Afghan Interpreters Family Fundraiser

Hi my name is Randall Parkes and I am fundraising for my Afghan Interpreter and his family. Sayed was my interpreter in 2009 as part of      Special Operations Task Force West. Here is our story:

WE DID IT, WE GOT HIM OUT:

Now that Conventional US Forces have left the country, I feel comfortable sharing this story. For the last 6 months I have been on a quest to get my old interpreter Sayed, out of Afghanistan. I wrote letters of recommendation to the State Department and visited my local Congressmen’s office multiple times. As most of you know the last few weeks, the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated very quickly. His cries for help to save his family grew more and more intense as the weeks grew on.

Over the last week, a combined team of SOF brothers, a relentless Master Guns, a few Trojans and the amazing staffers of Congressmen Darrell Issa’s Office, we were able to save my interpreter, his wife and two beautiful children. We failed multiple extraction attempts spanning multiple days. On one occasion Sayed and his family made it past two of three Taliban checkpoints. It was at this third checkpoint that he and his 4-year-old son were badly beaten. Under extreme exhaustion and dehydration, they gave up. We had them move back to a safe house within the city to rest and ultimately try again. On the third day under the cover of darkness, we had Sayed and his family moving from checkpoint to checkpoint yet again. After hours of movement, Sayed and his family were able to make it into the Airport and fly out just before the attacks on the Abbey Gate; an attack that claimed the lives 13 brave service members.

Before my interpreter flew out, he made our group aware that his brother’s wife Sadat and her two cousins were also stuck in Kabul. All three had approved Visa’s and were all alone. Sayed’s Brother Said has been living here in San Diego as a Refugee for the last two years. Texting with Said’s wife Sadat over WhatsApp, you could feel the fear in her texts knowing what her eventuality would be in a Taliban controlled Afghanistan. Our team fired everything up again and began the impossible task of communicating and coordinating yet another extraction in the Chaos. After 24 hours of moving to multiple locations and stalled attempts, I received a text saying, “Sir, we are at the Airport.”

I am beyond proud of all the brave men and woman that made this possible. Thank you to those in the shadows that moved mountains in multiple time zones to get these Afghans out using the “Bro-Call”. We used our unique networks, technology and skill sets to do the right thing. Through our perseverance and compassion, we accomplished the impossible. 7 Afghans not only will live but will have a chance at real opportunity, opportunity that many Americans take for granted. Sayed, Sadat and Said have expressed to me that there are no words to describe their lifelong appreciation for all that were involved in getting them out of Afghanistan alive.