For US military leaders, Afghan news strikes personal chord
Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — For senior military and Pentagon leaders, this week’s news was profoundly personal.
The photos and videos pouring out of Afghanistan hit a nerve, and triggered searingly vivid flashbacks to battles fought, troops lost and tears shed during their own deployments there. And in a response shaped by their memories and experiences in the war, they urged troops to check in on their buddies, talk to each other and seek help and solace if they need it.
The top two Pentagon leaders made it clear that the scenes unfolding in Afghanistan, as citizens frantically tried to get out of the country and escape the new Taliban rule, were tough for them to watch. And they knew that the visions of Afghans struggling to get on flights — so desperate that some clung to an aircraft as it lifted off — were painful for troops to see.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/08/21/for-us-military-leaders-afghan-news-strikes-personal-chord/
