zak that caught major shoe men s attention, here s how he described the first time that he met zak in sangin. quote major shaman concedes he was in a transactional mood on the day he met zak, yet already work for so many different interpreters, but zak was different, he was physically fit, for one, his english was excellent. most of all, he was willing to go to sangin, which many interpreters avoided given the dangers trying. he said quote, i recognize he was a special guy, and i was very lucky to have him. marines and other platoons begin to eye this new addition to the team with envy, but major schueman had no intention of sharing him. the patrols were long and terrifying as the marines made their way through mind territory, towards villages, often being ambushed. a campaign that killed and severely injured scores of troops. i won t point zak over her to taliban fighters from a distance talking on the radios as they organize an attack on
in february or february of last year, february 2020, zak started getting menacing phone calls from the taliban. they told him you are an infidel because you work with the americans. just a few weeks ago, zach received this letter from the taliban. written papers addressed to him, the americans on their way out with the evacuation on their way the taliban making clear in this letter to zak that they know where to find him, and they wanted and intended to kill him for working with u.s. forces. so they ve got himself a number, they have his address, they know how to find him, they re telling him that they are going to kill him. zak it s essentially being hunted, so he can t leave his house, let alone work outside his house to support his family. he told the new york times last month can t find a way to live a life, i can t find a way to have a life. after he got that threatening letter from the taliban, zak
he needed that attestation to his service so he could get credit both for his service with the marines but also for his time with the army, he needed credit for both to be able to qualify for the visa. the problem is, the contractor for who he worked for, that contracted as an existing. more like so many military contracting organizations that existed for a moment, provided the service and then proof. but because they are, gone they have left no trace zak has not been able to get a letter from them, they do not exist. and the fact that he wasn t able to get a letter from a defunct contractor that doesn t exist anymore, that was apparently justification enough for denying him a visa. which again, he applied for for the first time six years ago, and it means that he has been stuck in afghanistan ever since, which of course is a very difficult dangerous place to be if you are not against this and to help the united states, especially in so many different fights against the taliban s.
interpreter, whether that was running through a minefield to detain someone, or picking up a rifle to provide covering fire. zak has made more sacrifices for this country and risk more for this country than most of our citizens. now it is your time, our american friends, our american partners time, to help us, and to help us out of this crisis. because the enemy are looking for people who worked with american, and who worked for the american mission, and to find them and kill them and kill their family. we cannot stay. yesterday one of our former interpreters in herat province, the taliban attacked him, killed him, and also in the future, maybe they tyke it us and kill us.
now, please, president, it s your time to help us, and take us out of this crisis. zak, working as an afghan interpreter for u.s. forces in afghanistan, his friend major thomas schueman, both of them here on this show together two weeks ago today. now, what s happened in two weeks, beside afghanistan falling in its entirety to the taliban s. back home and rhode island, major thomas schueman has been in repeated contact with zak in afghanistan, trying to do for zak what zak was asking of president biden, take him out of this crisis, help him flee the country. major schueman had helped zak with his visa application, he made phone calls, send zak money so he can try to get his family from where they were living and where they were than in hiding to kabul, you have to bribe your way through checkpoints in afghanistan, sometimes with a