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Home • News

This Iraq War Vet's Story About His Translator Will Leave You In Tears

Another reason why Trump’s ban on refugees from countries like Iraq and Syria matters.
This Iraq War Vet's Story About His Translator Will Leave You In Tears
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
By Paula Rogo · Updated October 26, 2020

One result of President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban is the flood of painful—yet hopeful—stories from immigrants and refugees who have struggled leaving their own countries to find a new home in America.

One story in particular making its’ way around social media is that of Iraq war veteran Dylan Park. First shared on his social media on Saturday afternoon, Park’s story is an awe-inspiring explainer of what it means to offer asylum to locals who reside in war zones while working with U.S. troops. They are often putting their own lives, and those of their families, in danger for a chance to one day live the American dream.

For Park, his special relationship with his interpreter, 16-year-old Brahim and built from his first deployment, was one that changed his life. These two men, brothers in war, built an even stronger fraternity when they rediscovered each other in the U.S. Their story is a testament of kindness, love and humanity.

Read the heartwarming story for yourself below.

I told this story about #refugees a couple years ago on Veterans Day with a humorous slant. I'm going to tell it again today, unfiltered.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

He was able to do so, bc the turnover rate for local nationals work with us was enormous. And not bc they quit, bc they were killed.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

(But really, I think the chain of command knew that most interpreters wouldn't make it through their contracts alive.)

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

He told me how he lived in a one bedroom house with 7 people. No clean, power every other week because of the rolling blackouts, etc.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

One day, I went down to the PX and bought him $20, maybe $30 worth of toiletries. Nbd really. Just didn't want dude to smell like shit.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

He spent the next year acting as our liaison, providing us with valuable intel, essentially saving our lives on a daily basis. At 16.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

Fast forward 5-years. And I'm flying home to Phoenix to bury my little brother who was brutally murdered. (Gun violence is another subj.)

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

Spend 6 years fighting wars and you don't expect to get a phone call that your kid brother was randomly murdered in a carjacking.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

I get in the first taxi that pulls up and we're off. Driver starts to make the standard small talk. Where you from, what do you do, etc.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

Tell him, "Sure. Been to every corner of the globe. Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc." He says "Oh! I'm from Iraq! What part?"

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

My first thought is I killed one of his family members and he recognizes me. And now im literally getting ready to bail out of the cab.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

He stops, turns around and says, "Dylan, you remember me? It's me, Brahim." And I'm like wtffffff. And just start sobbing.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

So I'm like WTF ARE YOU DOING IN FUCKING ARIZONA?! HOW? MAN WHAT? And he's like I did my 4 years and they gave me a visa.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

So they sent him to Arizona.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

Brahim literally saved my life, twice.

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

Lost one brother, and got another one back. #refugees pic.twitter.com/FDF6jVNBZf

— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

Read the heartwarming story for yourself.