An Interpreter's Escape from Afghanistan

Marine Major Tom Schueman met interpreter Zainullah “Zak” Zaki while serving in Afghanistan. After Major Schueman’s tour ended in 2011, Zak continued to support the United States in spite of death threats from the Taliban. Zak applied for a U.S. visa in 2016. From 2016, Major Schueman launched a campaign to help Zak escape Kabul.

Brilliantly told in Tom’s and Zak’s alternating first person voices, ALWAYS FAITHFUL tracks the parallel lives of two men who each spent their childhoods in fear, peril, and poverty, and turned to war in attempt to build a meaningful future. Their experiences dovetail in Afghanistan’s deadly Helmand Valley, where they form a brotherhood, eventually culminating in Zak’s harrowing, eleventh-hour rescue.

Since first coming to America in fall 2021, Zak and his family have settled near cousins in San Antonio, Texas. But despite the dramatic and public circumstances of Zak’s escape, he still is battling red tape with the US State Department. As of April, his most recent visa application was rejected, meaning that his stay in the US still is not guaranteed.

Tom and Zak detail their experience in Afghanistan and Zak’s eventual escape in their book, "Always Faithful: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter," and they joined us to share their story about friendship and loyalty.