{"id":82515,"date":"2018-10-25T12:08:31","date_gmt":"2018-10-25T16:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=82515"},"modified":"2022-01-13T20:33:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T01:33:04","slug":"no-one-left-behind-tries-to-rescue-iraqi-and-afghan-terps-the-american-legions-burnpit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=82515","title":{"rendered":"“No One Left Behind” tries to rescue Iraqi and Afghan Terps | The American Legion’s BurnPit"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Saw this on CNN the other day and it’s always been something that resonated with me, having had some pretty great interpreters in Afghanistan who risked everything to help us:In 2008, Matt Zeller was serving in Afghanistan as a captain in the US Army. One day while out on a routine mission, he and his squad were attacked by Taliban insurgents.<\/p>\n

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In 2008, Matt Zeller was serving in Afghanistan as a captain in the US Army. One day while out on a routine mission, he and his squad were attacked by Taliban insurgents.<\/p>\n

Zeller would have been killed, he said, had it not been for his Afghan interpreter, Janis Shinwari.<\/p>\n

“He shot and killed two Taliban fighters who were about to kill me,” Zeller said.<\/p>\n

When Zeller thanked him for saving his life, Shinwari told him, “You are a guest in my country. It is an honor to protect those who are fighting for us.”<\/p>\n

“That day we became brothers,” Zeller said.<\/p>\n

After that, the Taliban placed Shinwari at the top of their hit list. Before Zeller returned home, he promised he would do everything he could to bring Shinwari and his family to safety in the US. It took Zeller more than four years to help them get their Special Immigrant Visas.<\/p>\n

The interpreter and the soldier realized thousands like Shinwari remained vulnerable in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2013, they co-founded the nonprofit\u00a0No One Left Behind<\/a>\u00a0to help other interpreters who’ve put their lives at risk to work with US troops.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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You should click on over and watch the video of Matt at CNN in their Heroes segment linked above.\u00a0 Unfortunately I can’t embed that video here, but Matt has been on CNN before discussing it, and it is quite a compelling story:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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