JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —
Heartbreaking images show Afghans at the Kabul airport trying desperately to leave their country. Many didn’t make it out alive.
But the Ghaznavis’ did. The family was among some 640 people packed onto the US military plane that many saw on the news last month.
Through an interpreter, the family recounted their harrowing story with Action News Jax Thursday.
“Everybody was pushing each other because everybody was trying to get to that plane,” Mr. Ghaznavi, who doesn’t want to share his or any of his family’s first names in order to protect their family in Afghanistan.
“Taliban were hitting people, they were trying to not let people go to that plane.”
The Ghaznavis’ invited Action News Jax reporter Stephanie Bennett into their new home just weeks after they made it to Jacksonville. The family of six squeezed as many belongings and clothes as they could into just three bags and left their home forever.
The family lives in an apartment now; it was set up by Catholic Charities, a group that resettles refugees.
Ghaznavi recalls how he felt when he and his family took off for the US.
“They were happy,” his interpreter said. “But at the same time when he was looking behind, he was seeing everybody trying to get to that plane -- that he was able to get to that plane with his family. That was a horrible feeling. But he could not do anything for those individuals because he had a responsibility to his family first.”
Back home, Ghaznavi was a soldier for the Afghanistan military, helping the US military. But it meant his family had to leave.
“To save my life, my children’s lives, to save my wife, my family’s life. We knew this for sure, if we stayed there, if they find that we were working with the US government, they would kill everyone there for sure.”
Not everyone made it. Tears filled Ghaznavi’s eyes as he sat between two of his sons -- his 24-year-old son was left behind. He was not included in the family’s special immigrant visa because he’s past the age of 21.
Ghaznavi’s interpreter says his son is hiding from the Taliban.
“The son is really scared, every day he is talking to his dad, and asking, ‘Dad, please find a way to take me out of here.’”
Ghaznavi tells Action News Jax he stays up until two, sometimes three in the morning talking to his son. He’s in constant fear for his son’s life. Right now, he’s trying to get help to bring him to the US.
Ghaznavi does not expect to see the rest of his family ever again.
“He’s not thinking that he’s gonna see his mom and dad again. But he’s hopeful,” Ghaznavi’s interpreter said, stopping and choking up, “Sorry.”
Ghaznavi says he is forever grateful to the US troops who risked and lost their lives helping families like his. But at the same time, he is asking the US government to find a way to save more people and bring them to the US.
With a new life on the horizon, the family has high hopes for the future.
Catholic Charities has resettled 119 Afghan refugees in Jacksonville since 2017.