‘They are absolutely going to kill us’ Afghans who helped the US fear being left behind 1 hour ago “They absolutely are going to kill us,” Mohammad Shoaib Walizada, a former interpreter for the U.S. Army, said in an interview after joining others in a protest in Kabul. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) He served as an interpreter alongside U.S. soldiers on hundreds of patrols and dozens of firefights in eastern Afghanistan, earning a glowing letter of recommendation from an American platoon commander and a medal of commendation. Still, Ayazudin Hilal was turned down when he applied for one of the scarce special visas that would allow him to relocate to the United States with his family. Now, as American and NATO forces prepare to leave the country, he and thousands of others who aided the war effort fear they will be left stranded, facing the prospect of Taliban reprisals.
What Tampa Bay vets who fought in Afghanistan think about the pull-out
Here are some candid reflections on Afghanistan from the men and women who were there.
Â
Â
Afghan security forces stand on Humvee vehicles during a military operation in Arghandab district of Kandahar province last month. [ JAVED TANVEER | AFP ]
Published May 6
They fought. They led. They planned. They bled. They lost a loved one to combat.
As the United States prepares to pull its troops out of Afghanistan on the orders of President Joe Biden, those with a direct stake in 20 years of warfare reflect on service and sacrifice in Afghanistan.
âUnited States of Alâ based on Tampa Palms veteran, interpreter who saved his life
The new CBS sitcom debuted this month on Hulu.
Â
Â
Afghan interpreter Hakimi Quadratullah (left) and then-Marine Lt. Col. Ty Edwards in Afghanistan. [ Courtesy of Ty Edwards ]
.
âMarine veteran Riley (Parker Young), home at last after serving in Afghanistan, is happily reunited with his friend Awalmir (Adhir Kaylan), who goes by Al, the interpreter with his unit, after a long struggle to get him a visa to travel to the United States from Afghanistan,â the CBS showâs description synopsis reads.
Edwards, 51, is a combat-wounded Marine veteran whose life was saved by Hakimi, 33, during a fierce battle in Afghanistanâs Kunar province in 2008. After a five-year bureaucratic struggle to get Hakimi a visa, the interpreter finally made it to America, and for a short period in 2013, lived with Edwards and his family in Tampa Palms.
Marine vet & the interpreter who saved his life discuss CBS show ‘United States of Al’ 3 days ago Afghan interpreter Hakimi Quadratullah (left) and then-Marine Lt. Col. Ty Edwards in Afghanistan. (Photo courtesy of Ty Edwards). “Marine veteran Riley (Parker Young), home at last after serving in Afghanistan, is happily reunited with his friend Awalmir (Adhir Kaylan), who goes by Al, the interpreter with his unit, after a long struggle to get him a visa to travel to the United States from Afghanistan,” the CBS show’s description synopsis reads. Edwards, 51, is a combat-wounded Marine veteran whose life was saved by Hakimi, 33, during a fierce battle in Afghanistan’s Kunar province in 2008. After a five-year bureaucratic struggle to get Hakimi a visa, the interpreter finally made it to America, and for a short period in 2013, lived with Edwards and his family in Tampa Palms, Florida.