5 Veterans Reassess Iraq and Afghanistan 25 Years After 9/11

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 11

Five veterans told Fox News Digital that the Sept. 11 attacks drove them into Iraq and Afghanistan, where they still take pride in serving even as they question what the wars ultimately achieved.
25 years later, their sharpest divide is over policy: John Byrnes called the Afghanistan invasion necessary but the Iraq war unnecessary, while several veterans said the long mission drifted and the U.S. exit squandered gains.
2 Afghanistan deployments left Chris Hoff with multiple concussions and ended his military career; he said Wounded Warrior Project support and equine therapy helped save his life, and he now urges other veterans to seek help.
2003 Iraq combat left Michael Matthews severely wounded by an IED and in a coma for 3 1/2 weeks, redirecting him from a planned military career toward helping veterans and his community.
20 years of war left these veterans balancing pride, injury and frustration, arguing that America must remember both the sacrifices made after 9/11 and the strategic failures that followed.