This is on point. I'm Megna Chacrabardi. On August 15th, 2021, Kabul fell to the Taliban.

It marked the chaotic end to 20 years of war and American occupation of Afghanistan. The

longest war the United States has ever fought. Zainoula Zaki, he goes by Zak for short.

She and Tom Schuman formed a lasting friendship over 16 months of the deadliest fighting of that

entire war. Zak was an Afghan interpreter for the US military. Tom, a platoon commander

with the third battalion, Fifth Marines. Together, they've just published a new book. It's

called Always Faithful, a story of the war in Afghanistan, the fall of Kabul, and the

unshakable bond between a Marine and an interpreter. Zak joins us today from San Antonio, Texas. Zainoula

Zaki, welcome to on point. Thanks, ma'am, for having me. And Major Tom Schuman, with us from

Chicago, Illinois. Major Schuman, welcome to you. Thank you. Can you, Tom, can you first tell us

the story of the first time you and Zak actually met each other in Afghanistan? Sure, it was October,

beginning of October 2010. We were headed out on a patrol and up to that point I'd had a few

other interpreters. Most of them were quitting because of how dangerous it was in Afghanistan at the

time. And the only ones who were left usually either didn't speak English or didn't speak the

local dialect of Pashto. So right off the bat, I saw Zak, healthy young fit guy who clearly had

a solid command of English and knew the local dialect. And so we immediately connected just

based on his competency or proficiency at being a translator. That was kind of the initial

connection there. I was just happy to have someone who would go on a patrol, could interpret and

and I wouldn't have to worry about him becoming a liability. So that that was the initial impression.

And what were the conditions like in the location you were deployed to at the time in terms of

the intensity of the fighting or the number of times and you needed to be in contact with locals.

Tell us a little bit more about what you were experiencing and the kinds of things you were

...