This Afghan commando and his family fled the Taliban and landed in Pennsylvania, all with the help of his Green Beret buddy.
most elite fighters. Coburn, 47, and Azizullah Azizyar, 33, worked side-by-side for months as top-ranking commanders in their respective militaries, bound by a mission to build up enough Afghan battalions to keep the Taliban at bay as the U.S. prepared to endNeither man ever imagined they would be reunited in south central Pennsylvania – or that their lives would become so inextricably linked after the chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s terrifying return to power.
Now, his phone was lighting up with messages from Afghan friends pleading for help and fellow veterans sharing evacuation strategies. Even before Taliban fighters waltzed into Kabul, he was constantly worried his children would be abducted or he would be killed. He often traveled in an armored vehicle accompanied by body guards. When he learned that Ghani abandoned Afghanistan, the young father of three raced home and hid his camouflage uniform with its red-and-yellow"Special Forces" patch.
Azizullah sent copies of his family’s documents, then waited in a haze of sleeplessness and fear. He doesn’t even remember what day it was when he got the call to go to the airport. A neighbor agreed to drive them, and they rode with the lights on inside the car — hoping the Taliban would let them pass if they saw a woman in the vehicle.
“This whole thing has been so fast,” Coburn said as he recounted the frenetic days between the fall of Kabul and his friend's arrival. “Each step of the way, I feel like we’re blind people, walking around feeling the elephant.” In the meantime, they've been working with the local chapter of Catholic Charities to find the family permanent housing. Their caseworker found a rental house with owners willing to take a risk on a new immigrant family with no credit history and no employment. "The house is about 16 mins from Matt’s," says a smiling Azizullah."I'll be close to my friend."
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