Major Joshua Mast

So these are some of the cultural and legal barriers that we're trying to figure out without hurting people. And so they split the women. Women and kids 12 and under went into the hangers. Men go into the tents. Nobody touched nobody until we figured this out. And there were significant child safety concerns.

They had several hundred unaccompanied minors because you had a bunch of orphans from the bombing. Now you're an orphan, what do you do? Or there was one sibling, I distinctly remember, that the Taliban killed her parents. And they were like, the Taliban just shot our parents. What do we do?

They had several hundred unaccompanied minors because you had a bunch of orphans from the bombing. Now you're an orphan, what do you do? Or there was one sibling, I distinctly remember, that the Taliban killed her parents. And they were like, the Taliban just shot our parents. What do we do?

They had several hundred unaccompanied minors because you had a bunch of orphans from the bombing. Now you're an orphan, what do you do? Or there was one sibling, I distinctly remember, that the Taliban killed her parents. And they were like, the Taliban just shot our parents. What do we do?

And so you had these unaccompanied minors and figuring out how to – or there was people so desperate at the end. If you had a visa to America or were getting let in, they're like, here, take my kid. Take him to America with you. And so you've got unaccompanied minors with non-family members all over the place. And then on top of that, I spent like four days in the cages like walking around.

And so you had these unaccompanied minors and figuring out how to – or there was people so desperate at the end. If you had a visa to America or were getting let in, they're like, here, take my kid. Take him to America with you. And so you've got unaccompanied minors with non-family members all over the place. And then on top of that, I spent like four days in the cages like walking around.

And so you had these unaccompanied minors and figuring out how to – or there was people so desperate at the end. If you had a visa to America or were getting let in, they're like, here, take my kid. Take him to America with you. And so you've got unaccompanied minors with non-family members all over the place. And then on top of that, I spent like four days in the cages like walking around.

It was super dangerous. Nobody had any weapons because you're trying not to make it look like a – Like, that would be bad optics, but, like, you've got 10,000 dudes in a cage, like, and people are getting upset, you know what I'm saying? Like, it was not safe. I wouldn't let her go outside of the ECP for that stuff, but...

It was super dangerous. Nobody had any weapons because you're trying not to make it look like a – Like, that would be bad optics, but, like, you've got 10,000 dudes in a cage, like, and people are getting upset, you know what I'm saying? Like, it was not safe. I wouldn't let her go outside of the ECP for that stuff, but...

It was super dangerous. Nobody had any weapons because you're trying not to make it look like a – Like, that would be bad optics, but, like, you've got 10,000 dudes in a cage, like, and people are getting upset, you know what I'm saying? Like, it was not safe. I wouldn't let her go outside of the ECP for that stuff, but...

I watched, they're probably DIA or CIA playing close dudes with wanted posters and pulling in the Afghans soft because they had pieces of their uniform and they carried themselves differently. Pulling in the commandos or the KKA guys and like, go find this dude. And they're going and finding bad guys in this refugee street. And, like, I watched that happen over and over again.

I watched, they're probably DIA or CIA playing close dudes with wanted posters and pulling in the Afghans soft because they had pieces of their uniform and they carried themselves differently. Pulling in the commandos or the KKA guys and like, go find this dude. And they're going and finding bad guys in this refugee street. And, like, I watched that happen over and over again.

I watched, they're probably DIA or CIA playing close dudes with wanted posters and pulling in the Afghans soft because they had pieces of their uniform and they carried themselves differently. Pulling in the commandos or the KKA guys and like, go find this dude. And they're going and finding bad guys in this refugee street. And, like, I watched that happen over and over again.

Like, picture, go, like, 15 guys pull them in. They do a school circle. They brief them. They say, go find them. And, like, pulling dudes out of the refugee stream. So I'm like, holy cow. And that kind of... When they were processing these groups, they had what they were calling pods. And so the first pod was like basic intake. Who are you? What documents do you have? What connection to the US?

Like, picture, go, like, 15 guys pull them in. They do a school circle. They brief them. They say, go find them. And, like, pulling dudes out of the refugee stream. So I'm like, holy cow. And that kind of... When they were processing these groups, they had what they were calling pods. And so the first pod was like basic intake. Who are you? What documents do you have? What connection to the US?

Like, picture, go, like, 15 guys pull them in. They do a school circle. They brief them. They say, go find them. And, like, pulling dudes out of the refugee stream. So I'm like, holy cow. And that kind of... When they were processing these groups, they had what they were calling pods. And so the first pod was like basic intake. Who are you? What documents do you have? What connection to the US?

And they're vetting them a little bit and so on and so forth. So we were concerned because I had gotten them expedited because of the medical concerns. There was a medical priority for some of them, like pregnant women or people with diseases or acute problems. And so for both Sparrow and for this pregnant person, we were trying to get them through. And then,

And they're vetting them a little bit and so on and so forth. So we were concerned because I had gotten them expedited because of the medical concerns. There was a medical priority for some of them, like pregnant women or people with diseases or acute problems. And so for both Sparrow and for this pregnant person, we were trying to get them through. And then,

And they're vetting them a little bit and so on and so forth. So we were concerned because I had gotten them expedited because of the medical concerns. There was a medical priority for some of them, like pregnant women or people with diseases or acute problems. And so for both Sparrow and for this pregnant person, we were trying to get them through. And then,

Also, with my interpreter's three kids, or three siblings, they didn't have any documents at all, like a birth certificate, and that was it. And they had no connection to this group, so making sure that they stayed together and they routed together to the states was very important. And so we, I mean, we were relentless in trying to advocate to get them through, and that succeeded after a few days.