Consider This from NPR - Scenes From The Aftermath Of The U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan

Episode Date: September 1, 2021

The U.S. military's mission in Afghanistan is over. For many still living in the country, a new struggle has begun: how to move forward after they were not able to make it before the U.S. withdrawal. Mark Schmitz is also grappling with how to move forward. His 20-year-old son, Jared, was one of 13 U.S. service members killed in an attack on the Kabul airport. Schmitz spoke to NPR's Rachel Martin — his interview was produced and edited by the staff of NPR's Morning Edition, where it originally aired. More from the interview here. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR and the following message come from Carnegie Corporation of New York, working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. More information at carnegie.org. The first time Sayevash tried to leave Afghanistan, he spent 13 hours at the Kabul airport with his wife and children. Being pushed and shoved, I have to sit down in a pool of sewage water, dragging myself and my family a couple of inches towards Abbey Gate that we were told to get to. Abbey Gate, that is the one targeted by a suicide bomber last week. Sayevash and his family never made it inside that first day, so the family went home and came back to try again later. On my second attempt, I was inching towards the Abbey Gate, but again,

spending more than 18 hours, I couldn't get in. So again, I had to leave. On his third and final try, Sayevash got help from some former colleagues, securing space on a bus with a route through Eastern Europe. We spent like more than 26 hours on a hot bus that didn't have windows to open. And we couldn't open the door because people would just rush in pleading, begging to be allowed into the bus. And we couldn't. And then there was the threat of attack. So we were asked to leave. So we had to

go back home and become so hopeless and so tired and so exhausted, not knowing what to do. My mind just went numb. I didn't know what to do. All I was thinking was the future of what will happen. The reason Sayevash is so desperate to get his family out of Afghanistan, it's the same reason we're only using his first name. Over the last two decades, he has worked on various projects for both the U.S. and the European Union. He's worried that will make his family a target for Taliban retribution. He says he has applied for a special immigrant visa to the United States, but he hasn't heard back. All Sayevash can do now is hope that the U.S. and allies will follow through on promises to keep working to get people out,

even now that the U.S. military has officially left the country. We need to cling to that hope. We need to think that something better will come, something better will come. Hold on. So that hope keeps us going. Consider this. After nearly two decades, the American military campaign in Afghanistan is over. The question now, for so many, is how to move forward. I'll never see my son get married. I'll never see him do anything.

Provide me grandkids, anything. It's all gone now. Coming up, the father of one of the American Marines killed during the U.S. evacuation mission. He tells NPR what he said to the president this week about his son. I'm Mary Louise Kelly. It's Wednesday, September 1st. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com. T's and C's apply. Over this last year and a half, the world's been through a lot. So on this season

of the StoryCorps podcast, we'll hear stories reminding us that even when times are hard, we can still begin again. Listen to our new season wherever you get your podcasts. It's Consider This from NPR. The U.S. mission in Afghanistan has not ended, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week. It has simply entered a new phase. The military mission is over. A new diplomatic mission has begun. That diplomatic mission is to stay focused on counterterrorism, evacuate more people who want to get out, and get humanitarian aid into Afghanistan. The conflict has taken a terrible toll on the Afghan people.

Millions are internally displaced. Millions are facing hunger, even starvation. Not to mention a global pandemic and the threat of U.S. drone strikes for people living near ISIS targets. People like the family of a woman named Nazo, who spoke to NPR this week. The way that this was handled has been just beyond my understanding. It's been such a catastrophe. I followed every rule. How did they leave my family behind? Nazo, we're only using her first name, has been in Doha trying to get her family out of Afghanistan. Her grandmother holds a U.S. passport, which should have guaranteed her safe passage out of

the country. But in multiple attempts to get inside the Kabul airport, Nazo told NPR her grandmother couldn't make it, and one attempt ended with violence. She spoke to Adi Cornish. At this point, the Talbot are quite frustrated because this is the third time that she showed up, so they beat her with the back of a gun, and she's an older woman. Her son got in front of it and tried to like prevent it from happening. They beat him too. Given all this, what was it like dealing with the State Department, especially after the attack on the airport? I mean, was there the sense then that a door had closed? Yeah, I really do think that that was the case. They were telling us to shelter in place. They would call her in English. When I explicitly communicated to them that she speaks only Pashto, my grandmother would get very worried, thinking

that she missed her chance to get herself and her family to safety. It was just an ordeal. Where is your grandmother now? Where was she sent back to, so to speak? And what are your concerns there? She's back in Ningarhar right now. And my concerns are, so she's an older woman. She was dragged all over the place. Very confusing. Was beaten by the Taliban. Her sons were in danger. She was in danger.

Seeing people on fire in front of her. Guns shooting, everything. She already had a really bad blood pressure condition. She's so sick that she's bedridden right now. Her blood pressure went sky high. We're really worried that she may not make it. The drone strike that happened in eastern Afghanistan, that was my province, Fingarhar. It's because ISIS has quite a stronghold in my province.

So this home province is also where the retaliatory drone strike against the alleged Islamic State militants who did the attack on Kabul. That's where that took place. And that's where your family is. Yes. And they pledged to continue to fight ISIS. Well, that means that they're going to continue to drone strike the province that they sent my grandmother back to, a U.S. citizen, and my family who were in danger who helped the U.S. military for many years. The State Department didn't really know what was going on. I was talking to people in cubicles in D.C., so they often were very confused about the situation. I asked them which gate was the main gate because my uncle at one point was saying, like, oh, we're by the main gate. And I said, oh, what's the name? He says, I can't read it.

And he's not literate, so he wasn't able to. And I said, OK, well, which one's the main gate? They're at that gate. They're like, we don't know which one's the main gate. And I'm like, how do you not know? You're supposed to be helping us. We got an email from the United States last night, actually. And it was this final email basically saying like, here's some COVID regulations.

We are in Doha right now and we're pledged to continue to help from there. And that all US citizens should have a contingency plan that does not rely on the United States government. So I have no idea what to do at this point. Nizzo spoke to NPR's Adi Cornish from Doha. Now, President Biden said this week that 98% of Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan were able to. For those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out.

Biden also defended his decision not to keep the U.S. military in the country longer. Doing so, he argued, would have required sending even more troops into harm's way. And at a time when veterans face battles at home too, 18 of them a day, on average, die by suicide. I don't think enough people understand how much we've asked of the 1% of this country who put that uniform on, willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our nation. 2,461 American troops died in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, 13 of them just this past week in that attack on the Kabul airport. One of those was Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz.

He was 20 years old, just six months old, when 9-11 happened. Jared was an energetic little guy. He was constantly happy. If you had the opportunity to look through our photo albums, you would see that no matter how we captured him on a camera, he was always smiling, nonstop. Jared's father, Mark. He told NPR that Jared decided in high school, instead of going to college, following his dad and the family business,

he wanted to join the Marines. Yeah, it was about sophomore year of high school. Instead of going to college, following his dad in the family business, he wanted to join the Marines. Yeah, it was about sophomore year of high school. Got reaction, probably an equal mix of proudness as well as fear, concern, but I knew that it fit him like a glove. Then last month, it came time for Jared's first deployment. He told his dad he couldn't say where he was going. And like a good father, I got it out of him and told him, you know, you got to be incredibly careful. Jared stayed in touch with his dad when he got to Kabul. They texted back and forth. But at one point last week, it had been a few days since they'd been in contact. Mark Schmitz shared what happened next with NPR's Rachel Martin. So then when this attack happened, you know, I was just gut-wrenching feeling for our military and their families, you know, that somebody just lost their life over this.

In the back of my mind, though, of course, thinking, well, my son's okay at least. You know, thank God for that. You know, another day goes by, still hadn't heard from him. I'm starting to get kind of worked up and upset. Like, what's going on? Why is he not getting a hold of us? And my friend Patrick, who's a Marine as well, he's like, look, he's real busy. So he'll get to you when he can. I'm sure everything's just fine.

And it was later that night, 2.40 in the morning. I hear knocking on the door and there's two dark silhouettes on the other side of our glass door. I flipped the porch light on and the lights just went right on their ribbons and medals on their, you know, the breast part of their jackets and uniforms. My heart just sunk, you know, and I'm like, okay, they're here to tell me he's injured and what his injuries are. It took forever for them to get me to comprehend that they were there to deliver the most horrific news. So that conversation where you managed to get Jared to tell you he was deploying to Afghanistan, that was your last with him? That was my last phone conversation with him but we had we'd been able to stay in communication via text yeah i was looking for some information that he had given me a while back so i had to jump in my text messages today and i went back and scrolled back to the most recent conversations with him and just to make sure i

you always tell your kids you love them but you and just to make sure I you always tell your kids you love them but you just want to make sure you got that last one in you know and I did thank God but you know it was so hard because I was scrolling back so far all the way back to Father's Day and there's a message from him in there

and my son is telling me how proud he is of me you know he has no idea And my son is telling me how proud he is of me. You know, there's no idea. Last weekend, Mark Schmitz went to Dover Air Force Base when his son's remains and those of the other service members killed were returned to the U.S. He and Jared's mother had a chance to meet with President Biden there.

Mark says he almost didn't go through with it. I just, I didn't have a lot of good thoughts about the man. When President Biden did meet with Mark and Jared's mother, she pulled up a photo on her phone sent to them by one of Jared's fellow Marines. And it was the last photo of our son taken that morning of. And we showed it to him and, you you know he just kind of stared at it and mumbled something i couldn't really make out what he said but as he's looking at this picture of my son i just flat out said to him that's jared that's jared schmitz don't ever forget that

name and don't forget the name of the 12 others. And you need to spend some time learning their stories, who they were. And then that's when he kind of described it as barking back. Cause I don't know how else to really describe it, but he says, I know their stories. First thought was that's literally impossible, you know? And why are you arguing with me? And then of course he mentions his son again. And I will tell you, will say, in all fairness, as soon as I got done speaking about that and he said what he said, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. And then obviously

this wasn't set up because this was immediately after what I said. And he pulls the card out and he shows me a number. Didn't know what the number meant, but after that number was a plus 13. And he explained to me that he keeps this card with him every day as a reminder of everyone that's been lost. So there's that. So I'll give the guy kudos. Him showing up and having to do what he had to do, given the circumstances of how all this even came into play, had to be one of the hardest things in the world for him to do, given the circumstances of how all this even came into play, had to be one of the hardest things in the world for him to do as well. Mark Schmitz, he spoke to NPR's Rachel Martin on Morning Edition.

It's Consider This. From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly. Support for NPR and the following message come from the Kauffman Foundation, providing access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity, regardless of race, gender, or geography. Kauffman.org.