Saving Aziz summary

Aziz was so much more than an English teacher and interpreter. Time and again he proved himself a worthy operations man, capable of handling intense situations and possessing an uncanny instinct for trouble.

In one instance, Chad had hired a man named Jerry to work out of his office. One day, the Taliban attacked the building next door and blew a hole through the wall of Chad’s office. Jerry was there at the time and didn’t know what to do.

Chad’s “goodbye” to Aziz had been as casual as they come. They’d just gotten back from a successful operation and Chad took Aziz back home. They laughed about some things and said an easy “see you later.”

Shortly after, Chad was called to the Persian Gulf and informed that he had been compromised. A Taliban group had captured ten of Chad’s allies and killed all but two of them.

Chad went through a great deal of personal strife over the years that followed. Civilian life didn’t sit well with him and he immersed himself in Mixed Martial Arts – known as MMA fighting.

He finally hit rock bottom when his marriage was about to fall apart. At that point, he found faith, and rebuilt his life with a new mission – helping veterans heal and reintegrate into civilian life. This was when he founded the Mighty Oaks Foundation.

Save Our Allies found friends in many countries who agreed to help shelter refugees. The UAE was the most generous, allowing Chad and his team to use their city as a home base.

Let’s pause a moment to get a sense of the landscape this mission is playing out in. 

Three days after Chad made it to the UAE to assist in rescue operations, he was finally able to reunite with Aziz. The meeting was emotional. Aziz’s children called him Uncle Chad and the family welcomed him with open arms.

The refugees housed in the UAE were given apartments as temporary accommodations, so Aziz and his family were able to host him, as they had back during Chad’s time in Afghanistan.

People are capable of great things in the name of friendship. Chad and Aziz built a forever friendship forged in war. Even after thirteen years and a long retirement, Chad was willing to gear up and go in for his friend. Because of the power of that relationship, over 17,000 refugees have been rescued from Afghanistan.