Several veterans of an elite airborne unit in Afghanistan have resettled in Auburn, Maine — and they say the transition has been disorienting.
Omar Zai outside his Auburn apartment last week. Zai, who flew Black Hawk helicopters in an elite airborne unit of the Afghan armed forces, said he's been struggling to find a sense of direction in his life since he arrived in the U.S. in 2021.
Mohammadi is piloting the helicopter in the video. He said this was his last training flight before returning to Afghanistan for deployment. Azimullah Mohammadi at his apartment in Auburn last week. Mohammadi piloted helicopters in an elite wing of the Afghan armed forces, but says returning to flight school in the U.S. is prohibitively expensive.
But he said he was also motivated to fight for a future without Taliban rule, a future his generation grew up believing in. "I felt that as much as we tried, we just failed so, so terribly, that we failed the entire... a whole country and generation," he said. Zai said he’s worked a handful of jobs — as a caseworker, at a restaurant, and at a Walmart distribution center. He said his asylum case was approved, and he has applied for a green card."I was a pilot, I was in the army," he said."But now, nothing. Like, a refugee in a different country. With nothing in hand, no clear future."
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