They served us with honor
Afghani and Iraqi interpreters who served with the U.S. military are coming to Pittsburgh. Help us welcome them.
When people put their lives on the line to protect or even save yours and others, they deserve our respect and recognition. To thank them, I threw a party in our beautiful Point State Park. On Monday of last week, we launched the Pittsburgh chapter of No One Left Behind, to help some people I love — people I think all yinz will love.
You see, we’re bringing veterans — our Afghani and Iraqi interpreters — to our city. These are men and women who stood up for our values and freedoms, fought shoulder to shoulder with us, and have exhibited every virtue we celebrate in veterans.
Like them, I’m not originally from here. I’ve been out of the military since 2009, just enough time to ease back into civilian life after 10 years in the Army. I’m nothing less than grateful for the assistance I’ve received as a veteran in this city. I came to Pittsburgh as a stereotype — a broken veteran — but Pittsburgh embraced me and helped put the steel back in my spine. It stood me up and put me to work.
I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to repay this city which welcomed me, gave me an opportunity and refused to let me fail. I, like most veterans, and most people, just want to earn my place here. These men and their families are no different. The only difference between them and the veterans we all celebrate is that we signed up here, and they signed up over there. We faced the same enemy. They’ve earned the opportunity to be here, to build a life here for them and their families. They are “our own,” and they belong.
Alejandro Villanueva, the Steelers tackle who served as an Army Ranger, kicked off our event by speaking about how hard he worked to get his Afghan translator Azim safely here. Mayor Bill Peduto talked about his vision for Pittsburgh and how those with special immigrant visas give much more back to communities than they ever ask for. U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle offered a generous donation to help make these interpreters feel welcome. Now it’s your turn. It’s our turn to open our arms and our hearts to these worthy veterans. I want them to feel the same warm embrace from Pittsburgh that my family and I have felt — the bond of friendship, community, and sense of belonging that gave me hope and purpose when I was struggling to find both.
In these interpreters my fellow service members and I found friends and brothers-in-arms who were willing to sacrifice anything and everything to help us accomplish our mission. In these same interpreters, Pittsburgh will find a friendly neighbor and member of the community who will ask far less of us than we ever asked of them.
Please join me to help them feel welcome in our community. Help us honor the service of our interpreters, our veterans. Help us welcome them, their families, their children, as our own. Have your kids meet their kids so they too can feel a part of their new home. Teach these new members of our community who we are: a city that judges its own by character and contribution, not color or religion. Offer to show them around and share a meal.
My wife can tell you, as the spouse of a veteran who was stationed overseas, being new to a country where you don’t speak the language and don’t know some of the very basic things — bus schedules, where the grocery store is, or how to register your children for school — can feel overwhelming. But a little help from a new friend can go a long way toward alleviating those fears and make someone feel welcome.
Pittsburgh, you were there for me when I needed you most. You helped me build myself back up during one of the most difficult times of my life. I know we can do the same for these veterans who have earned the opportunity to build a new life for themselves and their families. Together, Pittsburgh can proudly stand Shona ba Shona — shoulder to shoulder — with our wartime allies.
Join us online and find out how you can help. Go to our Facebook page at facebook.com/nooneleftbehindpitt.