January 25, 2005
I recommend taking a few minutes to read this depiction of an Afgani man assisting our troops near Kabul:
A taxi stops near the front gate of Camp Phoenix on the outskirts of Kabul. Within seconds a short, stocky man wielding a pipe starts to approach the vehicle. The man with the lead stick means business.

“Move the car,” he demands in a language anyone could understand. “Move the car. Now!”

The occupant hastily pays his fare, and the taxi driver wastes no time backing away.

With the way clear, the Afghan man U.S. soldiers call “Rambo” returns to his post just inside the gate to resume his vigil.

The caption of this picture explains that he salutes every military vehicle heading off or on base. For the rest of his touching story, you need to go read the full post, although I will reveal how he ended up assisting our soldiers:

“While I was in Pakistan, I saw President Bush and his wife on TV,” Udin said. “They said: ‘We will help Afghanistan. We will rebuild Afghanistan.’ That’s why I like Americans, and why I like to work for them.”

That commitment to his country prompted him to return to Kabul. Because Udin had sold his apartment, the only logical place to go, he figured, was his old workplace. His bosses didn’t have a driver’s job open, so they assigned him to the front gate — and he’s been there ever since.

“He takes a lot of work off of our hands,” said Spc. David Young, who, like Sweet, is with Company C, 151st Infantry Battalion.

Udin has an incredible capacity to remember faces, Sweet said. He always knows who belongs on base and who doesn’t. If a stranger approaches, the man they call Rambo steps forward first to sort things out. And his lead pipe, wrapped in red tape, rarely leaves his hand, sending a subtle but convincing message not to cross him.

Again, you owe it to yourself to go and read it in its entirety.
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