SANTA ANA, Calif. — A year ago, Farkhunda “Wajmah” Koshani and Ziba Zahiri didn’t know if they would make it out of Kabul airport, where thousands of American civilians and Afghan allies were frantically fleeing the advance of Taliban forces.
Today they live days free of fear, enjoying American pastimes like picnics at the beach and trips to Disneyland.
Koshani, 22, was the new wife of Farid Zahiri, an Afghan who worked as a translator with the United States Marines; Ziba Zahiri, 64, is his mother. Just hours before a bomb blast at the airport killed 13 American service members and 170 Afghans, the two women, with help from retired Marine Lt. Col. Jamey Federico, a combat pilot and now Dana Point councilman, made it through the gates and onto one of the last planes as the U.S. finished its withdrawal from the county.
