It started with desperate phone calls — not from Washington, not from the Pentagon, but from the very Afghan men and women who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with American troops for two decades.

As Kabul collapsed and the last planes prepared to leave, U.S. service members, interpreters, frontline workers, and civilian partners began dialing the only people they believed might still pick up: their American friends.

Those friends were often veterans back home — grocery shopping, driving their kids to school, or finishing another ordinary day — when their phones lit up with messages like:
“Brother, I think I’m going to die. Please help my family.”

This isn’t history.
This isn’t past tense.
This is still happening — right now.

And on Breaking Battlegrounds, Navy veteran Sean Van Diver, president of Afghan EVAC, walked us through how a volunteer-driven rescue network became the lifeline for thousands abandoned in the fallout of America’s withdrawal.

“We’re Running out of Ammunition. I Think I’m Going to Die”

Van Diver didn’t serve in Afghanistan. But like many veterans, he formed deep friendships with Afghan partners who later had to return home. One of them was Lucky — a friend who once lived safely in the U.S., but went back to Afghanistan in the final days before the collapse.

Then came the call.

Lucky was trapped on a mountain in Irgun — eight hours outside Kabul — surrounded by the Taliban, out of ammunition, and preparing to die. His last wish wasn’t dramatic or heroic; it was simple:

“Please get my family to San Diego.”

Van Diver thought his friend was gone. But that phone call set off a chain reaction.

From Chaos to Coordination: The Birth of Afghan EVAC

Within 36 hours, Sean found himself added to more than 40 emergency group chats of veterans, aid workers, and civilians frantically trying to save the Afghans they knew personally.

It was disorganized, frantic, and overwhelming.
So Sean did what leaders do: he pulled everyone together.

What began with just 7 groups quickly grew into a coalition of 250–300 teams, all united under the banner of Afghan EVAC — a volunteer network working to guide, move, document, and evacuate Afghan allies under fire.

And Lucky?
He stole a jingle truck, talked his way through 10 Taliban checkpoints, reached Eagle Base, and boarded a helicopter to HKIA. Today, he runs two Afghan restaurants and a halal market in Texas.

One man saved — thousands more still waiting.

A System That Worked — Until It Didn’t

After August 30th, Afghan EVAC didn’t stop. Instead, they partnered with the State Department and the White House to build what Sean calls the safest, most secure legal immigration pathway in U.S. history:
Enduring Welcome.

But the program, along with refugee admissions and key aid pathways, was shut down at the start of the new administration — and never restored.

That closure left:

  • Afghan special forces women in hiding

  • Parliamentarians who championed democracy on the run

  • Lawyers and prosecutors who put Taliban fighters behind bars now hunted

  • Family members of active-duty U.S. service members trapped

  • Thousands who were eligible for safe flights now stranded

At one point, 5,000 Afghans a month were being evacuated on secure State Department flights. Today, that number is zero.

Van Diver says the President cares — but political forces, particularly Stephen Miller’s influence, have bottlenecked the process and jeopardized America’s relationship with its veterans and allies.

“Not one veteran has ever said we shouldn’t help them.”

Hosts Sam Stone and Chuck Warren reflected on years of interviews with veterans from across the spectrum.

Not a single one — left, right, or independent — has said America shouldn’t be helping its Afghan allies.

Not one.

They served with them.
They trusted them.
They owe them.

And many believe America does too.

A Fight That Isn’t Over

Afghan EVAC may not be as active as it was during the withdrawal, but its mission continues — because the danger continues.

Lives are still at risk.
Families are still in hiding.
And thousands of people who believed in America now wonder if America still believes in them.

Van Diver and hundreds of volunteers haven’t given up.
They just need the country — and its leadership — to stop giving up on the people who risked everything to stand beside us.

Transcript

Sam Stone: Welcome back to Breaking Battlegrounds. next guest up today, Sean Van Diver, is a Navy veteran and president of Afghan EVAC. Sean, welcome to the program.

Sean Van Diver: Hey, thanks so much for having me on today, guys. Really excited to be here.

Sam Stone: So tell us a little bit about Afghan EVAC and what you’ve been trying to do there really for the last few years.

**Chuck Warren: **And why we’ve abandoned our Afghan allies there.

Sean Van Diver: Look, thank you so much. It’s been about four and a half years since the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. You’ll recall the pictures of Afghans hanging off of planes. While all that was happening, thousands of veterans across the country, thousands of frontline civilians across the country were receiving phone calls from their friends in Afghanistan. Folks that they either served with or got to know later. I didn’t serve in Afghanistan. I got to know my buddy Lucky later on while he was here, but he went back.

And he called me and said, brother, I’m stuck on this mountain in Irgun, eight hours outside of Kabul. We’re surrounded by the Taliban. We’re running out of ammunition. I think I’m going to die. Will you grant my last wish and help get my family back to San Diego? I thought Lucky was a goner. I sprang into action. I got, was in like 40 some odd chats at, you know, like a day and a half after, a day after he texted me and I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. We need to get everybody talking. We need to get everybody in the same room. So that’s how Afghan EVAC was formed.

We brought people together, it was like seven groups, the first meeting, then we ended up having, now it’s 250 or 300 have been a member of us at one time or another. It’s not as active as it used to be, right? Lucky made it. Lucky stole a jingle truck, talked his way through 10 Taliban checkpoints, made it to Eagle Base. We put him on a black helicopter and got him to HKIA. He’s now a small business owner in Texas where he owns two Afghan restaurants and an Afghan halal market.

In between Texas and it truly is fortunate. And look, after August 30th, we kept going. We made a partnership with the State Department of the White House and everybody. We forced them to to build the safest, most secure legal immigration pathway in our country’s history. It’s called enduring welcome. And unfortunately, I think because President Biden built it, it got shut down.

On day one of the administration. They shut down all refugee admissions. They shut down, and part of our wartime allies, you’ve got the SIV program and the refugee pathway, right? The SIV program is very narrow. That’s for people who worked directly for and were paid by the US government. And then the refugee pathway is for doctors, or I’m sorry, for lawyers and prosecutors who put away the Taliban, Afghan special, women who served in the Afghan special forces and are now in great danger.

Parliamentarians that believed in the idea of democracy, women who stood up and fought for us, and the family of active duty U.S. military. So we’ve got thousands of family members of active duty military still stuck there. And then they shut down foreign aid, meant, we thought it was like accidental, but once it was shut down, it never got turned back on except for relocation or resettlement support for SIVs only.

So we had 5,000 Afghans a month coming out of Afghanistan on State Department run flights that were safe, secure, fast, and now there are none. And we think that the President, we know the President cares about this. We think that Stephen Miller is in the way and we need the President to know that Stephen Miller is squandering his relationship with veterans.

**Sam Stone: **We need to get the word out there because we’ve had guests Chuck on this program before who have talked about their relationship with many of the people in Afghanistan who served alongside our troops who work to help establish a secure government for everybody there the horrors they’re going through it’s incredibly disappointing to hear that the Trump administration so far has not.

Chuck Warren: We’ve talked about this issue over four years, a half a dozen times we’ve had guests on. And I have not heard one veteran say, no, we shouldn’t be doing this. I mean, never, I’ve never heard it.

Listen to the full episode of Breaking Battlegrounds anywhere you stream your podcasts!