After Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 may seem like ancient history.
But to David Tyson — an Army veteran turned CIA paramilitary who was part of Alpha Team, the first Americans sent to Afghanistan after 9/11 — it remains the focus.
Two years after the withdrawal, Tyson and other members of the Alpha team are still working to bring an important group of US allies stateside.
“I want to point out that they were the first people to help the US government after 9/11,” Tyson told me.
Five weeks after the 2001 terrorist attacks, a group of paramilitary and CIA Special Forces officers were deployed to Northern Afghanistan, joining Afghan fighters.
Most of the fighters, from the Northern Alliance, are ethnic Uzbeks and Tajiks living under a tyrannical regime.
The dangerous mission — chronicled in the book “First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11” by Toby Harnden, and in Chris Hemsworth’s 2018 film “12 Strong”—- will include brutal hand-to-hand combat and eventually leading to the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.
David Tyson (third from left) and Justin Sapp (second from right) with Afghan fighters from the Northern Alliance, in 2001. Courtsey of Toby Harnden
“They don’t work for us. We do not pay their salaries. They just joined us and fought with us,” said Tyson of the Afghan fighters. “Obviously, it’s in their interest. But this man came to us voluntarily without expecting anything. Many of them died for us. We had a cavalry commander who fought hard, and then for the next 20 years was part of the Afghan government, army, police and intelligence services.”
They also, he insisted, help take care of Americans.
“We were small in number and we lived with the Afghans,” Tyson recalled. “We are fed by them and protected by them.”
CIA Alpha Team at K2 airbase in Uzbekistan in October 2001. Justin Sapp bottom right. Courtsey of Toby Harnden
But in September 2021, when the US withdraws from Afghanistan, our Afghan allies are largely left scrambling to find their own way to safety with the Taliban seizing power; very few are granted Special Immigrant visas to the US.
Desperate to repay the life-saving favor shown to him and to uphold the compact, Tyson teams up with Green Berets Justin Sapp and Shannon Spann, whose husband, Mike, a former Marine and CIA paramilitary officer, is the first American casualty of the war. .
In 2022, they formed the Badger Six — after the call sign used by Spann and Sapp — to financially support the 30 or so families hiding in safe houses in Afghanistan or in neighboring countries, including Pakistan, waiting for the US government to clear their paperwork.
The late Mike Spann (left) and Justin Sapp. Courtesy of David Tyson
On Thursday, more than a hundred US Veterans will gather at Hoboken’s Pier A Park for the inaugural “Ruck the River”: a two-mile charity walk organized by the Hoboken American Legion and benefiting the Badger Six.
“The deal is you stick your neck out for us and we stick our neck out for you and we take it to the grave,” Sapp told me. “The bond you build with these locals is just as strong as the bond you build with the soldiers in your unit.”
The recent crisis has been exacerbated by Pakistan ordering undocumented Afghans to leave the country last month.
David Tyson (bottom right) with Afghan fighters from the Northern Alliance in the Darya Suf Valley, October 2001. Courtsey of Toby Harnden
Tyson said it’s sad that it’s happening while there’s a virtual free-for-all for immigrants at our Southern border.
“These people came in illegally – and our people are going through the vetting process, which takes a long time,” he said. “You can imagine our disappointment at that.”
He said some Afghan families have gone to the United States, where they are independent and strive to achieve the American dream.
“They are not lukewarm about how they feel about the United States. They are very patriotic … because we go and sacrifice for them,” Tyson said, noting that the charity has limited goals. “Maybe I’m an optimist, but I hope two years from now the Badger Six is just a memory.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
