he recounted one particularly brutal day in sangin to the chicago sometimes. it was the day in which he earned a purple heart. he told the son times quote my squad leader stepped on an improvised explosive device and he lost his leg. i was blown up. and then my platoon sergeant was blown up in that same blast on that same day. it was one of a couple of times i was blown up on that point appointment. another marine who served in sangin said, they put up a map on the city when they got there, and that one marines vivid description said it looks like someone had sneezed blood although for the map, because the mob was covered in red dots, and every red dot on the map marked a place where the taliban had opened fire on allied troops. just absolutely, absolutely perilous place for those u.s. marines coming in after the british had experienced so much death and so many casualties there. but in sangin, like in so many places in the course of the war, the marines were not there on their own. they had help. this guy right here, who were gonna show on the screen, there's

here's how "the new york times" describes the first time they met in sangin. major schueman concedes he was in a transactional mood on the day he met zach. he had already worked with so many different interpreters, but zach was different. he was physically fit for one. his english was excellent. most of all, he was willing to go to sangin, which many interpreters avoided. he said i immediately recognized that he was a special guy and i was very lucky to have him. marines in other platoons began to eye this new addition with envy, but major schueman had no intention of sharing him. the patrols were long and terrifying as the marines made their way through mined territory toward villages, often being ambushed in a campaign that killed and severely injured scores of troops. at one point zak overheard two taliban fighters from a distance talking on their radios as they organized an attack on the group of marines plodding slowly toward them in formation behind an engineer with a metal detector. a metal detector to detect mines. major schueman recalled zak's next ac

and british troops died in action in the battle of sangin.was fiercest battleground in the entire war. he was in face of it. stared death in the face but had secret weapon, afghan interpreter. major calls him zach. not his real name, young man who teamed up with u.s. troops, few ventured to do so because that particular area was dangerous. day in and day out zach risked his life to help the u.s. troops. november 2010, zach overheard radio communication that americans intercepted, heard enough to gather where the enemies were hiding. zach crossed the field on his own to tackle the taliban commander, saved many lives that day. in another instance, he picked up rifle of wounded american soldier and assisted u.s. troops in battle. worked for u.s. marines for nine months before working for two years with contractor who provided services to u.s. army. despite all his work he's denied visa to come to the u.s. since threshold of two years of service, u.s. government wants zach to verify the time he worked with the contractor but they're no longer act

and british troops died in action in the battle of sangin.ive believes this was the fiercest battleground in the entire war. he was in the face of it. he knows. he was there. he stared death in the face but had a secret weapon, an afghan interpreter. major calls him zak. not his real name, young man who teamed up with u.s. troops, few ventured to do so because that particular area was dangerous. day in and day out zak risked his life to help the u.s. troops. on one occasion in november 2010, zak overheard a radio conversation that the americans had intercepted featuring a taliban commander. he heard enough to gather where the enemies were hiding. schuman told him they would dispatch a unit as soon as he could, but he knew he couldn't wait long. zak crossed the field on his own to tackle the taliban commander, saved many lives that day. in another instance, he picked up rifle of wounded american soldier and assisted u.s. troops in battle. zak worked for the u.s. marines for nine months before going to work for two years for a contractor who pr