No One Left Behind

How Would You Thank Someone Who Saved Your Life?

I never thought my Afghan translator would save my life by killing two Taliban fighters who were about to kill me. Janis did just that. I'm here today because he had my back in a way I only thought an American soldier would.

On April 28, 2008, I found myself in the worst ambush of my life -- surrounded by 45 Taliban fighters, out of grenades, and running low on bullets. We had been fighting nonstop for an hour. A mortar round landed within a few meters of my position and sent me flying into a ditch.

Coming into to consciousness I realized I would likely die on that desolate Afghan hillside -- the mortars were too close and accurate to miss me again. At that moment, I felt a body slam into the ditch next to me and simultaneously heard the unmistakable sound of an AK-47 firing next to my head.

I turned and saw my Afghan interpreter Janis Shinwari glaring down the barrel of his rifle at the bodies of the two Taliban fighters he had just killed. They had me dead to rights until Janis acted to save mine. On that April day he taught me the true price of loyalty and brotherhood forged through combat.

The Taliban retaliated by placing him on the top of its kill list.

For the next five years, we tried to secure him and his family the U.S. visas he clearly had earned. After an extensive effort that involved a national media campaign and working with more than a dozen members of Congress, we eventually prevailed. Janis and his family immigrated to the United States in October 2013. The story of his arrival went viral and we ended up raising over $30,000 to help his family resettle. When I went to give Janis the money, he asked if we could use it instead to help resettle other Afghan and Iraqi translators.

Together, we run No One Left Behind, an organization dedicated to ensuring we fulfill our nation's promise to bring these allies to America after their service and provide them with housing, furniture, and employment assistance. We consider keeping that promise a matter of national security -- nothing less than the credibility and honor of the United States is at stake.

In a future conflict, the United States will likely need local population support. Our organization has already documented numerous instances of former translators warning others to avoid serving the United States – they claim its promises are worthless. If the United States continues to abandon these translators to their common enemies, it will find itself without vital local support in future conflicts.

We hope that our story and cause will inspire other veterans to fight for their personal interpreter’s visa and join us in advocating for the policies and laws necessary to properly resettle them. Our goal is to ultimately work ourselves out of a mission – i.e. to resettle all who were promised safety and security in exchange for service. 

-Matt Zeller, Founder