Chaos In Afghanistan Bringing Back Tough Memories For Some Local Veterans

STATESVILLE, NC. — 20-year Navy veteran Scott Stevenson served in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007. Going back for shorter deployments after that. During that time, the Statesville resident got to know the people and the culture.

“It’s colorful. People are colorful, even the jingle trucks, which are basically dump trucks, they’re colorful. They’ve got paintings all over them. They’ve got little jingle metal chains running around them that jingle,” Stevenson says.

Stevenson says he’s seen photos and videos of families trying to flee the Taliban.

“I feel sorry for the people over there because there’s a lot of really nice, sweet people.”

David Schanzer is an expert on counterterrorism strategy and a professor at Duke University. He says most U.S personnel and embassy personnel have all gotten out, but too many people were left behind.

“Afghans who cooperated with us, and that is a result of how quickly things unfolded,” Schanzer says.