Afghanistan 2001-2014 tribute: Love cut adrift
Wars begin with public stories. Broad narratives of politics, history and strategy; a blunting of language and experience through euphemism and technical vocabulary. As they progress, moments of human detail puncture this public discourse through the best of reportage and journalism, in helmet-cam videos on YouTube or via leaked footage and photographs.
But on the whole, for most of us, conflict is an anonymising force. Individuals become soldiers, insurgents, refugees, casualties. People become figures, regiments, victims. It is only at wars end, when the emotional as well as the statistical tally is taken, that the more intimate truths of modern conflict rise to the surface. This is when the long shadows that war casts begin to emerge in their varying shades from the black and the white. When the personal stories of those who have died and those who grieve offer, through prisms of retrospection, memory and loss, a more human testament of what war means.
For the British Armed Services, here is that testament: tributes to the 453 men and women who lost their lives over 13 years of conflict in Afghanistan. In the pages that follow and in even greater detail online, you will find a full spectrum of response to that fact, and those figures. From the family who would have preferred their sons name wasnt included, to others who memorialise through annual commemoration and the founding of charities in their childs or siblings name.
Regardless of the nature of the responses, however, or the broader aftermath of Britains most recent engagement in Afghanistan, it is impossible to read these tributes and not feel them cut through any political or strategic viewpoint. They are the words of parents, children, wives, friends and comrades, who in their remembering share with us just a taste, a painful suggestion, of what it might be like to love someone who joins the military, serves overseas and dies there.
Over the past three years, I have worked with many young men and women who, though psychologically or physically wounded, were fortunate enough to return from Afghanistan alive. In two projects, a stage play The Two Worlds of Charlie F and then a radio verse drama Pink Mist, I drew upon the experiences of recently wounded personnel. In the case of Charlie F, the wounded soldiers and Marines I interviewed also formed the majority of the cast.
Although Charlie Fs subject was the aftermath of wounding, the idea of death was ever present among us as we rehearsed. Some bore vivid memories of their friends being killed. Others held equally sharp recollections of those they had killed themselves. A few weeks before the opening night, one of our company, Major Stewart Hill, lost yet another friend, this time through suicide after he had left the Army. When the play went on tour in 2013 it did so in memory of Jack Davies, a single amputee and cast member who died following an operation on his injuries just a few months before.
Reading these tributes here, Ive been reminded of those weeks in that death-haunted rehearsal room, filled with young people in their twenties and thirties. But they have also reminded me of some of the qualities, and the stories of recovery, the cast and their families shared with me. Though born of the worst of human experience, they display the very best of what it means to be human: care, attachment, perseverance and bravery in the face of horror and trauma.
These tributes are veined with similar attributes, and as such are a powerful reminder of how grief is the rougher side of love, and how neither can exist without the other. How, too, in the wake of loss and damage we witness, with a painful clarity, the fundamental human need of connection. It is surprising, perhaps, that as victims of wars discord, the voices of the families and friends in these tributes should create such a harmonious music of humanity. But they do, returning again and again to memories of care and love, to treasured moments and cherished traits.
At times, the poignancy of a love cut adrift from its subject is made manifest in a physical symbol: the tandem bike now covered in cobwebs, the home renamed after the swallows that sang on the day a husbands body was repatriated, the conservatory that was once a place of peaceful refuge become, in the cold days of a fathers grief, just another part of an empty world.
Some memories are more explicitly peppered with regret. In a moving inversion of the more common father/son equation, Rob Loughran-Dickson, writing of his late father, confesses his regret at never telling him he was gay. Tony Woodgate, in recalling his son, Jonathan, writes that his greatest regret was that I didnt actually know him. In the very first tribute, Beccy, remembering her brother Darren, admits: After Darren died, all the family fell apart, never to be fixed again.
Read the rest here:
Afghanistan 2001-2014 tribute: Love cut adrift
- A future without women: Consequences of gender apartheid in Afghanistan - Global Voices - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Women This Week: Multilateral Organizations Increase Pressure on Taliban Over Oppression of Women and Girls in Afghanistan - Council on Foreign... - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Retreat from Afghanistan began as a farce, then it was a scandal, now it's a cover-up - news.sky.com - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- The Islamic State in Afghanistan: A Jihadist Threat in Retreat? - International Crisis Group - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Afghan nationals: have you arrived in the UK under the Afghanistan Response Route? - The Guardian - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Teen From Afghanistan Reported Missing in Tehran Amid Surge in Migrant Hostility - KabulNow - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Afghanistan: Young woman driven to opium fields by Taliban restrictions - Amu TV - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Afghanistan: An Open Wound Still Alive, in Need of Becoming a Nation Again - 8am.media - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Remittance Disruption from Iran Deepens Economic Crisis for the People of Afghanistan - 8am.media - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Retreat from Afghanistan began as a farce, then it was a scandal, now it's a cover-up - Yahoo - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Over 178,000 People in Northern Afghanistan Benefit from Special Trust Fund Support - 8am.media - July 16th, 2025 [July 16th, 2025]
- Russia becomes the first country to recognize the Taliban regime in Afghanistan - MSN - July 14th, 2025 [July 14th, 2025]
- Afghanistan-Pakistan trade grows to nearly 1 bln USD in H1 - Xinhua - July 14th, 2025 [July 14th, 2025]
- Afghanistan 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan: End-year Response Gap Analysis of Financing, Achievements and Response Challenges (January -... - July 14th, 2025 [July 14th, 2025]
- Afghanistan Taxi Drivers Resort To DIY Car Coolers To Beat The Heat: Works Better Than AC - MSN - July 14th, 2025 [July 14th, 2025]
- Afghanistan: Taxi drivers use handmade air coolers to beat the heat - BBC - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- 6-year-old girl sold into marriage with 45-year-old in Afghanistan; Taliban intervenes: Wait until shes - Times of India - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Barbie Battles Diabeetus, Angel Reese Is A Cover Athlete, And Afghanistan Is Open For Business - OutKick - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- In Cinema Jazireh, a Woman Dresses up as a Man in Taliban Afghanistan in Search of Her Son, Hope - The Hollywood Reporter - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Russia Recognizes Talibans Apartheid Regime in Afghanistan - Foreign Policy in Focus - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Shafiqa Jalali says she has a hard time sleeping, eating or going out knowing her son is incarcerated in the U.S. and is scheduled to be deported to... - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Russia Just Legitimized the TalibanWhat Comes Next for Afghanistan and the World? - Security Clearance Jobs - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- Afghanistan Taxi Drivers Resort To DIY Car Coolers To Beat The Heat: Works Better Than AC - Times Now - July 12th, 2025 [July 12th, 2025]
- 'Welcome to Afghanistan': Shocking tourism promo urging Americans to visit the country goes viral - Hindustan Times - Hindustan Times - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Trump dishes on Milley clash over leaving military equipment in Afghanistan: 'I knew he was an idiot' - Fox News - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Russia becomes the first country to recognize Taliban's rule in Afghanistan - NBC News - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Statement of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor on the issuance of arrest warrants in the Situation in Afghanistan - | International Criminal Court - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Following decades in Iran, 'there's nothing left' for millions of Afghan migrants in Afghanistan - France 24 - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- 45-year-old man in Afghanistan married a 6-year-old child: the Taliban's reaction was swift - - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Welcome to Afghanistan': This could be the most bizarre tourism video ever - Stuff - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- The Hairdressers Story: Exile, Loss, and a Forced Return to Afghanistan - 8am.media - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- ICC expresses sadness at the passing of Afghanistan umpire Bismillah Jan Shinwari - ICC - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- UN adopts resolution on Afghanistan's Taliban rule over US objections - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Will Pakistan Be Next to Recognise Taliban Rule in Afghanistan After Russia? - Times Now - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Russia becomes first nation to recognize Taliban government of Afghanistan since 2021 takeover - CNN - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- India abstains from UNGA resolution on Afghanistan, calls for coordinated global efforts against terrorism - News On AIR - - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Experts: Russia Recognizing Taliban Rule in Afghanistan Largely a Symbolic Move - The Moscow Times - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Pakistan warns UN of escalating terror threat from Afghanistan - Dawn - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Tourists are trickling into Afghanistan. The Taliban are eager to welcome them - The Seattle Times - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Troops kill 30 militants trying to get into Pakistan from Afghanistan - Euronews - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Trump News | 'Afghanistan Maybe The Most Embarrassing Moment In The History Of US': Donald Trump - NDTV - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Tourists are trickling into Afghanistan and the Taliban government is eager to welcome them - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Afghanistan Emerges as a New Frontier for Adventure Tourism: A Blend of Promise and Challenges - Travel And Tour World - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Afghanistan: A Hidden Gem That Deserves to Be Seen Up Close - Vocal - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Russia Becomes First Nation To Recognize Taliban-Led Afghanistan - The Media Line - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Russia is the first country to recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan - Commonspace.eu - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Russia Becomes First State to Recognise Taliban Government of Afghanistan - UNITED24 Media - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Russia becomes first country to officially recognise Taliban in Afghanistan - bne IntelliNews - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- The Unexpected Consequences of War Between Iran and Israel on Afghanistan - The Diplomat Asia-Pacific Current Affairs Magazine - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Russia is the first country in the world to recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan - - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Sanctioned Businessman With Kremlin Ties Returns To Afghanistan - - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Pak security forces kill 30 terrorists trying to infiltrate from Afghanistan - Deccan Herald - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia Becomes First Country to Recognize Afghanistans Taliban Government - The New York Times - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia Is First Country to Recognize Taliban Rule in Afghanistan - The Daily Beast - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Troops kill 30 militants attempting to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan - AP News - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Taliban praise Russias brave decision to recognise their rule in Afghanistan - The Guardian - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia becomes first country to recognise Afghanistan's Taliban government - France 24 - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Pace Thanks Troops in Afghanistan, Notes Signs of Progress - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia becomes the first country to formally recognize Talibans latest rule in Afghanistan - AP News - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Troops kill 30 militants attempting to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan - WRAL.com - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- News - Army Reservist to Receive Silver Star for Heroism in Afghanistan - DVIDS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia becomes first nation to formally recognize Taliban-led government in Afghanistan - LiveNOW from FOX - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Hillsdale veteran Greg Whalen reflects on Afghanistan withdrawal through his music - Hillsdale Daily News - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia Becomes 1st Country To Recognise Taliban Government Of Afghanistan - NDTV - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- China Hails Russias Decision To Recognize Taliban Rule In Afghanistan; Will Beijing Follow Suit? - EurAsian Times - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia Becomes First Nation to Recognise Taliban Rule in Afghanistan - The Wire India - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia becomes first country to recognize Taliban government in Afghanistan - Trkiye Today - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia the first to recognise Taliban government in Afghanistan - BBC - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia becomes first country to recognise Taliban government of Afghanistan - The Indian Express - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia officially recognises the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - 5Pillars - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia First to Officially Recognize Taliban Government in Afghanistan - - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Russia becomes first nation to formally recognize Taliban rule in Afghanistan - all details here - Mint - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Pakistan army kills 30 militants trying to cross from Afghanistan: Here's all we know - WION - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Kremlin's new stance: Russia first to officially recognise Afghanistan's Taliban government; will foster - Times of India - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Tourists Are Trickling into Afghanistan and the Taliban Government Is Eager to Welcome Them - Military.com - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Afghanistan: First-Hand Accounts Expose Torture by Taliban Intelligence Services - World Organisation Against Torture | OMCT - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Flight to freedom: A pilot's journey from the fall of Afghanistan to fighting fires in America - Fairfield Sun Times - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Building crutches, walkers, and stretchers from scratch in Afghanistan - Doctors Without Borders - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Russia to host seventh round of Moscow Format talks on Afghanistan this fall - Amu TV - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Earthquake of magnitude 3.9 strikes Afghanistan; third since June 28 - Business Standard - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]