Since the start of the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan nearly 20 years ago, about 2,500 U.S. servicemembers have died in the conflict.
For the families of the fallen, watching the Taliban sweep through Kabul has been especially difficult.
Images of the Taliban walking through the Afghanistan presidential palace really got to Roxane Langevin, a Gold Star mother.
“Because all of the efforts, the support, the training that they provided the Afghan Army, it just seemed like it was just taken away,” she said.
Langevin’s son, Cpl. Sean Langevin was killed in an ambush in Afghanistan in November 2007. He was 23 years old.
Langevin said she had mixed feelings about the decision to pull out of the country now.
“It just makes me sad. It makes me angry. We can’t change a culture that goes back centuries and centuries and centuries,” she added.
East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee was the sole voice in Congress back in 2001, who said the United States should not enter into an open-ended war in Afghanistan.
Lee said that President Joe Biden’s decision to pull out U.S. troops now is courageous. She is also surprised how quickly the Taliban was able to sweep across Afghanistan and into the capital city of Kabul.
“This is something that unfortunately demonstrates that there’s no military solutions to the problems in Afghanistan,” Lee said. “But right now, I’m really focused on how we can support the efforts to make sure that everyone is evacuated to safety.”
As the U.S. continues to evacuate allies from there, Langevin said- her thoughts are with the troops now being sent back in to help with the evacuation.
Langevin hopes many don’t forget the thousands of American servicemembers like her son Sean, who sacrificed so much in Afghanistan.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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