Afghanistan war veteran says US should have stayed in the country

Afghanistan war veteran says we should have stayed in the country

FOX 26 Anchor Rashi Vats spoke with one veteran of the Afghanistan war who said the U.S. should have stayed in the country.

HOUSTON - We are getting some first-hand perspective on the unrest in Afghanistan by a U.S. retired Army Specialist, who lost both of his legs while serving in Afghanistan.

"Seeing that everything has just collapsed is disheartening," said Retired Army Specialist JP Lane who has served several tours in Afghanistan. "My heart feeling sympathy for all of those over there and what they are going through. When I was there, my job searching for IED’s, ultimately I was protecting the roads and the civilians over there from being injured, being blown up themselves, and also protecting our own."

The Purple Heart recipient has been through a lot. During one of his searches in Afghanistan in 2010, a 200 pound IED changed his life. The blast put him in a coma for six weeks.

He lost both his legs with multiple other injuries throughout his body resulting in almost 30 surgeries. Still, he says he would do it all over again.

"It confuses me of why we obviously stopped that partnership. We should always stick up for those that we are allied with," he said. "A lot of the times as people back here in the states; they don’t get to see first-hand upfront what is going over there so they are misinformed. I was able to go there multiple times and see the opposite. They were all about protecting their country and sticking up for what is right."

He said," From what I saw, a lot of them were fighting for their freedoms, fighting for their families, fighting for their homes. I know for a fact, they have the strength, they have the desire to take back their nation and stick up for their families and stick up for what is right. They were doing that."

Lane says the only thing that people can do now is pray.