Summary of Always Faithful By Thomas Schueman and Zainullah Zaki: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter

By Willie M. Joseph

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This book does not in any capacity mean to replace the original book but to serve as a vast summary of the original book.

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Always Faithful tells the story of U.S. Marine Major Tom Schueman and his Afghan interpreter, Zainullah "Zak" Zaki. Zak and his family were discovered by the Taliban and forced to flee Kabul. The pair's years-long effort to get Zak to America culminated in Instagram:. In Always Faithful, Tom and Zak tell the full story of the divergent paths that led them to Afghanistan.

Brilliantly told in alternating first person voices, always Faithful gives readers a 360-degree view of the war. Through their eyes, they challenge readers to explore the legacy for American and Afghan citizens alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Willie M. Joseph
• Release date: Aug 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201322205

Willie M. Joseph

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Prologue

Countdown: Spring 2020

ZAK

We are coming for you, infidel, the voice on the phone said. Turn yourself in and beg for mercy or the Taliban will take your hea—. My stomach felt as if it were being squeezed by a fist. There would be no more sleep that night. Afghanistan's Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) is offered to translators and Afghans who worked directly for the U.S. government.

As a translator, I spent months at war alongside American Marines and the Afghan National Army in Helmand Province. He and his family were threatened by the Taliban, who posted Night Letters on their doorsteps. Zainullah's phone buzzed with a text message: Your day is coming.

TOM

A rifle firing detail's weapons await the Marines serving as pallbearers. A bugler plays Taps as the echoes of rifle shots fade in the distance. The senior member of the funeral detail moves to the head of the casket for a final hand salute. In April 2020, almost ten years after leaving both his legs and an arm in Afghanistan, Corporal Justin McLoud died of an overdose of pain medication. McLoud was a standout high school baseball player who turned down college scholarships for life as a Marine rifleman.

Sangin: Some casualties die on the battlefield, others are dead for years before we actually bury them. I helped save Corporal McLoud's life in 2010, only to lose him ten years later. I could not lose Zak, too. America had made a promise to him. He was as much a brother as the Marines arrayed about me at his funeral.

Summary Part I

The Brotherhood of Sangin

ZAK

Taliban martyrs in their jets struck the center of evil in America and toppled their buildings, by the grace of Allah!. I understood Taliban jets had destroyed some important buildings in America. But that day, I was just a boy growing up in Asadabad City, of Kunar Province. Zak: There has never been a day in my life untouched by war. My brothers and I prayed at home most days; we only made the trip to the mosque on Fridays.

Our one-year-old brother Zaidullah slept with my mother and father in their room. The call to prayer is called the adhan, which means to listen. There were still no civil rights or courts to speak of; ignorance was a virtue. October is a beautiful time in Afghanistan. With the Kunar River flowing through our village, there were many things for boys to do.

Asadullah and Faizi played in the forest on the island in the river. It felt too good to be free to go home. Zainullah grew up in Kunar Province, part of Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains. Kunar is one of about 500,000 people living in Afghanistan's Kunar Valley. Zainullah's father and mother taught him Pashtun codes of honor and revenge.

Kunar Province was one of the centers of resistance to the Russians when they were still Soviet Union. Being so close to the border with Pakistan made Kunar a good place for the mujahideen to cross into Afghanistan. The isolation of the villages in the valleys made it easier for the Taliban to gain a foothold. After the Russians left, there was war. Dr. Najib's government collapsed in 1992.

In 1996, the Taliban came from Kandahar Province, far away in the south. Under Mullah Omar, they massacred people who believed differently about Islam and destroyed cultural landmarks. Except for the madrassah, there were no schools, no universities, no access to basic human needs.