{"id":13251,"date":"2021-08-18T17:55:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T17:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/08\/18\/no-one-left-behind-means-interpreters-too\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:25:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:25:28","slug":"no-one-left-behind-means-interpreters-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/08\/18\/no-one-left-behind-means-interpreters-too\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No one left behind\u2019 means interpreters too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the Taliban moved back into power in Afghanistan, veterans across America posted heartbreaking messages on social media. The themes are clear: They are wondering if their service counted, they are asking if the sacrifice of people they love like family was all for nothing and they are expressing urgent fear about those we left behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, we left our own behind. Those we left behind grew up in Iraq and Afghanistan and the surrounding areas. They are people who took continual risks, whose families made extreme sacrifices, and in so doing they became tied by bonds as close as blood to our service members. One of these interpreters goes by the call sign \u201cJohnny Walker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJW\u201d as our Navy SEALS refer to him, is \u201ca brother in arms\u201d whose courage and ability to provide insight and intel had much to do with our victories on the ground. He is so beloved by the SEALS that he was given a Trident for his service with the SEAL teams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JW and his family paid a great price for his service to our country. His brother was executed in the street, shot in the face three times. His wife and children went into hiding for several years. As he explains: \u201cThey had no life. My kids couldn\u2019t go to school or the mall or the candy shop. My family had to move every two weeks to keep from getting killed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JW himself has survived multiple attempts on his life, both on missions and when driving home to see his family in broad daylight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested\u2019s powerful documentary film \u201cKorengal,\u201d U.S. Army Sgt. Kyle Steiner says this about the bonds between fellow warriors: \u201cYou might have your family\u2019s blood running through your veins, but you didn\u2019t shed it with them.\u201d Such is the case with our Navy SEALS and men like JW. One of the SEAL team leaders, Jason Tuschen, started working to get Johnny out of the country in 2006 due to continuous threats on his life. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Crowds swarmed the runway at the Kabul airport as people desperately tried to get flights out of the country in the hours after the Taliban took over.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Tuschen describes a multiyear process fraught with delay after delay, a continual quagmire of bureaucratic inefficiency. As he explains: \u201cIt took the efforts of hundreds of people over more than three years. I\u2019d fill out the paperwork for a special visa for Johnny and his family, and it would take months to get a response. The response was that we had forgotten to cross a \u2018t\u2019 or dot an \u2018i\u2019 \u2014 so we had to start all over, again and again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process took a serious mental toll on Tuschen, who said: \u201cI had a continual feeling of dread. Every single day I was afraid to check my email for fear that I would get a message that said, \u2018Thank you for your efforts but Johnny and his family were killed last night.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the toll became so great that Tuschen and several of his SEAL brothers agreed to smuggle Johnny and his family out of the country if they didn\u2019t get resolution by the end of a particular tour. Their desperate plan was to put Johnny and his family into a shipping container with ventilation holes, food and water, and try to get him into the U.S. on a cargo plane. Had they acted on this, they understood that the penalty would be a court martial, a dishonorable discharge, and several years in a federal penitentiary. Tuschen said, \u201cI don\u2019t think I could live with myself if I didn\u2019t do everything in my power to get Johnny and his family to safety – everyone on the SEAL teams felt the same way.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such is their love for those who risk their lives and spill their blood with us. They are not \u201cforeign assets\u201d \u2014 these interpreters are us. Our failure to protect them is causing serious moral injury today for veterans across the country. And breaking our promise to leave no one behind is endangering our place of trust for future conflicts. As Tuschen points out: \u201cThis is a pattern. We did it in Iraq, and we did it in Vietnam. We are leaving our brothers and sisters behind where they will be hunted down and slaughtered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of our mutual contacts has been working for five years to get another interpreter out of Afghanistan, with no movement. They are currently in hiding. The Taliban have taken over the cellphone towers and banned the use of smartphones. The interpreter is in a dire situation, and the individual\u2019s hope of escaping to safety is dwindling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As JW explains: \u201cThese people have nothing to stop them now from hunting down and killing anyone who supported the Americans. And that\u2019s what they are going to do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In JW\u2019s case, after three years of bureaucratic delays, a visa was approved. He and his family have now been relocated to the United States. He recalls landing in Chicago and taking his son for a walk around the local Target store. He said: \u201cIt might be a small thing for an American to walk with their child in public, but for me, I had not been able to walk in public with any of my children for many years. My dream is a simple one: to be able to live where we can be safe and free.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The U.S. Capitol is seen in this Dec. 29, 2020, file photo in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During our conversation about the dire situation of our interpreters, Tuschen made an interesting observation: \u201cWhy is it so much easier to come across our border than to get safe passage to America for someone who has risked their life repeatedly for our nation?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After my conversations with Johnny and Tusch, I have a few questions of my own:<\/p>\n\n\n\n