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I have not only heard about the atrocities and oppression the Taliban inflicted on the Afghan people. I also witnessed them firsthand. Sometimes I couldn’t get them out of my head.
In his eighth and final deployment, he conducted a feasibility study of an operation to target high-ranking Taliban officials in the mountains.
Shortly after the successful operation, our leadership team informed me that the Taliban had captured and killed 10 Afghan team members who were working for me. This was a special group for me. I ate at their house and played with their children.
Afghan rebel group furious at UN staff photographed under Taliban flag
They knew my whereabouts and had the ability to compromise it. The Taliban hanged them after he held them for a week. I loved these men; they were my friends I would have died for them and they would have died for me.
Smoke rises from an explosion outside an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, August 26, 2021. The blast occurred outside Kabul’s airport, where thousands gathered to flee the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. Authorities did not release casualty figures, but witnesses said several people were killed or injured on Thursday. (AP Photo/Wali Sabaung)
(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Despite the dangers, I continued to work because I believed the importance was worth the personal risk. A few days later at 5am I heard a knock on my door and through the window saw Jack and an older man spending time at my house.
When I opened the door, two more men were hiding and forced me into the back seat of the car. I knew for sure that they wanted to kill me. The men interrogated me violently for an hour or two, but for some reason decided to release me.
After that, I tried another operation, but I was not smart. I was experiencing severe physiological reactions, panic attacks and mental detachment, after which while I was in danger, our command intel discovered that one of them had sided with the Taliban.
A few days later, my house in Afghanistan was blown to rubble after a Vehicle Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) was forced into my house. My former Afghan teammate had offered our place to the Taliban. Thankfully neither I nor my team were home.
They knew my whereabouts and had the ability to compromise it. The Taliban hanged them after he held them for a week. I loved these men; they were my friends I would have died for them and they would have died for me.
The execution, interrogation, and attempt to kill me and my teammates in Afghanistan horrified me. In a moment of clarity, I concluded that my deteriorating mental state was putting me and others at risk. informed the person.
At the airport, I remember every moment of constant paranoia and anxiety pulsing through my body, from jetway to boarding the plane. I don’t know if I’ve ever been more relieved than when my wheels lifted off the runway and cleared a mountain.
When I got home, I was extremely anxious. My hands and arms go numb, then my face goes numb. My throat was swollen and it was hard to breathe. It felt like a thousand pounds weighed on her chest.
I was diagnosed with severe chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and removed from the task force. I was essentially without my job and home permanently with all my anxiety, guilt, frustration, anger and shame.
I trained in martial arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and was an undefeated professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. Kathy and I opened a Jiu-Jitsu school and went back to fighting professionally in MMA. Within three years, our school had grown to her 2 places and her 1,000 students, won the MMA world title and was ranked 6th in the world in flyweight. But my life was a total failure.
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Cathy and I have separated and filed for divorce. I decided that suicide was the best thing I could do for my three children. In September 2010, as she pressed her pistol to her head, she heard someone outside her apartment. I opened the door and there was Cathy. We had a heated discussion and she asked: She said, “Chad, are you willing to die for your comrades and train hard for MMA fighting, all that you’ve done in the military in Afghanistan? To your family, have you stopped?”
Nothing cuts my soul like being called a non-smoker. But she was totally right. When it comes to being her husband and her father and most importantly wanting to get well, I quit.
Cathy went to church and prayed for me and my recovery. A man in the church gave me counsel and helped me hold myself accountable. Until then, she had said she was a Christian — she wore a military dogtag claiming she was a Christian — but for the first time in her life, she surrendered her life to Jesus.
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After recovering, I Mighty Oaks Foundation Helping veterans and those in the military community to combat PTSD and life issues, help them overcome life’s hardships and transition to the life God created us all to live. To all struggling veterans, I pass on the lessons I have learned. In life, just like in combat, we are not meant to fight alone.Over the past decade, more than 4,500 military warriors and their spouses have entered recovery programs and I am his I spoke to over 275,000 active duty military about resilience.
We all go through seasons in life. We have our ups and downs, some days in dark valleys and some days in high peaks. There are times in life when you need help urgently and other times when you are in a position to help someone. When we have the ability to help our compatriots at the most crucial moment, we must. we were created That’s how we are. There is no greater love than someone laying down his life for a friend. (John 15:13 ESV)
taken from“Save Aziz: How a Mission to Help One Became a Mission to Rescue Thousands from the Taliban”Chad Robichaux, David L. Thomas. Copyright © 2023 by Chad Robichaux, David L. Thomas. Used with permission from Nelson Books.
