Since Kabul, Afghanistan, fell under Taliban control on Aug. 15, U.S. veterans have gone to incredible lengths to ensure their interpreters, many of whom were mired in the broken Special Immigrant Visa process, reached safety.
For some, there will be no happy ending.
On Thursday, when a bomber affiliated with the Islamic State detonated a suicide vest at a crowded airport gate, Afghan interpreter Sayed Obaidullah Amin and his wife were killed, alongside 13 U.S. service members and 167 other Afghan civilians. Amin, who went by “Obaid,” was waiting to board a plane with his two sons, who are now orphans at less than 4 years old. For those who served beside Obaid, the loss is felt acutely.
Obaid worked with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment in the restive Sangin district of Helmand province in 2012. Retired Marine Corps Cpl. Jeremy Horton calls Obaid a brother. Though “other interpreters would take the less dangerous duties or not go on missions, Obaid never walked away,” Horton said. “When we lost Marines, he cried with us. When we were in intense firefights, he did what he was told. He did all of this without a weapon. … He trusted us to get him out alive.”
To fulfill that promise, Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Kenneth Rick began helping Obaid with his SIV application in 2015. Like a number of Afghan interpreters, Obaid’s application was rejected for minute administrative details. Rick and Obaid refiled the application in 2017, 2019, and 2021. Obaid’s supporters wrote letters on his behalf, reached out to his former employer, procured a lawyer, and engaged with congressional representatives and high-ranking service members. More than a dozen Marines offered to house Obaid and his family as they acclimated to the United States.
Those willing to vouch for Obaid’s character had a cumulative “two Silver Stars, two Purple Hearts, [and] three Navy Commendation Medals for Valor,” Horton explained. He does not “understand why that was not credible enough to move the process along.”
“I’m sure that Obaid’s children would like to know who is going to answer for this,” Horton said.
Horton believes the U.S. “didn’t uphold our end of the bargain. … Now, we are sitting here trying to play cleanup with people who don’t have anywhere to go. If they stay, they’re going to die, and if they go to the airport, they might die. … How many are we leaving behind? How many of these people have no chance at surviving the next six months?”
While Obaid’s supporters mourn his loss, other veterans’ interpreters face the unknown, with the scales tipping ever further toward a deadly outcome.
Retired Army Staff Sgt. Mark Norman’s interpreter, Aziz, has brought his family to the gates outside Hamid Karzai International Airport twice. The first time, after Aziz, his wife, his twin 5-year-old daughters, and his 2-year-old son nearly died from heatstroke in the searing sun, Norman said an American soldier sent them away. On his second trip, Norman reports that Aziz “never made it to an American.”
Norman worked beside Aziz in southern Kandahar province between April and November 2011. Aziz “was our voice,” Norman said. He “went above and beyond [by] genuinely trying to help” when people were injured and during intense periods on the battlefield. While he was able to return home after his deployment, Norman says Aziz went on to serve the equivalent of “seven or eight combat deployments at one time.”
Norman has been working to get Aziz into the SIV program since 2015. Aziz’s application was rejected, likely because his contract was terminated when he failed to return from leave after the Taliban threatened to kill his father. For the SIV program, contract termination means an interpreter’s “entire time of service is negated,” according to James Miervaldis of the nonprofit organization No One Left Behind.
Norman has resubmitted Aziz’s application and sent his former interpreter’s information to over 25 individuals, including his senator. Unfortunately, there has been no progress. As the hours tick by, he is losing hope. “If we leave on the 31st,” Norman explains, “That’s it. Aziz is dead. They’ll kill him. They will kill his family.”
The following U.S. service members and veterans were instrumental in fighting for Obaid’s SIV:
- Marine Corps Capt. Andrew Darlington
- Marine Corps Maj. Ken Conover
- Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Kenneth Rick
- Marine Corps Cpl. Jeremy Horton
- Marine Corps Cpl. Gabriel Hernandez
- Marine Corps Cpl. Colin Barnett
- Navy HM2 Caleb Ellis
- The members of the Sangin Valley Gun Club.
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
