Rockwall Marine fulfills promise to get Afghan interpreter safely to the U.S.
ROCKWALL, Texas - An Afghan interpreter left behind when the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan is now finally safe in the United States, thanks to the help of a Marine in Rockwall. He first submitted his application to come to the United States seven years ago.
Shirzad Ghafoori, his wife and two children, ages 9 and 6, landed on U.S. soil on July 7.
"I can't believe it. We made it here. I'm dreaming," he said. "For two days, I thought I'm dreaming."
There to greet him at DFW Airport was U.S. Marine Sgt. Mike Donoghue. They had not seen each other in 14 years when Ghafoori was 20 years old and Donoghue was 26. They spent 10 months together in Afghanistan in 2009.
"We were part of Operation Kanjari, the largest helicopter raid since Vietnam. It was the initial push into Helmand, Province," Donoghue said.
Donoghue says Ghafoori translated critical information for the United States.
"Getting intel where IEDs are planted, keeping materials and weapons, interpreters get all of that for us," he said.
In 2016, Ghafoori submitted his application to the State Department to come to the United States, but the application stalled, and he never heard back.
In 2021 when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan again, Ghafoori became worried about his family's safety.
"I was worried about my kids and wife," he recalled. "When you have been an interpreter for U.S. forces, they will kill your kids first in front of you. Then they will kill you."
Ghafoori reached out to Donoghue on Facebook to see if he could help.
"We forget there are people that we, as a country, owe them things. We made a promise," Donaghue said. "If you don't live up to a promise, you cannot be the country we say we are."
With Donoghue's help, Ghafoori and his family were in the airport in August 2021 when an explosion killed 13 U.S. service members.
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"The Taliban started charging the planes. The plane they were on, we couldn't board it anymore," Ghafoori said. "We used Google Maps to say go to this gate, go to this gate, try to do this. That is when the giant explosion happened."
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Donoghue did not give up on his promise. It took nearly two more emotional years.
"Thank God. Then, thanks, Mike. He helped me out a lot," Ghafoori said. "Thanks all American nation. I’m glad."
It is now the beginning of the second chapter to help the man who risked his life helping the U.S.
The Donoghues are working to raise funds for the family until Ghafoori can get his social security card and line up a job.
Fundraiser by Mike Donoghue : Finally in America - Welcome home Ghafoori family (gofundme.com)