Sustaining the Legacy. Honoring the Fallen.
Sayed Obaidullah “Obaid” Amin was an Afghan linguist for the United States Armed Forces from 2010 to 2015. In 2012, he served with First Battalion, Seventh Marines (1/7) in the Sangin District of Helmand Province. He was a loving, fearless, and dedicated man who believed his efforts would help make Afghanistan a better place. Obaid walked to the gates of hell and back with us, unarmed and without complaint. He ventured where few dared to tread with the belief that, through his actions, he could help create a better future for his family. Many of the linguists who worked with the Marines volunteered for less dangerous assignments, but Obaid repeatedly accompanied Marines outside the wire. He cared deeply for us: he was one of us, our friend and brother. Obaid represented the very best of those of us who fought side by side in Sangin.
Since that tragic event, SVGC members have made multiple attempts to extract Obaid’s surviving family from Afghanistan, but none of our efforts have gained traction until now. An undisclosed organization embedded in Afghanistan has the ability to move the family to another country in the region, where they will be protected as their paperwork is processed by the United States government. This is a promise that must be kept. We owe Obaid this much. Our objective is to raise the necessary funds to provide for his family’s housing and other necessities, and to hire an immigration attorney to assist with the administrative process. Upon the family receiving visas and arriving in the United States, surplus funds will be allocated to assist with rent, medical costs, and other transition expenses. Obaid is a Sangin brother, and many Marines are alive today thanks to his selfless acts and strong character. We will keep this promise to him, and his sons will know the risks he faced, and the sacrifices he made.
For more than five years, several Marines from 1/7 helped Obaid pursue his well-deserved and hard-earned Special Immigrant Visa (SIV). Many decorated Marines wrote letters on his behalf. SVGC members discussed Obaid’s situation on national news programs. Articles pleading his case appeared in major newspapers. Again and again, his SIV application was rejected. No one could identify the reason. Even investigations by media outlets could not determine the cause. Nothing worked. During the evacuation of Kabul in August of 2021, Obaid and his family made numerous trips through the dangerous city streets to reach Hamid Karzai International Airport, so they could travel to safety in a neighboring country: he had earned such an exit after his years of service with the Marines and other NATO forces. But during his third attempt to guide his family to the Abbey Gate at the airport, a suicide bomb detonated outside the gate. The blast killed 13 United States service members and more than 150 Afghans, including Obaid and his wife. Thankfully, Obaid’s two-year-old and three-year-old sons survived the blast. They are currently in the care of their aunt and uncle.