Afghan ex-interpreter to visit Johnstowners who helped him escape Taliban

Aug. 12—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — United States military operations were ending in Afghanistan last summer and Taliban forces were retaking control of the country.

Walid, who had spent about eight years working as an interpreter on highly classified special operations for the U.S. Army and other organizations, knew the fate that awaited him and his family if they did not escape, so he contacted people in America who already were working to try and bring him to the country.

"I clearly told them, 'Kabul will be collapsed soon and I will be killed,' " Walid said, paraphrasing his plea during a recent telephone interview. "I told him, 'Whatever you guys can do, please do it — otherwise I will be slaughtered.' Because I knew I was very popular, I knew I would be killed. That was very shocking and disastrous."

One of his messages went to retired U.S. Army Special Forces Col. Jeff Pounding, a Southmont resident who commanded Walid in the early 2000s. Pounding and other people in several states immediately ramped up their efforts to secure passage to the U.S. for Walid, his wife and four children.

Pounding said those days in August 2021 were a "really intense time for everybody."

Thanks to their efforts, Walid and his family escaped, first to the United Arab Emirates for a brief stay and then to the United States.

On Saturday, Walid and his family plan to visit Pounding at his home and meet some of the local people who helped in the effort to get him out of Afghanistan. Walid wants to "thank them for whatever they've done for me and my family." (The Tribune-Democrat is not using Walid's last name due to concerns for the safety of his relatives, both in the United States and in Afghanistan.)

'We were so close'

A U.S.-led military coalition invaded Taliban-controlled Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, looking to hunt down Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders who masterminded the assault.

Walid learned that the United States military was looking for "loyal, hardworking and honest" individuals who could speak English. He joined the effort in December 2001, hoping to create a "very, very bright future in Afghanistan."

"I was 21 years old and I lived with Taliban rule at that time, and that was one of my life's dark pages," Walid said. "I decided to join U.S. forces to bring prosperity and to have a bright future, to help my country, especially my sisters. I was single at that time."

The work Walid did is still highly sensitive and, as Pounding described, "very unique."

Walid was involved in the Battle of Tora Bora, an early fight when the U.S. military thought bin Laden might have been in a cave complex located near the border with Pakistan.

"We were so close, but I don't know how he skipped," Walid said.

He eventually stopped working as an interpreter, earned a master of business administration degree and lived what he called a "nice" life as a family man.

'We were shocked'

Then, in April 2021, President Joe Biden announced that the last United States military personnel would leave Afghanistan by September, bringing an end to the 20-year war. The country quickly fell to the Taliban.

"That was a disaster," Walid said. "We were shocked. Because of some politician, they destroyed our sacrifices. We have lost a lot of lives from American soldiers, very good friends, and also Afghan soldiers."

Images went out across the world of people attempting to flee the Taliban, crammed together on airplanes — some even running alongside or jumping onto the wings — at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital.

Pounding and two of Walid's other commanders — former Army Capt. Ronald Fry and Marine Corps Lt. Col. Justin Bellman — along with the Rochester, New York-based nonprofit Keeping Our Promise stepped up efforts to get Walid out of the country.

They contacted federal legislators and officials in the White House and U.S. Department of State. Locally, businessman Bill Polacek and the offices of U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and U.S. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Centre, including staff member Brian Subich, helped.

Pounding emphasized: "We just don't leave our guys behind."

"He served a lot of Americans," Pounding said. "Not only did he work with me, but he worked with dozens — if not a couple hundred — different types of special operators. I think we have 17 letters of recommendation that we got for him from prior service members, many of them who had not seen him for over 15 years."

In the middle of the night on or about Aug. 18, 2021, Walid, who was staying in a secret location, received a message to immediately get to the airport where the chaotic evacuation was taking place, beyond Taliban-controlled checkpoints. He, his wife and four children — two daughters and two sons — were on the list to leave.

"I have lost everything," Walid said. "And now, with a pair of clothes, we moved to the airfield, and that was like a battlefield I'd taken my family to."

He had to leave his parents and other relatives behind.

Walid and his family, who were vetted by the federal government, now live in Rochester, New York, having received Special Immigrant Visas thanks to his service to the United States during the war. He works as a procurement administrator with Catholic Relief Services.

As a proud father, he eagerly talks about his children's accomplishments, mentioning their successes in academics and athletics. They dream of maybe becoming doctors, or lawyers, or soccer players.

Walid still misses home. He said that "suddenly I just cry" on occasion.

"It's not easy, but at the same time I am one of the luckiest to move to the United States," he said.

They are also part of greater Rochester's growing Afghan community. Keeping Our Promise has helped bring hundreds of Afghans and Iraqis who helped the United States' war efforts to that region. The organization provides assistance with rent, food, job searches and grants to buy vehicles, while helping the war refugees acclimate to an unfamiliar culture.

"I just always viewed it as an obligation to help those who helped our military, or our state department or our (United States Agency for International Development) programs," said Ellen Smith, Keeping Our Promise's executive director. "They risked their lives and they did everything they were supposed to do to try to build a better society in Afghanistan and always under the threat of the Taliban or ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), always, and we counted on them to do that. So, for me, it's important, more than ever now, to support these folks, who are still coming over."