- [Bao] Why we waste life of everybody.

We sacrifice a lot of young people, American, Vietnamese, even North Vietnam.

And now to fall of Afghanistan to Taliban.

I see similarity with Vietnam.

We sacrifice our future, our life, family too.

And for what?

(gentle music) - When America gets involved in foreign wars, our military cannot fight those conflicts alone.

Whether we're battling communist forces in Vietnam or the Taliban in Afghanistan, US forces have traditionally relied on local citizens to take up arms.

It is also those local citizens who often fight the hardest and have the most to lose when the United States decides it's time to go.

Bao Nguyen is a veteran of Division 18, a South Vietnamese army unit with a storied history.

Formed during the Vietnam War and trained by the Americans to take on communist forces, Division 18 was the last to stand and defend Saigon in the final battle of the Vietnam War.

(gentle music) - [Bao] I was in Xuan Loc fighting for like 12 days, day and night.

The town almost flat.

We had to withdraw, but at least we show to the world that we fought at the very end.

- [Thanh] Eventually, they had no choice but to lay their weapons down.

Bao experienced the bitterness of defeat.

Hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese soldiers who'd allied with the US were sent to prison camps.

For six years, Bao was moved from camp to camp, starved while performing hard labor.

When he was finally released, his family was gone.

- I tried to escape to flee Vietnam.

I fail like three times and at the fourth time, I succeeded.

- [Thanh] He rebuilt his life in Washington state, retiring after a long career at Boeing.

But when Kabul fell in August, 2021, he knew those who'd fought alongside the Americans were in trouble.

- [Bao] Without people helping to fight Communist or Taliban, everything, the army who cannot win, cannot.

So we should help those helping us before.

You owe them.

- [Thanh] Among the thousands of refugees who've been lucky enough to escape Afghanistan is Mohammad, a former officer of the Afghan Forces.

We're withholding his last name and other details to protect his family and associates still in Afghanistan.

For him fighting the war over the last 20 years was about freedom for his people, regardless of the risks.

- (speaking in a foreign language) - [Thanh] As the Taliban took over, he gathered as many people as he could for one of the final flights out of the country.

(guns firing) - (speaking in a foreign language) - [Thanh] Mohammad is no longer in harm's way but like so many other Afghan refugees, he's homesick and thinking constantly about those who didn't make it out.

- (speaking in a foreign language) - [Thanh] Serving a tour of duty in Afghanistan as a lawyer for the US Army was Dede Tran.

A daughter of Vietnamese refugees, she has never forgotten her family's journey.

- [Dede] I just kind of grew up hearing about the stories of how US service members helped the South Vietnamese people during their time of need.

And so I always kind of felt like I wanted to give back in some kind of way.

That was a big motivation for why I decided to join.

- [Thanh] Like many Americans fighting in Afghanistan, Dede was dependent on assistance from local citizens.

In her case, it was a translator who provided a lifeline.

- We were joined at the hip.

We'd go off base every single day, I would say six to seven days out of the week.

We would go and we would visit the Afghan military judges find out what kind of assistance they needed, what kind of training that they needed, and he would just be right there, right in between us translating.

He was always so dedicated and so good at just helping me build those relationships with my Afghan partners.

I could not have done it without him.

- This interview we filmed with Dede took place on August 20th, 2021, five days after the fall of Kabul.

Her former translator was stuck in Afghanistan panic mounting.

Dede is my good friend, our shared lived experience of being children of Vietnamese refugees has brought us closer over the years.

But knowing she had served in Afghanistan, it was hard to see her so stressed and frantic.

Time was ticking and her translator, who she considers family, was in hiding, desperate to get out before the US withdrawal on August 31st.

- [Dede] Hello.

- [Abdul] Hello.

- Abdul Jamy, how are you feeling right now?

And how are things around you?

- [Abdul] Actually, like I'm good but feelings or mentally I'm completely lost.

It's terrible, really bad situation in Kabul.

We're really worried about the future our children.

If we move to the US or to any Western countries, the children and ourself we may have a good future, but if we stay here, I'm sure we will die somehow or we will be killed somehow.

- [Thanh] Abdul Jamy, Bao, Mohammad, these are just a few examples of the people who have put their lives on the line to fight for the freedom of their own countries.

If we go to such great lengths to protect our own soldiers, why does that not extend to everyone?

- [Dede] I want his safe passage to get out of Afghanistan.

We owe him that.

He gave us practically his life to support our presence there.

And if we don't honor that, I don't know how people can trust this government anymore to do the right thing.

- [Thanh] In part three of the series, we'll take a closer look at how Vietnamese-American refugees are helping Afghan refugees resettle in Washington.

- [Announcer] "Refuge After War" is the first season of CrossCut Origins.

Submissions are open for season two.

Learn more and apply at crosscut.com/origins.

Refuge after war is made possible by the generous support of CAIR-WA.