When Afghanistan fell back into the hands of the Taliban last year, thousands of Afghan people who had worked to assist U.S. forces scrambled to leave the country and begin new lives elsewhere. In this week's commentary, Salvation South Editor Chuck Reece has the story of one such Afghan family — and what their experience might teach us about life in America.

Zak and Family on Air Force plane out of Kabut

Zak Zaki and his family on an Air Force plane heading out of Kabul

Credit: Salvation South

TRANSCRIPT: 

Chuck Reece - Salvation South Editor: I have a good friend in Wilmington, North Carolina, named Worth Parker. When I first met Worth, he was still a U.S. Marine, lieutenant colonel, who was about to retire from the corps after tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, he's a writer, and he contributes often to Salvation South, the online magazine that I edit.

In August, he wrote a story for us about an Afghan refugee now living in San Antonio, Texas. His name is Zainullah Zaki: ‘Zak,’ for short. For years he served the U.S. Marines loyally as an interpreter when they were fighting in his native country of Afghanistan. Last year, as the country was falling back into Taliban hands, Worth went to work with a large group of retired military and intelligence professionals to help desperate people escape Kabul and get, as Worth recently wrote for us, to anywhere else. In the months after, Worth helped Zak and Marine Maj. Tom Schueman write a book about how Zach and his family made it out of Afghanistan.

Broadcast news report: He finally got himself and his family out of Afghanistan last year after an Herculean effort.

Chuck Reece - Salvation South Editor: It's called Always Faithful: The Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond between a Marine and an Interpreter. Today, Zak Zaki, along with his wife and four children, is building a new life in San Antonio. Zak talked to Worth about all of the people who helped him get to America, about how he'd gladly return to Afghanistan with American forces if need be. In other words, he has deep gratitude for the new life he's living today. And in his story, Worth talked to Zak about precisely what he's grateful for. And the list is very simple. As for shelter, Zak says his apartment is, and I quote, "A really good place." As for food, Zach says “You're near the HEB and Walmart.” As for faith, Zak says, "We have two mosques very close we can walk to." As for families, Zak says, "Our cousins are a mile away and they are helping me register the kids in school."

Zak's perspective, Worth believes, could inspire all of us to rise above the issues that divide us today. Worth wrote, "Perspective is something I fear we are losing in our increasingly fractured nation, and I feel regaining some collective understanding of just how good we have it as Americans, challenges notwithstanding, is critical to our survival. I think Zak's story and the perspective it's given him — that we all have the power to decide what the facts of our lives mean to us — offers us all a path to some kind of unity."

I think the lesson is, maybe we should all take a deep breath and examine what we're grateful for — looking for the things that bind us together instead of the forces that drive us apart.

Come visit us at SalvationSouth.com.

Salvation South editor Chuck Reece comments on Southern culture and values in a weekly segment that airs Fridays at 7:45 a.m. during Morning Edition and 4:44 p.m. during All Things Considered on GPB Radio. You can also find them here at GPB.org/Salvation-South and now on your favorite podcast platforms as well.