DAYTON, Ohio — Nearly two decades after the Taliban was driven out of Kabul by U.S. troops, the capital of Afghanistan has been retaken by the Islamic extremist militant group.
The developments are catching the attention and ire of some in Ohio’s veteran community.
All eyes are on the situation happening right now in Afghanistan. After the United States military fought for nearly 20 years to control and restructure Kabul, Afghanistan has been seized by the Taliban — a group with a history of imposing a harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
In Dayton, U.S. veterans are watching this situation unfold in disbelief.
Dan Durocher is a retired captain with the Army, and served in Afghanistan in 2010. He said he can’t help but feel sad and angry with what’s unfolding.
“When we were there, the Taliban were kind of lurking in the shadows until they were ready to engage us in a firefight,” said Durocher. “They didn’t want us to know where they were. Now it just seems as if they’re just out in the open doing whatever they want.”
Durocher is a Bronze Star recipient for combat missions in Afghanistan. He was hit by friendly fire in 2010, ending his tour of duty. When he reflects on his time in Afghanistan and the current stiuation that is unfolding, he can’t help but think of all the sacrifice paid by American soldiers.
“I think about all the time and the money and the lives and the blood and the limbs that we left there,” Durocher said. “And just all the trauma that we collectively as a fighting force experienced there. At the end of the day, we’re just turning it right back over to the Taliban.”
Phoenix Hegner, another veteran from Dayton, served twice in Afghanistan, in 2012 and 2015, with United States Air Force Security Forces.
He said what’s being seen now is disappointing.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Hegner said. “It just seems like all the work that we put in for the pasty 20-plus years just seemed like it didn’t matter in a way. Like it didn’t really help much.”
Hegner said the military pulling out of Afghanistan may have been a mistake because he foresees it could lead to a resurgence of terrorist attacks.
“I mean, I know we’ve been there for a long time and doing this for a while,” Hegner said. “And people are probably tired of it, but we left them ill-prepared.”
Durocher isn’t sure what the remedy will be, but wants everyone to know that what they did wasn’t wasted effort.
“We did what was asked of us,” Durocher said. “And what we did while we were there mattered. We helped people. We gave kids hope. We gave people clean water and helped them with their irrigation and did all these improvement tasks that bettered the lives of people while we were there. And even though we haven’t got the outcome that we wanted, this isn’t the way that any of us pictured the United States leaving Afghanistan. What little work that we did there, it was good work and it did matter.”
