Many have asked me over the past few days about my thoughts around the alarming dissolution of order across Afghanistan in July/August. While I'll reserve my unguarded comments for a conversation, my primary response is to go in my mind to the homes of all our Gold-Star families - all those families of servicemen and women killed in Afghanistan, and think of them and their loss and what this tragic failure of planning and leadership means to them personally as they watch the events in Kabul unfold They deserve better.
This soldier's family who I do not know: Kandahar Flag
And this soldier's family who I do know: Memorial Day - Josh
Secondly, I think of those Afghans who worked with us because they trusted us because we were America. We have left them without recourse and without protection from a brutal enemy. This man near FOB Lagnam in Qalat was with us as we scouted an airstrip. Who knows what will become of him and his family.
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On the positive - I'm also reminded of the great experience adopting Sally at the Kabul International Airport in 2010, which at that time was a much-needed and therapeutic departure from the things I witnessed during my times deployed. The scenes of the Kabul Airport in the news were the place this great dog and I bonded. I was determined to save her life as a personal answer to all those I'd seen lost. She remains my shadow and my best friend, as she has been for over 11 years.
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