Five Years Later: Congressman Gonzalez Recollects on Saving Six U.S. Allies During Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Contact: Alexis Torres

Washington, D.C. – Today, on the solemn fifth anniversary of the Taliban overtaking Kabul—the capital and largest city in Afghanistan—Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) is sharing his firsthand experience working with Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Marvin “Lee” Chase and a CIA operative to save the lives of six Afghan pilot allies and their families. Since 2018, the Congressman has served as the co-chair and founder of the Congressional Uzbekistan Caucus, which played a pivotal role in securing the safe passage for our allies into the neighboring country of Uzbekistan.

Congressman Gonzalez’s testimony can be viewed here.

 An edited transcript of Congressman Gonzalez’s account is as follows:

“The story we're about to tell you is something that happened five years ago on the anniversary of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. I'm on vacation. It was my August break, so I took a break to Spain with my wife. We're actually in the hotel in Madrid, and I get a call from a constituent of mine from my district in Texas telling me, ‘Hey, there's this situation. There's this lady from your district that married this colonel that lives in Virginia, that was in Afghanistan.’

“And he [LTC Chase] tells me a story about these Afghan pilots, our allies, who trained and worked with us [the United States military] and trained some of our pilots for over a decade...And as we were evacuating, they're not evacuated, and they haven't made it through the gate—and neither have their families. And the Taliban knows who they are and where they are and was visiting their homes. They wanted to kill them and their families because they were our allies. And he said, ‘We're just seeing what you can do.’

“Well, penetrating the State Department during that period was impossible, even for a member of Congress. Their lines were just booked. They weren't answering calls. I mean, just the evacuation of 172,000 people in that short amount of time was an extraordinary achievement even though I didn’t agree with it…

“…I happened to be the Chair of the Congressional Uzbekistan Caucus, the neighboring country…I had had a meeting with the Uzbek government...not that long ago. And the foreign minister, Minister Kamilov...we traded numbers. Never thought I was going to have to call him or him call me. But that night, I called him…and he recognized my number…

“It was late in the evening. And I said, ‘Well, I'm calling because we have a peculiar situation, and I need your help…we have some allied Afghan pilots who are friends of ours who are flying our planes…And the Taliban is chasing them down, trying to kill them, and we’re trying to find a way for them out. Is there a way you can help me get them into Uzbekistan?’

“It went silent…and then he [Minister Kamilov] tells me, ‘You know what, let me see what I can do'…about two hours later, an hour or two later, he calls me. He says, ‘I have a place where they can land safely, and we’ll give you the coordinates of the airport and the location.’

“…I call the Colonel. I said, ‘I think we can help. I’ve got a place for them to go and a way for them out.’ And he contacts the pilots…they tell him, ‘We’re out of fuel.’ They were out of fuel because they had already tried to fly to Uzbekistan, and they had been turned back. 

“…We worked on this case all night long. A few hours later…I get a call back that said they were able to get fuel, by force, but they fueled up all these planes…and were ready to go…They took off, and I called the foreign minister and said ‘Hey, they’re in the air. They’re on their way.’ And they made it to Uzbekistan…at the time, they were also being turned back. They said, ‘Well, Congressman Gonzalez and Minister Kamilov have given us clearance to land…’

“Ultimately, they were there for six weeks, longer than we were hoping for and longer than the Government of Uzbekistan was hoping to have them…the minister was calling me, telling me, ‘You need to get these guys out of here because the Taliban has intel. They know they’re here. They know we have them…’

“It took us six weeks…to get them out of Uzbekistan, and then they went to Tajikistan and Qatar and eventually made it all back to the United States. The Colonel was able to—through the CIA operative, who was also working in conjunction with us through this whole process—get the families…and they were actually able to come into Virginia, I think, before the pilots actually got here…

“I never thought I would ever be in the middle of one of these situations, but those were personal relationships that I made traveling the world, traveling the world with colleagues on the other side of the aisle, making myself available to join caucuses and learn about a country I never thought I was going to learn about and build relationships in places that we never expected we would…

“We saved six of our pilot allied friends’ lives and their family. They’re all living here in the United States safely and started a new life.”

Background: 

During the United States’ chaotic withdrawal of American troops and U.S. allies out of Afghanistan, which Congressman Gonzalez strongly condemned, the Taliban forcefully captured the city of Kabul and overtook its government on August 15, 2021. Eleven days later, on August 26, 2021, an ISIS-K terrorist freed by the Taliban committed a heinous attack outside Kabul’s airport at Abbey Gate, killing 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American service members, including a 20-year-old from Texas. On August 30, 2021, the final U.S. military aircraft departed Kabul and officially ended the 20-year war.

For more details on the LTC Chase's efforts alongside Congressman Gonzalez and others to facilitate the Afghan pilot allies’ escape from Afghanistan, click here.