On radio this morning, Glenn spoke to his good friend Marcus Luttrell about the man who saved his life – Mohammed Gulab. If you have read Marcus’ book, Lone Survivor, you are familiar with the iatrical role Gulab played in aiding Marus and the team that came to rescue him in the aftermath of the failed Operation Redwing. Since that day, Gulab and his family have been under increased threat, and with the release of the movie adaptation of Lone Survivor due out in December, Marcus is looking to bring his friend to the United States to ensure his safety.
“[Marcus] happened to fall into this village, and the guy who was really his savior was Mohammed Gulab,” Glenn said. “And this guy is now entering a situation where he's known as the guy who saved Marcus Luttrell, and when the movie comes out, it will only get more dangerous for him over there. He is coming over to the United States for a visit. I would like to see that we could get a Green Card for him because he is increasingly in more and more danger and he saved, not only a friend of mine, but he saved… a man I believe is an American hero.”
Gulab will be arriving in Houston, Texas this week for a short visit with Marcus, but Marus explained that his friend is not looking to cut corners or gain U.S. citizenship – he is simply looking for safety on a temporary basis.
“[Gulab is] probably the most honorable man I know, other than my brother – willing to hang it on the line for a total and complete stranger… He hadn't had any problems before I rolled in there. But since then, his family members have been killed; his house has been burned down… They try to kill him daily,” Marcus explained. “With the release of the movie, we want to get him back over here, so he can ride it out… Everybody talks about him becoming an American citizen, but he's a proud Afghani. If he did come over here, it would all have to be the right way, the legit way, following every rule because that's just the way he is. He doesn't cut any corners and he doesn't believe in that.”
The future of Afghanistan is unkown. Marcus explained that when the U.S. military pulls out of the country, there is a very probable chance the futile democracy will crumble and Gulab’s safety will be less certain.
“I'm surprised he made it this long without our help. So if anybody deserves any kind of asylum or our help, it's him,” Marcus said. “He not only saved my life – the people who rescued me, the Rangers and Green Berets, he's been helping out with intelligence for our government to chase down bad guys over there. So I wouldn't understand if they denied him, when most people can just walk over here freely.”
Glenn asked Marcus to explain one of the more interesting facets of his relationship with Gulab. The men speak on the phone on a regular basis despite the fact that they do not speak the same language.
“Does he speak English at all,” Glenn asked. “Because I know he speaks Pashto.”
“No, he's got fragments here and there,” Marcus explained. “This may sound funny, but it all falls back to when I was in that village for that week. I just go off the inflection in his voice, and he goes off of mine. I just kind of can understand where he's coming from, what he's trying to say to me, and how things are going out there just by the way he talks to me. That's how close we became… It's crazy how close you can become to somebody when they are a lifeline, when you absolutely positively have to hang on to every word they say, every emotion they throw out, just because you think they are going to keep you alive.”
“I think this is the spirit of speaking tongues,” Glenn surmised. “You can understand him, he can understand you, but you don't speak a word of the language. I think it's a God thing and a heart thing, Marcus.”
