Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Craig Norton | Sgt. 1st Class Warren Wright, a recruiter assigned to the North Carolina Army National...... read more read more
The United States, a country founded by refugees escaping oppression, once again finds itself taking in people from the other side of the world.
As people have fled Afghanistan some of them have made their way to the U.S., yet despite coming from so far away, they are not strangers, but rather the same Afghan people who have worked alongside U.S. service members for two decades.
These former colleagues came to this country with little more than the clothes on their backs, a problem a North Carolina National Guard’s (NCNG) Soldiers wanted to fix.
Sgt. 1st Class Warren Wright, a recruiter assigned to the NCNG’s Recruiting & Retention Battalion, saw on social media that there was a need and decided to do what he could to help the Afghans that had served alongside the U.S.
On Sept. 1, 2021, Wright loaded his vehicle with items from a discount club store and traveled approximately 100 miles to Fort Pickett.
“The unfortunate thing is, despite the huge generosity of those who donated items, there were just so many refugees there that we couldn’t even put a dent in the need,” Wright said. “It broke my heart that the most used phrase that day was ’I’m sorry, we’re out of that, but more is coming.’”
After returning home from Fort Pickett Wright went into action informing others about the Afghan refugees’ needs. He received overwhelming support from his community.
“My plan was to get enough to fill my truck and take a run-up to Fort Pickett the following Sunday, but I wasn’t sure how much to expect to receive in donations. It turned out that the generosity was overwhelming and we ultimately needed three large vehicles to transport everything,” Wright said. “Three of my neighbors (all veterans), my wife, and I spent Friday and Saturday sorting, bagging, and tagging items so they were neatly folded and organized when we delivered them.”
When Sunday arrived Wright and his neighbors traveled to Fort Pickett with the items.
“My three neighbors and I made the trip to Fort Pickett on Sunday and it was amazing to see the progress that had been made since my time there just five days prior,” Wright said.
The progress was a direct reflection of the non-governmental organization (NGO) establishing a support operation at Fort Pickett for the refugees.
“Team Rubicon, the NGO supporting the relief efforts, was finally able to get stood up and have a presence there. They had procured a dedicated warehouse and stood up an additional distribution center. They had a small number of volunteers on the ground and were running two distribution sites simultaneously,” Wright said.
Wright said the donations were well received and needed by the Afghan refugees. Many of them had been traveling from their home country to the United States for weeks wearing the same clothes.
“I spoke with many individuals while I was there Tuesday that had told me they had been in the same clothes for ten days,” said Wright. “To say the least they were grateful for anything that we could give them, even though our ability to provide support was far outweighed by their needs.”
Duty is one of the U.S. Army’s Values. A Soldier learns about it at basic combat training. Wright believed he needed to portray this value.
“The vast majority of these individuals are people who directly supported our efforts in Afghanistan. I just couldn’t help but feel that we owed them for their sacrifices and (I) felt a duty to help in what little ways that I could,” Wright said.
| Date Taken: | 09.19.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 09.19.2021 13:25 |
| Story ID: | 405575 |
| Location: | NC, US |
| Web Views: | 105 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, NCNG Recruiter Assisting Afghan Refugees, by SFC Craig Norton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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