BROOMFIELD, Colo. — A veteran in Broomfield is reunited with his interpreter from Afghanistan after fighting for weeks to get him and his family to Colorado.
Scott Henkel and Ahmad Siddiqi worked together on hundreds of missions while the Army captain was serving overseas. They hadn't seen each other in 15 years, and now they live one mile apart in Broomfield.
Before arriving in Colorado, Siddiqi, his wife, and four kids were hiding from the Taliban in Kabul. The journey to the Kabul airport was too dangerous for his family to take, until they got help from a U.S. Marine.
The Siddiqi family safely made it out of Afghanistan in late August, and they got clearance to travel to Denver about a month later after weeks of hard work from the Henkel family.
"He is not only here for me," Siddiqi said. "He is here for the whole family."
The two families were reunited at Denver International Airport. At the gate, the Siddiqi family was greeted with balloons and flowers, as well as a group of volunteers, elected leaders and refugee service representatives.
Since their arrival, the community has shown a tremendous amount of support to help the family settle in Colorado. Friends of the Henkel family offered a mother-in-law suite for the Siddiqi family to live in. A number of people have also committed to providing the Siddiqis meals until late November.
"Six weeks ago I felt powerless and helpless. I couldn’t help him, my friend," Henkel said. "It was a goal of ours to get him and his family here to Colorado so that we can help them now."
These friends are more like family. They already have plans to celebrate Thanksgiving together.
"When we call you a family or this neighborhood a family, it's something, because we lost family," Siddiqi said. "We lost country. It's not something to just use it. It is coming from very bottom of our heart."
Siddiqi and Henkel dreamed of having their families meet one day, and now they can walk to each other's homes. After hundreds of missions together, reuniting in Colorado was their most important one yet.
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