MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Wednesday is special for Georgia Military College's Executive Director, Colonel Nelson Kraft.
It's the 20th anniversary of Operation Anaconda, one of the first U.S.-led attacks in Afghanistan after 9/11.
“There was a lot of shooting, a lot of bombs being dropped. You take any of those old war movie scenes and it's what it felt like,” he recalls.
Nelson Kraft was one of the leaders in an 18-day mission when U.S. troops landed by helicopter in southern Afghanistan. They were immediately met with enemy fire.
“There was no looking for the enemy. We landed right in the middle of them,” he says.
His company of 134 soldiers fought for 18 hours and many were injured. Kraft was even almost hit, at one point, with a rocket-propelled grenade. He rolled out of the way just in time, the grenade hitting his rucksack instead. That’s the one thing he has left from this mission.
Kraft says they were able to turn the fight into an American victory.
“You train your whole life for something like that as an officer in the United States Army, and being able to lead soldiers in combat, especially in response to 9/11, so early on. It was just amazing.”
Kraft is retired from service now, but says seeing news of the conflict in Ukraine takes him right back.
"I can't help but think how the military and people of Ukraine feel right now. This being the 20th anniversary of a major fight that I was involved in in Afghanistan, the emotions are running really thick through me right now,” he says.
Kraft joined GMC’s staff in 2018 and was able to tell his story to cadets Wednesday morning.
“I was able to share the lessons that I learned and that my soldiers learned, and that they could very well find themselves, in a few years from now, serving their country. It's probably one of the most rewarding things I've done with our cadets."
Kraft keeps in contact with many of his comrades today and honors their contributions. He started to get choked up speaking about it.
“I got up this morning and texted one of the heroes and said, 'Hey, I'm talking about American heroes today, and that's you.’”
More than 2,400 American troops died in the Afghanistan war.
U.S. forces withdrew last summer after nearly 20 years on the ground there.