One Year Message to AA21

Written By Carrie Brown

Dear AA21 friends and colleagues,

August 15th marks one year since the capture of Kabul by Taliban forces. Between August 14th and August 31st, over 100,000 Afghans departed Hamid Karzai International Airport. It was the largest non-combatant evacuation operation in U.S. history and the first where volunteers from around the world stepped in using digital tools to directly assist those in need.

You know this already because that was you.

Hundreds of like-minded volunteers (many, but not all, with direct connections to Afghanistan because of prior service) joined together to become Allied Airlift 21 (AA21). And AA21, working alongside dozens of other volunteer groups, stepped in to fill in the gaps in those chaotic, confusing days in August (and beyond) when our Afghan Allies needed us.

AA21’s results:

  • Guided over 350 Afghan Allies to safety through HKIA gates, almost all of whom are now in the U.S. starting new lives.

  • Created the Afghan Allies Registry, a record of over 25,000 names of Afghans seeking safe departure from Afghanistan and presented the Registry to the White House.

  • Partnered with the Afghan Departure Group (ADG), which organized the first private charter evacuation flight from Afghanistan following the U.S. departure, resulting in 380 Afghan Allies now in the U.S.

  • Enabled the manifesting of over 300 (and counting) Afghan Allies onto State Department organized flights out of Kabul

  • Submitted information to the State Department for 2,400+ Afghan Allies who are ready for travel and who we are tracking and facilitating communication with

These many lives were forever changed as a result of your many sleepless nights, untiring dedication, and willingness to go above and beyond to – in the words we often repeated – “create hope when hope becomes forlorn.”

You too were forever changed. Many volunteers still bear scars and are nurturing wounds from last August. What we did and what we could not do reverberates today, no more powerfully than during introspection. If you want someone to speak with, you can find resources HERE.

I invite you to share your stories HERE.

Thank you for what you did when our Afghan Allies needed you and thank you for your continuing support.

With gratitude,

France Hoang
Chair, AA21

Carrie Brown
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July 2022