Zak First News Today

Now, whats happened in the interim two weeks? besides, you know, afghanistan falling in its entirety to the taliban. back home in rhode island, major thomas schueman has been in repeated contact with zak in afghanistan, trying to do for zak what zak was asking of president biden. take him out of this crisis, somehow help him flee the country. major schueman had helped zak with his visa applications. he made phone calls, he wrote letters on his behalf. he sent zak money so zak could try to get hi...

Effort by a few individuals they wont be executed by the taliban. thats all that matters right now. he is with the marines. that post was from marine officer thomas schueman sharing the good news today that his former afghan interpreter, zak, had made it to kabul airport. a few hours later we got this picture with the caption wheels up. it was not easy. zak waited six years for this moment since he first applied for a visa to get out. from rhode island from a world away from afghanistan, officer...

Identify the exact ramp number in kabul from your kitchen table in rhode island. this is how veterans back home are trying to get their interpreters out. this is not how this was supposed to go, right? this is not the might of the u.s. government. this is not the promise we made to the people like zak. it is not how we were supposed to be bringing him home. getting this wrong doesnt mean, oh, theyll hop the next flight out. the window is closing. getting this wrong means these people will get ki...

There are so many close calls and so many moments where we thought maybe wed contacted the right person, maybe we had the right solution to this, and it was a series of tragic events that just continued to unfold. so many close calls. it was a very harrowing experience over the last month or two. >> obviously the system that was set up within the u.s. government, the special immigrant visa specifically for men like zak, people who had provided this service to our country, had been promised that ...

Citizens. >> now it is your time, our american friends, our american partners time, to help us and get us out of this crisis because the enemy are looking for the people who worked with american and who worked for the american mission, and to find them and kill them and kill their family. we cannot stay. yesterday one of our former interpreters in herat province, the taliban attacked, killed him. also in the future, maybe they target us and kill us. now please, president, its your time to help u...

And two guys in black shirts and nvg, knowing that zak will understand that means night vision goggles. he says, zak, put your kid with the blue shirt on your shoulders as a way for them to figure out how to spot each other. and zak sends a picture of his exact location at the airport. the air force captain responds got him. majorschueman says thank god, you are safe. ill see you in america. zak responds with a few videos of his family. he writes to major schueman, waiting for the flight, sir. h...

Made for our country. there is a special category for men like zak who helped u.s. troops so they could come to the united states. zak first applied for that visa six years ago but it hit a snag, because overall, zak spent about three years working for the u.s. war effort in afghanistan. in addition to working for major schueman and that battalion of marines, he also spent time working for a u.s. government contractor that was supplying translation services to the u.s. army. in order to get this...

Him and his family out and its just been story after story of these bottlenecks and it not working and glitches. and its not just zaks story that is familiar by now. it is major schuemans story too. the experience of all of these american combat veterans of the war in afghanistan who are now working what amounts to second full-time jobs, trying to do what the u.s. government as a whole hasnt been able to do quickly enough. individual veterans all over the country cashing in every favor they can,...

Contractor doesnt exist anymore. like so many military contracting organizations that existed for a moment, provided a service and then, poof. but because they are gone, theyre defunct and have left sort of no trace, zak has not been able to get a letter from them. they dont exist anymore. and the fact that he wasnt able to get a letter from a defunct contractor that doesnt exist is enough to deny him a visa. it means he has been stuck in afghanistan which is a very dangerous place to be if your...

Or two. >> obviously the system that was set up within the u.s. government, the special immigrant visa specifically for men like zak, people who had provided this service to our country, had been promised that they would be given safe passage to be here in this country for us to pay them back for what they did, that system was literally set up for somebody like him and yet for all intents and purposes it did not work for him until this series of hail marys, as you describe it at the very end. do...