WASHINGTON — In late 2010 and early 2011, Travis Horr patrolled the southern Helmand province in Afghanistan as part of a small Marine unit tasked with monitoring a remote section of the country. Horr served alongside fellow Marines, as well as interpreters who joined the American effort against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
The Afghans who filled the roles did far more than translate, according to Horr, as they helped the soldiers navigate through unknown areas and understand some of the situations they witnessed while on duty.
"Our translators were integral to our deployment," Horr said. "They were also our cultural advisor to the Afghan locals. They really had the institutional knowledge of the previous units that we replaced in Afghanistan and told us about all the different interactions with tribal leaders or rivalries they might have to give us some more context.”
Now, over 10 years after Horr served in the country, some of the translators who assisted U.S. troops and helped bring added protection will be coming to Virginia.
Following President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan, Fort Lee will become the temporary home for around 2,500 translators and their families.
The relocation comes as the U.S. State Department estimated that around 18,000 Afghans have applied for Special Immigration Visas (SIV) after working for the U.S. Getting the necessary visa and full approval to come to the country can often take years, with some interpreters facing a frustrating process that has led to multiple rejections.
With the withdrawal of the US troops bringing even more fears about a Taliban takeover in the country, the House voted on Thursday to grant an additional 8,000 SIVs for interpreters.
After working alongside them years ago, Horr knew what the move to America meant for interpreters.
"These are incredibly brilliant and smart people. They’re going to be an asset to any locality they go to," he said. "Being able to bring these people over that helped us and protected us over there is incredible. It cannot be understated how life-changing that is.”
Since the announcement of the withdrawal by President Biden in mid-April, the situation in Afghanistan has only grown worse. According to CBS News, the Taliban has seized a third of the country's 421 districts and is fighting for control of many others.
The rise in Taliban power would bring great danger for the interpreters, who Horr said took great risks helping Americans.
"The Taliban don’t just target them, they target their family members as well as siblings, spouses, parents," the Marine said. "A lot of these people have been fighting against the Taliban and working however they can against the Taliban for a long time.”
Horr remembers a specific translator who helped his team during the time he served in the country. The interpreter was from Kabul and loyal to the Afghanistan government before the Taliban took control in the 1990s.
During their rule, he said his mother was forced to stop working as a teacher due to highly oppressive laws and rules against women. The lives of the family members were upended by the Taliban, which led to the translator wanting to help the American cause and make Afghanistan safer.
While Marines took shifts for who would go out on missions and patrols, Horr added that the translator went out on every rotation to help.
Now, with some of the translators able to come to America, the Marine said the ability to offer safety and security for their families brought relief and happiness.
"They saved lives," he said. "America should fulfill our end of the promise and make sure these people are safe.”
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