Washington DC - The father of a soldier who was killed in President Donald Trump's war with Iran has accused Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth of mischaracterizing their conversation.

Hegseth on Thursday boasted about meeting with the families of six slain service members the day before, claiming that they had voiced avid support for the war effort in Iran and had told him to finish the job.

"What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve was the same from family after family," Hegseth said in remarks to the press.

"They said, 'Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done.' My response, along with that of the president, was simply: Of course we will finish this, we will honor their sacrifice."

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These comments came as a surprise to Charles Simmons, the father of 28-year-old Technical Sergeant Tyler H. Simmons, who died among the six crew members that perished when their refueling plane crashed in Iraq last week.

Speaking to NBC News on Thursday, Simmons denied that he had ever held such a conversation with Hegseth. Instead, he said that they talked mostly about Tyler's impressive military record.

"I can't speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about," he told NBC. "No, I didn't say anything along those lines."

Simmons did say that both Trump and Hegseth had been very warm to him. He said that he had "got to see a different side of them up close and personal" and that the president had even teared up and hugged him.

"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," he said.