In the wake of the tragic crash of American Airlines Flight 5342 with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C., and the Learjet 55 crash in Philadelphia, I’m reminded of a plane crash during my time in the Afghanistan War and how a group of soldiers with whom I served barely escaped a terrible fate high in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountains.

In 2004, my Army unit was stationed outside the western Afghan city of Farah. Flights to and from the main air base at Bagram were rare and often delayed or canceled due to weather or various other concerns. This made it hard to rotate personnel home on leave. In order to maintain an effective fighting force, only a small percentage of our unit could be away at one time. Thus, one group had to return to Farah before the next could depart.