Oklahoma Veterans: Deadly Attacks In Kabul Are ‘Heart-Wrenching’

Thirteen U.S. service members and more than 60 Afghan citizens have died after a terrorist attack near the Kabul airport. 

Veterans in Oklahoma said watching this unfold is hard to comprehend. 

Amanda Pickens served in the army for five years, and her husband served 20 years, with his last deployment being in 2017 in Afghanistan. 

She said what is happening in Afghanistan is heart-wrenching. 

"I don't think any of us in America have ever considered clinging to an airplane, that you know you're not going to survive clinging to," she said. 

Pickens said she and her husband both worry about the Afghan allies and friends that will be left behind. She is devastated for the families of the U.S. service men and women who were killed. 

"When my husband was in Afghanistan, I feared that knock on the door, and that was a healthy fear. But if my husband was there now, I would expect a knock on the door," Pickens said. 

Watching what is unfolding in Afghanistan is also having an impact on American veterans who served in other wars. 

Pete Luitwieler fought in Vietnam and said what's happening in the middle east is hard to process. 

"This past week it's been tough seeing what I call, almost a copycat of what happened at the end of the Vietnam war," he said. 

Luitwieler said he didn't expect this to affect him, but it has. He said he wants to urge anyone who knows a veteran to make sure they are okay. 

"Talk to them, and more importantly listen to them, this may be an event that doesn't impact them, but it may be an event that impacts them a lot," Luitwieler said. 

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