Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
What started as a prayer to save one friend became a mission to rescue more than seventeen thousand souls.
Former Force Recon Marine Chad Robichaux details the incredible rescue missions that evacuated not only his long-time friend and interpreter, Aziz, but also more than 17,000 Afghans and allies who were left in the grip of the Taliban's violent regime as the United States military withdrew from Afghanistan.
During his eight special operation deployments to Afghanistan, Force Recon Marine Chad Robichaux and his friend and Afghan interpreter, Aziz, carried out over a hundred dangerous missions as team members on an elite JSOC (Join Special Operations Command) task force dedicated to capture or kill the highest levels of the Taliban's terrorist regime. During those years, Chad was welcomed into Aziz's growing family, and the two men developed a brotherly bond as they stood against the Taliban's violent oppression.
In April 2021, fourteen years after Robichaux's final deployment, the Biden administration announced that the United States military would end its twenty-year occupation in Afghanistan and would pull its military forces from the country by the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. Immediately, Robichaux knew he had to save Aziz and his family. As he began to organize efforts, he realized a greater need to help more of the Afghan people he had come to know and respect. As the deadline for withdrawal drew near, he formed a coalition of nonprofits called Save Our Allies and created Task Force 6:8, which consisted of twelve former special operations veterans, to evacuate American citizens, green card holders, and special immigration visa (SIV) applicants out of the volatile country. They successfully extracted 12,000 evacuees in a period of ten days and took them to the United Arab Emirates. Then, by partnering with several other nonprofits, they continued to evacuate an average of fifty people per day over the next few weeks so that more than 17,000 were rescued, the largest number for any rescue group and second only to the United States military.
Following those rescue efforts, Robichaux carried out a two-man reconnaissance mission over the span of ten days that provided flight paths across the border into Tajikistan. Operating at night and tracked by the Russian KGB, they successfully evaded capture by the Taliban and Chinese special forces, and were the first on the ground providing real-time intelligence for outside intelligence agencies, which made way for additional evacuations.
Saving Aziz gives the behind-the-scenes view of the evacuation efforts that saved thousands from the Taliban during a historic humanitarian crisis. In this gripping and eye-opening account, Chad Robichaux describes his experiences with the deep, rich, and complex culture of Afghanistan and its people; his direct interactions with those in the Taliban; his perspective on the twenty-year war that took place under four presidents; and his inside view of what happened in Afghanistan during the United States' hasty withdrawal.
Synopsis
Saving Aziz is the true story of how a mission to save one friend from the violent grip of the Taliban became a calling to rescue over seventeen thousand.
If you knew you could save one friend from certain death, would you? For former Force Recon Marine and MMA fighter Chad Robichaux, the answer was a resounding "YES "
In April 2021, fourteen years after his final deployment in the Middle East, Chad learned of the Biden administration's plan to end the United States' twenty-year military occupation of Afghanistan. Due to the rapid nature of withdrawal, scheduled for the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, Chad knew many innocent people, including United States allies, were in danger of being left behind to the mercies of the Taliban.
Chad's long-time friend and former interpreter Aziz, a man who saved his life multiple times on missions against the Taliban, was now among the most vulnerable. Chad immediately started planning a rescue mission, knowing he would stop at nothing to save Aziz and his family. What he did not know was that God would use him, and his coalition of heroes, to save over seventeen thousand left behind.
This gripping and eye-opening account includes
- a deep and rich description of the complex culture of Afghanistan and its people,
- Chad's direct interactions with the Taliban, and
- perspective on the United States' twenty-year war that took place under four presidents.
In Saving Aziz, Chad will give you a behind-the-scenes view of the evacuation efforts that saved thousands from the Taliban during the historic humanitarian crisis following the United States' hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Synopsis
It was the right thing to do. And someone had to do it.
Aziz was more than an interpreter for Force Recon Marine Chad Robichaux during Chad's eight deployments to Afghanistan. He was a teammate, brother, and friend. More than once, Aziz saved Chad's life. And then he needed Chad to save his.
When President Joe Biden announced in April 2021 that the United States would be making a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, Robichaux knew he had to get Aziz and his family out before Taliban forces took over the country. As the rescue team he'd pulled together began to go to work, they became aware of thousands more--US citizens, Afghan allies, women, and children--facing persecution or death if they were not saved from the Taliban's terrorist regime. Chad began leading the charge that would go on to rescue 17,000 evacuees within a few short weeks--12,000 of them within the first ten days.
This gripping account of two heroes and a daring mission puts human hearts and names alongside the headlines of one of the most harrowing moments in our history, giving you a closer look at:
- The resilience of Afghanistan and its people
- Chad's direct interactions with the Taliban
- The twenty-year war that took place under four presidents
Saving Aziz is a story of war and rescue. It is a story of a mission accomplished and work still to be done. It is a story of how looking into a stranger's eyes breaks down prejudice and apathy--and why risking it all is worth it when it comes to loving one another.
Praise for Saving Aziz:
"Saving Aziz is the story of two warriors...brought together by war and a brotherhood forged through years of battling...for the cause of freedom and captures the heroic efforts of those who took action to not only rescue Aziz and his family in the US withdrawal but thousands of others."
--Tim Kennedy, New York Times bestselling author, US Army Special Forces, Sniper, UFC Fighter, Founder of Sheepdog Response, and Co-Founder of Save Our Allies
Synopsis
Now a Wall Street Journal Bestseller
It was the right thing to do. And someone had to do it.
Aziz was more than an interpreter for Force Recon Marine Chad Robichaux during Chad's eight deployments to Afghanistan. He was a teammate, brother, and friend. More than once, Aziz saved Chad's life. And then he needed Chad to save his.
When President Joe Biden announced in April 2021 that the United States would be making a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, Robichaux knew he had to get Aziz and his family out before Taliban forces took over the country. As the rescue team he'd pulled together began to go to work, they became aware of thousands more--US citizens, Afghan allies, women, and children--facing persecution or death if they were not saved from the Taliban's terrorist regime. Chad began leading the charge that would go on to rescue 17,000 evacuees within a few short weeks--12,000 of them within the first ten days.
This gripping account of two heroes and a daring mission puts human hearts and names alongside the headlines of one of the most harrowing moments in our history, giving you a closer look at:
- The resilience of Afghanistan and its people
- Chad's direct interactions with the Taliban
- The twenty-year war that took place under four presidents
Saving Aziz is a story of war and rescue. It is a story of a mission accomplished and work still to be done. It is a story of how looking into a stranger's eyes breaks down prejudice and apathy--and why risking it all is worth it when it comes to loving one another.
Praise for Saving Aziz:
"Saving Aziz is the story of two warriors...brought together by war and a brotherhood forged through years of battling...for the cause of freedom and captures the heroic efforts of those who took action to not only rescue Aziz and his family in the US withdrawal but thousands of others."
--Tim Kennedy, New York Times bestselling author, US Army Special Forces, Sniper, UFC Fighter, Founder of Sheepdog Response, and Co-Founder of Save Our Allies