Two Months, Countless Volunteers, and a Family of 11 is Rescued
A life-changing success story for the Flanders Fields team. It took almost two months, but thanks to the efforts of countless volunteers and orgs around the world, the Pardisi family of 11 has finally made it to US soil. This was the very first family I worked, the one that started this journey for me. Their names were given to me by a Lt General from USMC, on a list of dozens of others.
The ask was simple on its surface, but staggering in practice: “do whatever it takes, but get my guys out.”
They were #12 on that list and something about one of the children (guy in yellow on this photo) reminded me of my twins so I honed in on this one.
Using some publicly available data, I was able to locate an email address linked to one of theirs which eventually linked back to an American phone and an address in the states. I made contact, it turned out to be the brother/son of my family. We worked together for days until we finally found what seemed a viable opportunity into HKIA. A great American (who I’d love to publicly name but can’t) picked them up in Kabul, and then stayed with them for hours upon hours in a van at a location near the airport. When the message came across that “the general’s package is delivered”, I was overcome with joy and dread at the same time. What if they were denied their flight? What if they got kicked back outside the wire? Back to the Taliban?
A few hours later the fear turned to pure joy when it was confirmed not only had they gotten on Freedom Air, but in fact, they had touched down in UAE. It was over. They’re coming to America. Or so I thought…. Despite having served our nation, the hurdles and road blocks this family would have to face to actually get here were far from over at that point.
BUT…they’re over now. They are in America. They are at a camp, awaiting processing to enter the nation they so bravely risked their lives to serve. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for these guys, and I look forward to being there with them every step of the way. Big shout out to the BlackRifle Co team and supporters who helped so much along the way!
Few stories have reached a resolution like this. Some of these guy’s family members are still stuck in cities around Afghanistan. #13 on that same list from the General are still stuck, in a safe house, wholly dependent on the generosity of folks like you donating to flandersfields.org and our mission to get everyone out. The number of people we are feeding, housing, and transporting is growing every day. We need your help, please donate today.
