KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The events in Afghanistan are difficult to watch for the men and women who served in the military over the last 20 years.
Scott Weaver is the current president of the local chapter of the Association for the United States Army.
From 2002 to 2005, he worked to assist establishing the Afghan National Army at the U.S. Central Command under the terms of the Dec. 2001 Bonn Agreement.
"I think everybody was surprised at the speed of which we saw a change on the ground in terms of what the Afghan security forces and the Afghan government were able to do in the face of the Taliban," Weaver said.
While he said the Taliban takeover happened quickly, Weaver doesn't want to focus on the event itself, but rather what comes next.
"What can we do as a nation, what should we do as a nation to create a situation going forward where we are best able to advance, protect and secure our national interest and our U.S. personnel," Weaver said.
He feels for the men and women who served in Afghanistan the last 20 years.
"They did what our nation asked them to do, they did their best, and they did good, they made a difference," Weaver said.
He wants service members to know they made a difference in the lives of tens of thousands of Afghan people.
"They gave them decades of a quality of life that they may not have seen otherwise," Weaver said.
While the global events can seem far away, he wants the people of Kansas City to know they can make an impact in their own way right here at home.
"If someone knows a veteran, knows that they served in Afghanistan, it could be as simple as just contacting them and saying 'Hey how are you doing with this?' And giving them an opportunity to be heard and to listen," Weaver said.
