POUGHKEEPSIE – Veterans who served in Afghanistan, Monday, expressed a wide range of emotions as the 20-year war officially ended with the withdrawal of American troops.
Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro held a veteran tele-town hall session to give veterans the opportunity to speak out. Molinaro also used the session to give veterans information on the numerous programs available through the county and MHA Dutchess Vet2Vet program. “We have a dedicated staff at Veterans Services that are available to help our veterans,” said Molinaro, adding “We do everything we can to assist our veterans.”
County Director of Veterans Affairs Adam Roche, who served in Afghanistan, said the withdrawal is “sickening on a humanitarian and every level.” He said it “wasn’t right” the way it was handled.
“With the Taliban rule, it is almost like nothing happened in the last 20 years. They already changed the name to the United Emirates of Afghanistan. It is not right and we owe it to them to our servicemen and women who risked their lives being thee to make this better,” he said.
Anthony Kavouras, head of MHA Dutchess Vet2Vet, said vets are flooded with emotions.
“You go through anger like, ‘was this all for nothing,’ then you go through sadness because we have seen things happen, then you go through some proud moments when you see our soldiers holding those babies. That makes you feel crazy proud. I understand all the feels the veterans are feeling right now,” he said.
Any Dutchess County veteran who would like to talk to a fellow vet can call 845-486-2060.
