SARASOTA COUNTY (WSNN) – The recent events of the Taliban takeover and Afghanistan collapse are affecting many veterans.
Three veterans from the Suncoast who served in the same war in the Middle East, all have mixed feelings about the American troops pulling out from Afghanistan.
“Happy sad worried concerned irritated confused,” Iraq War Veteran who served in the Infantry U.S. Marine Corps William Sterbinsky said.
“It’s heartbreaking knowing the women, the children, the men are being killed for not supporting the ideology,” U.S. Marine Corps who served in Afghanistan, Carlos Moreira said.
“This is a really really rough time for veterans who have had a lot of stuff happen in their lives,” U.S. Marine Corps who served in Afghanistan Wade Risha said.
It began with the 9/11 terrorist attack. This triggered the war that had thousands of American troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Longest war U.S. has experienced,” Moreira said.
Now, after almost 20 years, thousands are retreating from Afghanistan to escape the Taliban rule.
“Literally everything we did felt like for nothing,” Risha said. “I’m not saying we should have stayed there and we need to do this. It was time to go, but it wasn’t time to go like this.”
Troops were there to help the local security forces take over their own country, protect from the terrorist groups, and to protect the vulnerable citizens there. But instead, the Taliban took over.
“It’s just very very sad,” Risha said. “We know the lives that are going to be lost that don’t need to be.”
“I think we brought them a change and a taste of what it could be,” Sterbinsky said. “But it’s clear they wanted somebody else.”
“For us, I just feel like that was the biggest waste,” Risha said. “Giving them the sense of freedom and then stripping it from them, overnight. It feels like overnight.”
While some say they lost 20 years, others say it wasn’t for nothing.
“Women from the Middle East are standing up and being more independent,” Moreira said. “We can’t take little things like that for granted
Overall, it’s affecting many veterans, and if you know someone who served, reach out and check in on them. If you served, Sterbinsky wants to remind you:
“When we sign that dotted line, that no matter that what the call was, we were going to answer it, and we were going to pay the ultimate sacrifice need be because we love our home,” Sterbinsky said.
If you are a veteran and going through a difficult time, there are many resources available to you. You can find some of them below: