While America’s longest war – the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan – ended when American forces hastily fled the country in August 2021, memories from two decades of bloody battles are still lodged firmly in the minds of those who served there.
Their feelings, including the emotional and physical toll of fighting in Afghanistan, are starting to come to light.
Shortly after the U.S. left Afghanistan, Congress developed a bipartisan commission to collect first-hand stories from soldiers deployed there. The final report won’t be released until August 2026, but some comments from veterans have begun trickling out to the public.
In the past few years, the commission has conducted interviews with Afghanistan veterans to gain a better understanding of how the military conducted operations in the war and the personal effect of combat, with many soldiers experiencing multiple deployments.
According to a report on the commission’s findings from Straight Arrow News, veterans stated in interviews that the war was “hellish, confusing, demoralizing and, at times, humiliating.”
In addition to documenting veterans’ experiences, the commission intends to scrutinize “strategic, diplomatic, military and operational decisions” put forth from June 2001 to August 2021 when U.S. forces left Afghanistan.
After the horrendous attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, American forces wasted little time in targeting terrorist cells in Afghanistan. Only 38 days later, on Oct. 19, 2001, ground troops started conducting missions on Afghan soil, and they would stay for another 7,255 days, finally ending the mission on Aug. 30, 2021. The image of the last commercial plane valiantly trying to escape the airport runway in Kabul with dozens of Afghans holding on for dear life is burned into the memories of many Americans.
Based on a study from the A-Mark Foundation, more than 832,000 U.S. troops served in Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Almost 21,000 (20,770) suffered wounds, while 2,456 were killed.
Veterans told the commission the war was measured in “days and sacrifice.”
“One thing that is particularly important to us is to tell a human story of the war,” said Shamila Chaudhary, cochair of the Afghanistan War Commission. “We know that the media has covered the issues and conflicts of Afghanistan extensively, but oftentimes the stories of the individuals who served on the ground get lost.”
Commission member Chris Molino said the war carried a deeply personal nature, touching thousands of soldiers, and spanning a generation. “I think Afghanistan, like any war, is full of coming-of-age stories when you get down to the very individual level. Those are gut-wrenching, very personal things,” Molino said.
Along with ground troops, the commission has interviewed more than 160 people, including high-ranking military commanders, presidential cabinet members, diplomats, leaders from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and other officials. The commission has also invited veterans to speak at forums, including the national Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Columbus, Ohio held Aug. 9-13.
“The reason we are in Columbus today is to talk with those coming to this VFW convention,” said Robert Ashley, a commission member, while attending the convention. “One is to educate them on the purpose of the commission, but it also allows them to have a voice and express their concerns, tell their stories about their experience in Afghanistan.”
So far, the commission has released two interim reports. The reports didn’t formulate conclusions based on the commission’s findings; however, it did pinpoint specific themes based on interviews, documents it received and veteran forums. The commission plans to release the full report to the public before Aug. 22, 2026.
While analyzing the choices made from 2001 to 2021, the commission hopes to provide clarity on the overall scope of the war, which could affect how the U.S. responds to future national security threats and overseas conflicts.
“Our work is not just about what the U.S. did in Afghanistan,” Chaudhary said, “but what the U.S. should be doing in any country where it deems it has a national security interest.”
Ashley said the interviews needed to cast a wide net to offer key insight into the 20-year engagement. “It’s not just us talking to Americans,” he said. “We’re talking to allies, partners … we’re talking to Afghans to get their experience in trying to understand how they saw our decisions and our actions in the course of the war.”
