Saving Aziz: How the Mission to Help One Became a Calling to Rescue Thousands from the Taliban

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.