The parents of three SEALs recently said the government bears criminal culpability in the deaths of their sons.

They are calling for a congressional investigation into the Aug. 6, 2011 helicopter crash in Afghanistan that resulted in 38 deaths, including 7 members of the Afghan National Army, an Afghan interpreter, 15 SEAL Team Six members, 2 members of West Coast SEAL and other U.S. troops. A rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter, causing the fatal crash. It was the deadliest day for America in the Afghan war.

Were the SEALS targeted in retaliation for killing Bin Laden? The elite SEAL Team Six is a special operations unit whose actions are supposed to be classified. They uphold a strict code of secrecy. As a result, it is not publicly known which specific SEAL Team Six members were involved in the killing of the world’s most wanted terrorist, nor how many of those who participated in the raid were on the helicopter that was shot down.

We now know, however, that the elite group and their families were shocked when Vice President Joe Biden publicly identified them on May 3, 2011, two days after the raid. He was speaking at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington D.C. at the 50th anniversary of the Atlantic Council, an international affairs think tank. It was a speech laden with praise for the intelligence and military community.