Robert Thomasson- Combat Experience in Afghanistan

Former Marine Corporal Robert Thomasson and Afghanistan combat veteran spoke to SBHS Dual Enrollment U.S. History students about his experiences in Afghanistan. Mike and Amy showed our appreciation for visiting us and discussing the nature of the Afghanistan war. This discussion took place June 3rd, 2019.

Mr. Thomasson, talks about his Parris Island Basic Training yearbook and t-shirts they acquired at basic training which Mike is reading. And below Mike's question.

Note- if two names appear prior to one question it means students from the two classes had similar or same question.

Mike- What was a typical day like in Afghanistan? ANSWER- We did a lot of walking every day with over 100lbs on our backs.  I would go without showering for as long as a month.

Kevin- What do you think Afghanistan will be like in five years? ANSWER- I don’t think it will change. The Afghan people are not very educated and will stick to their traditional values. In order for the society to change, we would need to establish a presence in the area and also educate the Afghan people, which is difficult since we do not have enough resources to occupy the area properly.

Abi- Looking back at 9/11, any thoughts? ANSWER-The younger generation should learn more about 9/11. The people who were involved were scared because it was so personal and triggering. I couldn’t go into any 9/11 museums without being triggered in any sort of way.

Sean- (front) Did you ever have conversations with the enemy? ANSWER- I did not consider all of the Afghans enemies. My experiences with them were giving water and supplies and also receiving tea from locals. Building good relationships was important as the people gave valuable information about the Taliban and their locations.

Umar- (second right) Have you had any reporters in your unit and if so how do they affect things? ANSWER- That’s a good question. We had one reporter in our unit but we were quite reluctant to talk to him. The media likes to spin stories to get political so we were all super reluctant to talk to him. We didn’t want to talk to him because if we said something wrong or negative it would look bad for our battalion commander and he may have gotten fired. We also just wanted to make the military look good and not be associated with bad stuff.

Mr.Thomasson looking at image of 9/11/01

Vivek- Do you think it's possible to peacefully persuade the most radical elements in Afghanistan to change their ways or is force the only thing they understand?  ANSWER- That's a tough question. It would definitely be hard because it was their culture to be that way. It would probably take a permanent occupation of the area like we did in Korea to be effective. If we left, the Taliban would come back immediately like the North Vietnamese Army in the Vietnam War. It would also be hard to do so because they aren't as educated and the structure of the country is messed up.

Sarah-  What is the best memory of your military experience? ANSWER-My best memory of my military experience was my friends. I never lost any of my closest friends but there were some in my unit that died.

 Lauren (left)/Alec (above) - Have you seen the movie Taking Chance and if so did you ever have escort duty? ANSWER- I have seen the movie but I never had that duty but my friend did and he informed the mother.

Anna- (right) I noticed in your yearbook, on page 20, top left, there was a basic training class picture that had a man in the bottom row blurred out. His name also wasn’t  listed at the bottom, and I wanted to know if that was because he died or went AWOL?  ANSWER- The reason the man was blurred is because he was likely in an intelligence position, and needed protection for both himself and his family.

Sarah- If you're comfortable responding to this, how would you evaluate President Bush, President Obama and President Trump as Commander in Chief? ANSWER- President Bush was a good Commander in Chief for a while but he focused on Iraq to the  detriment of the Afghan war. President Obama increased the troops and we were making progress but he should not have announced a date when we would leave. The Taliban would just wait us out.  As for Trump I'm unsure about his tactics as Commander in Chief. 

Brian(center)/Zach- Can you describe what combat is like? ANSWER- You feel helpless because you don’t know what is going to happen.  You feel like you are drowning.

Tallon (front)- Why did you want to fight?  ANSWER- When I graduated I wasn't mature enough for a college experience so I decided to take on a challenge with the military. It helped me mature and I gained valuable experiences that have helped me in life.

Vivek- Do you think it's possible to peacefully persuade the most radical elements of Afghanistan to change their ways or is force the only thing they understand? ANSWER- It would definitely be hard because it was a culture to be that way. It would probably take a permanent occupation of the area like we did in Korea to be effective because if they left, the Taliban would come back immediately like the North Vietnamese Army in the Vietnam War. It would also be hard to do so because they aren't as educated and the structure of the country was messed up.

Sam- How do you get your food/is it any kind of fun while you’re not fighting? ANSWER- We got our food from MREs (meals ready to eat). It was too dangerous to joke around after a couple of our squad got killed.

Katiana/Amani (above)- When you first were in Afghanistan did your expectations match the reality? ANSWER-Going into Afghanistan you don’t really know what it is going to be like, previously we had been to Dubai which is a very wealthy country. Going from there to the complete opposite in Afghanistan is something that you don’t expect. People there are uneducated, just trying to get by. They grow opium, do jobs for the highest bidder and will even sell their daughters to the Taliban in order to provide for their families.

Gabe/Alexa (right)Do you think any war is moral or ethical? ANSWER- War is immoral if it's done for political gain. So wars like WW2, the early Afghanistan War, and WWI are all morally sound wars, but Vietnam and Iraq are immoral, because that's killing for the benefit of someone else and is blood money at that point.

Jade-  Do Afghan women ever talk to you about what would happen if the Taliban were back in control?  ANSWER-I did speak to the women and they expressed their fear of the Taliban selling off their daughters and how their husbands were executed. Women had no human rights under the control of the Taliban.

Sean/Jacob- (right) Generally speaking, what are the Afghan people like? ANSWER- They were very poor people and they were there to support their family. They were tortured by the Taliban and they did not have any luxuries. They just did the basics to survive. They grew their own food and were very poor. They were also afraid that they would be killed by the Taliban, so they lived from day to day just trying to survive. They didn’t have much to lose.

Alexa/Umayya- What is one thing you would like us to know about the military’s experience in Afghanistan? ANSWER- Just the adversity we faced there. To be mindful. I know people talk bad about millennials but to go from high school to that environment is very impressive.”

Bill- What is enjoyable about your duty in Afghanistan?  ANSWER- The camaraderie I had with my fellow Marines and trying to help the Afghan people. I enjoyed the experiences. I also really appreciated things like a warm shower and a bed. I was also glad while were in Afghanistan we would be able to prevent another terrorist attack like 9/11.

Ryan (left)/Roberto- Did you want to serve in Iraq? ANSWER- I did not want to serve in Iraq as things seemed more intense over there. I was happy serving in Afghanistan and fighting them in their own country instead of the Taliban coming over to the US and fighting us on our own soil.

Jason- Did you have any experiences with Afghan children and if so what were those like? ANSWER- I interacted as positively as they could with the local children and gave them candy and food.  We did this so that they would have a positive view of the American soldiers at the time, and even more so when they grew up.

Matt- What will it take to defeat the Taliban? ANSWER-  We need a permanent troop surge like how we did in Korea. Don’t leave the country because the Taliban will come back and instead educate them on democratic principles and how to become aware of their “govt”. At the very least, leave the rural areas  and inhabit the urban areas.

Dave- Did you ever think "I want to be the man that that kills or captures Usama bin Laden? ANSWER- No, I’m just glad that servicemen did it and that he didn’t die from a natural death or be put on trial to be killed.

Abby-(left)  In World War II we fire-bombed Tokyo and Dresden, Germany. Many civilians were killed but those attacks helped end the war. In the fight against Taliban, ISIS or Al quaeda should we not be concerned about civilian deaths and have similar raids like we did in WWII? ANSWER- In Germany it was war essential to bomb the population in order to support the war effort. Now, it would make us lose the will to fight and makes it worse. We would lose the heart of minds and the connections with their people. Starting with the attack of IED, the strategies changed and we had to be nice to make more connections.

Kelly/Savannah- (back right) Do you think peace talks between the Taliban and U.S. will get anywhere? ANSWER-I think it's a start, but not really. Because the Taliban don't have anything to lose and they're also gaining power and support in Pakistan, there might be another surge- though I hope it's not as big as ISIS. I don't trust that the peace talks would work, though.

Conor- Many recent vets have launched political careers. Do you have any interest in running for office? ANSWER- I want to run for local office but I have no interest in running for state or national office because I like working with people locally but not on a grand scale.

Amy- I assume the geography in Afghanistan is very different compared to this area. How would you describe it and did you encounter any unusual animals? ANSWER- The terrain is very similar to the United States, most specifically California or Arizona. It’s very dry. I didn’t encounter any unusual animals but I did once see a man riding on a horse and he approached me. He was very friendly.

Ethan- Did you serve with people from other countries and if so what was that like? ANSWER-The Afghans were lazy and not really motivated. They were in it for the money.

Carmen- General McChrystal was criticized for giving a speech in which he said what President Obama’s policy should be.  Are there rules given to you and your fellow soldiers about what you can say to the media? ANSWER- Yes they had to watch what they would say to the media because it would get back to his group leader and he would get in trouble. 

Peyton- (right) When you came across Afghans did you fear they might be Taliban or Al Qaeda? ANSWER- I had no idea who was Taliban/Al Qaeda and who was not. I would ask interpreters for indicators of who was Taliban/Al Qaeda. The interpreters would say that their family members and familial situations are good indicators of Taliban/Al Qaeda involvement. I observed and learned that members of the Taliban would frequently have weapons on their property.

Om- Did you have any health problems in Afghanistan?  Wounded? Sick? ANSWER-  A lot of guys drank the well water and got sick. I stayed away from it because I didn't want to get sick. I ran out of MREs at one time. My parents sent us some Chef Boyardee's food so I wouldn't go hungry."

Mohib- How effective were/are the Afghan troops against the enemy? ANSWER-Most of them weren't very effective. Some were motivated and were helpful but others were lazy. Overall, the afghan troops didn't help us much. 

Nathan- Should we be trying to build schools and things like that in Afghanistan or should we stay strictly military? ANSWER- Yes we should build school and such, because Afghanistan isn’t a very educated country. With a more educated country and population it is easier to promote democracy and have that country adopt democracy