Afghan Refugee Turned Marine & Green Beret | Ep. 266 | Pt. 1

In Episode 266 of the Mike Drop Podcast, Mike Ritland sits down with Kawa Mawlayee—the first Afghan-born Green Beret—for a raw talk on war, immigration, and identity. Kawa recounts fleeing Soviet-invaded Afghanistan, losing his father, and growing up as a refugee in Nebraska before serving 21 years across the Marines and Army, including Iraq’s invasion and the battle of Fallujah. They dive into today’s immigration crisis, where Kawa contrasts his own integration with the current border chaos and even imagines how he’d fix ICE. From Fallujah’s brutality to the moral injuries of endless wars, Kawa reflects on leadership failures, resilience, and the cost of service—told with the blunt honesty only veterans share.

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