An Afghan who saved a GI, now pays the price.
Biography
ASADABAD, Afghanistan – When Afghan shepherd Muhammad Gulab left his mountain home one morning in June 2005 to check on a strange noise his family had heard in the woods, he found a frightened, wounded American soldier pointing his rifle at him.
“His pants were torn almost off,” his legs black with dirt, dried blood and bruises, Gulab recalled in an interview. “I saw from his eyes that he was almost collapsing.
“I lifted my shirt to show him that I had no weapon,” Gulab said through an interpreter, “and I beckoned for him to come to me.” The American lowered his weapon and limped forward.
Gulab knew that in rescuing the American, Petty Officer 1st Class Marcus Luttrell, he was risking his own life. The day before, he had heard the gunfire and shouting of pro-Taliban guerrillas who had battled a team of U.S. Navy SEAL commandos. Killed in that battle were three Navy SEALs – Matt Axelson, Danny Dietz and Michael Murphy. Luttrell was the sole American survivor of the fight.
On that day, Luttrell stepped forward to Gulab, put his arms around him and handed over his rifle, Gulab said. With that, Luttrell entrusted his life not only to the shepherd but also to the ancient and ironclad moral code of the Pashtun people. Their code of honor, called pashtunwali, is written in no constitution or legislation, but in the mountains and deserts of Pakistan and Afghanistan that are the Pashtuns’ homeland, it carries the force of law.
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