A Canadian Forces veteran from Chatham-Kent who served in Afghanistan has been watching the news out of that country with a heavy heart.
Videos on social media showed hundreds of Afghans rush onto the tarmac of Kabul's international airport on Monday, desperately trying to escape their country.
Nathan Brown Sr., a former supervisor of the Canadian Forces Task Force clothing stores, says he feels for the people trying to escape their country.
"I wasn't over there as a soldier, so I have a different perspective on the whole thing," said Brown, who fulfilled multiple roles during his two trips to Afghanistan from 2007 to 2011. "The speed at which the Taliban took over the country really surprised me."
According to news reports, the Taliban took over the capital Kabul Sunday.
"People are trying to flee the country however they can and I feel for those people," said Brown.
On Sunday, the Canadian government announced it was suspending operations at its Kabul embassy, cutting diplomatic ties with Afghanistan, and evacuating Canadian citizens and some locals who helped the military.
"I know Canada is trying to get some of the interpreters that worked for us over here," he said. "We will see how this all transpires."
Brown says he's been having the discussion about whether it was a waste of time or not.
"Everybody is going to have their own feelings about it, but the people I have talked to have not felt that way," he said. "For the people who are going to feel that way, well that's how they feel. We did what we were asked to do."
According to the government's website, more than 40,000 Canadian troops were deployed in Afghanistan over 13 years, as part of the NATO mission that ended in 2014.
"We were all there to assist Afghanistan," said Brown. "I think even though some people might think that what the UN and NATO were doing might have been a waste of time, but it wasn't a waste of time. We were there to help."
