A kind of magical synergy can break out in a university classroom that is diverse when unlikely circumstances coalesce. Where else would a 21-year-old Pakistani man and a 37-year-old U.S. Army Ranger from Ohio find themselves together in rural southeastern North Carolina?
Recently, students in a journalism class at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke became riveted when an in-class interview exercise morphed into an unexpected glimpse into life in Afghanistan. Students waited eagerly for answers as they tossed questions into the conversation. The two men were in tune with one another describing the reality of that part of the globe for others who have never been there.
“It once was a thriving, vibrant area,” the Pakistani said. “It was modern. Not all women wore the headscarves. There was tourism, before the Russians came.” When Russia was there, the U.S. supported the Taliban. “There have been both good Taliban and bad Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he explained. “Now, sometimes, the drones come, and the civilians get hurt; many get hurt.” He has friends who escaped from Afghanistan.
The Army Staff Sergeant most recently was stationed outside Kandahar, which he called the birthplace of the Taliban. His platoon became part of national news coverage after two civilians were killed. He, also, recounted stories of wounded buddies.
“You have to expect you’re not coming home,” he said. It’s one of the hardest things he had to teach the young men under his command. He relied on his training and an ability to compartmentalize his life that he developed as a young kid during tough economic times. He taught the soldiers that training would get them home, not the yearning to be back with their families.
“The first time a soldier loses a buddy, it transforms them,” he said. He listed his buddies who have lost arms and legs, sometimes both, or have been shot in the neck. Today, those men are working again, contributing. The Army vet has endured two spinal surgeries. His nerve damage sometimes causes him to fall unexpectedly or drop beverages during a meal. “Parachutes are not kind,” he explained.
“The guys I served with in Kandahar are my family,” he said. He’s not as close to his biological family back in Ohio but is devoted to his two children, 9 and 7. He was upbeat and funny with some salty language thrown in, not at all discouraged by his 16-year experience as a soldier. He served three tours in Afghanistan as well as in Iraq and Bosnia.
