Pueblo Air Force Veteran speaks out on U.S. troops leaving Afghanistan

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Maurice Burkhead, an Air Force veteran who comes from a military family, shared his feelings on the situation in Afghanistan.

After occupying the area for 20 years, the United State began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. A withdrawal, Burkhead said was long overdue.

"It upsets me that it didn't get started sooner," Burkhead said. "It should have been done years ago, and if it was going to wait until the last minute, we should have had our stuff done a little bit faster."

The Taliban took control of Kabul, the Afghanistan capital, on August 15. Since then, thousands of Afghans and U.S. citizens have either tried evacuating or went into hiding.

Despite the unrest, President Biden has stood by his decision to not send more U.S. troops to the region. Burkhead told KRDO he agrees with the president.

"I don't want it to escalate any further. We have done enough, we have spent enough. Let's be over with this."

However, he feels for the women and children in the region that now face uncertainty, possibly death. Many Afghan women fear their rights will be stripped away under the Taliban.

"The guy in me, the guy that went overseas and dealt with terrorist stuff, if I wasn't as old as I was I would have gone back over there to help because it's that sad. It is mad and sad."

For now, Burkhead waits, like the rest of the world, to see what happens next. He currently lives in Pueblo with his son and says he's happy to live in the Home of Heroes.

Burkhead served in the Cold War until 1995. Before him, his father served in Vietnam.