Afghan Interpreter Who Served Us Needs Our Support
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Greetings my friends, in 2009 and 2010, as a Battalion Commander with the 82nd Airborne Division, two Afghan brothers stepped forward to serve as interpreters with my unit. Abdul and Wahid were invaluable members of our brotherhood.
Weeks before our departure Abdul was killed in a suicide attack on our compound in Kandahar. He left behind Hamida and two beautiful sons.
After these events I began working to bring Wahid and his family to the United States. They arrived in 2014. Wahid subsequently become a US citizen, he has had two children born in the United States, and his oldest daughter is an honors student in the Chicago Public Schools.
About a month before the fall of Afghanistan, before any signs of crisis were evident, Wahid took his entire family back to Afghanistan to visit his and his wife’s ailing parents. When it became clear that his return flights would be after the fall of Kabul, we began frantically working on ways to get the family out of country. In addition, we resubmitted a packet for Hamida and her two sons to come to the United States. The last packet had been denied in 2017 but now they were being threatened because of their late father’s service to the US and we knew this would be our last chance.
After a lot of work by the US military, this dream of both families coming to the United States is about to become a reality. We are not naïve in thinking that this will be an easy transition for Hamida’s family or for Wahid who will now be caring for an extended family of nine.
I would like to give them the best possible start in America. I am asking for your help in their transition to our country that they have served for over a decade.
Thank you for each of your generous donations!
Weeks before our departure Abdul was killed in a suicide attack on our compound in Kandahar. He left behind Hamida and two beautiful sons.
After these events I began working to bring Wahid and his family to the United States. They arrived in 2014. Wahid subsequently become a US citizen, he has had two children born in the United States, and his oldest daughter is an honors student in the Chicago Public Schools.
About a month before the fall of Afghanistan, before any signs of crisis were evident, Wahid took his entire family back to Afghanistan to visit his and his wife’s ailing parents. When it became clear that his return flights would be after the fall of Kabul, we began frantically working on ways to get the family out of country. In addition, we resubmitted a packet for Hamida and her two sons to come to the United States. The last packet had been denied in 2017 but now they were being threatened because of their late father’s service to the US and we knew this would be our last chance.
After a lot of work by the US military, this dream of both families coming to the United States is about to become a reality. We are not naïve in thinking that this will be an easy transition for Hamida’s family or for Wahid who will now be caring for an extended family of nine.
I would like to give them the best possible start in America. I am asking for your help in their transition to our country that they have served for over a decade.
Thank you for each of your generous donations!
Organizer
David Oclander
Organizer
Chicago, IL