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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
It's time now for StoryCorps and a remembrance of the U.S. war in Afghanistan that began 25 years ago. Captain Ahmad Khalid Noori was an Afghan special operations officer fighting alongside U.S. troops. Wida Saber worked in Afghanistan's presidential palace. One night, Noori showed up unexpectedly at Saber's home to ask for her hand in marriage.
AHMAD KHALID NOORI: In our culture, it's very common for families to receive the proposed before marriage and to either accept or deny.
WIDA SABER: And my mom said no to you. My father served in the military, and I lost my dad when I was 13 years old. My mom, she's thinking, my daughter will become a widow because this man working with the Afghan special forces.
NOORI: And I kept asking again and again.
SABER: And my mom said no to you.
NOORI: But then Afghanistan collapsed.
SABER: I remember you called my mom, and you said, I want to marry Wida tomorrow because we work with the government. If the Taliban find us, definitely, they will kill us.
NOORI: Yes.
SABER: And we organized the marriage for the next evening. I did not remember nothing, only that I said, yes, yes, yes, yes. And after that, we become a husband and wife. And the next day, you said, Wida, we should go to the airport. We only had one bag with our phone, passport and documents. I remember every Taliban checkpoints as much as I can, I try to cover my face by burqa, and I was so worried if Taliban capture you. We were lucky to escape that.
NOORI: The very first day, when we got here in the United States, I remember I was really broken. Losing my country was the very saddest event of my life.
SABER: Yes. I remember those tough days. But, luckily, during this new life, we blessed with a daughter, and she makes my heart, my mind, my soul very calm.
NOORI: Yes. When I have a tough day and I get back home and I see her with two teeth smiling, that helped me to forget what was hard. She's our cause now. I feel very proud as a man, a husband, now as a dad. And the reason why I am resilient today, why I continue to move forward and not give up, it's because of you.
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MARTIN: Ahmad Khalid Noori and Wida Saber. They live in Virginia with their 3-year-old daughter. Their interview is archived at the Library of Congress. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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