mostly spoken about his son’s impressive service record, he said.

The 60-year-old, from Columbus, Ohio, added he has “questions” about the conflict, which has now killed at least 13 American service members, and cannot draw “definitive conclusions when I don’t have all the data.”

Simmons said he told Hegseth: “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,” according to NBC. (Read more from “Father of dead serviceman says he never told Hegseth to ‘finish the job’ in Iran: report” HERE)

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