News about Afghanistan & Thoughts of Not Leaving Anyone Behind

 

The news the last few days that have grabbed my attention is the Taliban take over of Afghanistan including entering into its Capital.  I think its safe to say it caught the US and the world by surprise.  The United States is trying to evacuate its citizens and have sent thousands of Marines and Army soldiers to help with that.  

These appear to be the first footage of the Marines arriving (I haven’t found anything else and I put some effort searching): 

There’s always a certain bounce with Marines’ movement. As I looked I can’t help but to think about how 70 percent of enlisted marines are 24 and younger with the bulk joining right out of high school which means most of these Marines are young enough to be the sons of the first wave of Marines that entered Afghanistan nearly 20 years ago.

 

That definitely puts it in perspective of how long the war is in Afghanistan.

And its been a sad thing to see the Taliban taking over; not because I’m for the previous government or think the US should be in Afghanistan longer but I’m sad to think of what will happen to the Afghan people given the Taliban’s past track record. 

I think of Christians.  They are going to be persecuted.  I think of women.  They will probably not have as much freedom as before.  I think of those interpreters and other Afghans that helped with the US mission and what will happen to them and their families.

Its the types of thoughts that you don’t want to try to imagine.

I was moved hearing about US veterans of Afghanistan wanting to help to try to bring those who with Americans to be able to escape and come to the US.  Here’s one such veteran, a Marine:

 

I would be lying if I said I’m not emotional seeing all that transpired since last week.

I didn’t serve in Afghanistan but with all the news it made me think about my time with the Marines in Iraq and my interactions with locals.  

I remember there was this one Iraqi interpreter that served both our Infantry Battalion and another Light Armor Reconnaissance unit.  One dark night in Iraq I was walking near where I slept (we slept outdoors) and a Light Armor Vehicle nearly ran me over as they drove quick without any light.  We are talking about a pitch black night.  I was kind of upset but next thing I heard was the LAV crew yelling “Corpsmen up!!!” which is the Marines version of saying “Medic!” (Marines don’t have medics who are Marines, all our “medics” are Navy personnel called Corpsmen).  I remember several Corpsmen ran up to the back of the LAV and it was dark and they called me over to help get a wounded individual out of the vehicle but they were doing it slowly since the guy got a serious neck and jaw injury.  And it turned out to be the translator.  They were making some night raid and the translator got injured while being on top of the LAV.

After getting him to the medical tent and I radioed for a medevac helicopter I was told to clear the guy’s weapon which I had with me since the Corpsmen that first worked on him handed his weapon to me.  The weapon was really dirty and I had to go to where there’s light to see what was jamming the weapon.  And now finally being in the light that’s when Marines and Corpsmen saw my uniform had the translators blood.  Of course I wasn’t aware of it at first since I was focused on trying to unjam the guy’s pistol.  Marines and Corpsmen told me I had the guys blood all over my uniform.  I was thinking about how I need to wash my uniform right away and everyone was telling me I shouldn’t wash it.  I was confused as I was thinking Marines typically value hygiene.  Some older men who seen more more of their shares of blood and carnage told me there’s no way I was going to get the blood out of my uniform.  

Now if you know me I do tell a lot of Marines stories but usually happy and funny ones.  I haven’t thought about this event for a long time until things on the news made me think of this.  I thought about what ever happened to the interpreter.  He was an older guy probably in his late 40s or early 50s; definitely quite old to be with a bunch of Americans far younger in age and he wasn’t necessarily in fighting shape.  But he spoke English and could translate things well.  He was helpful to Americans on the ground.  So he did what he did as an interpreter even though at times that put him at risk with his own life and also risk with some of the tense meetings the Marine leaders might have with others.  I wonder about the guy, whatever happened to him and also his family and spouse.  

I believe most military service members won’t ever want to leave another service member behind.  I imagine that sentiment is extended to those who are not Americans but helped Americans during times of war. I can’t imagine many veterans are feeling easy thinking of the possibilities that some might be left behind in the mercies of the Taliban.  It’s not a political thing; its a compassion thing.

There’s a code of conduct the military has for prisoners of war that I always thought was very powerfully worded: “I will never forget that I am an American fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free.  I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.”  While those words  might be for servicemembers who are captured nevertheless they are words that should guide military members even when they are not captured.  So much responsibilities hang with those words. 

We may fail.  But God and Christ will not fail to keep His Words.  Which makes me appreciate more Hebrews 13:5 and other verses similar to it: “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER ABANDON YOU,”“