【Hong Kong Archives】

Source：Defense Information Network Editor：Tech Time：2025-06-26 04:05:39

There's no doubt we're living in troubling times,Hong Kong Archives but U.S. veteran's story has been warming hearts all over the internet.

Dylan Park-Pettiford shared a story on Twitter, Saturday, about an Iraqi boy named Brahim, who he met during his first deployment to the war-torn nation. The moving thread has been retweeted well over 58,000 times.

SEE ALSO: 6 ways to push your online activism into the real world in the Trump era

Since then, Park-Pettiford told Mashablevia Messenger he shared the story to help speak up against Trump's immigration ban.

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"The response was totally unexpected. If I would’ve known it would go viral I probably would have proofread my threads before tweeting it," he said.

As the son of a Korean orphan and the grandson of a man murdered in an extreme act of racism, Park-Pettiford thinks "We've gone 50 years back in time in less than two weeks."

He continued: "I'm absolutely disgusted in the direction this country is heading in. F*k Donald Trump. I'm going to use every opportunity I can to speak out against him."

In terms of speaking out (and melting hearts), his story takes the cake.

Long story short, Brahim was a kid volunteered to be Park-Pettiford's interpreter in Iraq.

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For Brahim, volunteering would guarantee refugee status in the U.S., and it was one of the sole sources of income for him and the seven people he lived with in a one-bedroom house. A gift of soap was enough to make Brahim cry on one occassion.

Brahim would be Park-Pettiford's liaison for the next year, providing intel which helped save their lives -- twice. All at the age of 16.

But their partnership came to an abrupt end.

"At the end of my tour in Iraq, I knew I was leaving him to die. I knew I'd never see him again. Was just kinda like 'take care kid,'" Park-Pettiford wrote on Twitter.

Five years later, Park-Pettiford flew home to Phoenix to bury his brother. He had been murdered in a carjacking.

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Park-Pettiford left the airport and got in a taxi, sparking a conversation with the driver. It was the usual chit-chat about what he does for a living.

"I tell him I just got out of the military and blah blah. He says 'oh great. I love the military. You ever travel anywhere," Park-Pettiford wrote on Twitter.

"Tell him, 'Sure. Been to every corner of the globe. Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.' He says 'Oh! I'm from Iraq! What part?"

"I say 'Kirkuk, mostly.' And he says 'I'm from Kirkuk.' And then gets really f**king quiet. Like awkwardly quiet. Making me nervous quiet." The driver pulls the car over.

"He stops, turns around and says, "Dylan, you remember me? It's me, Brahim,'" he wrote.

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It really is a small world after all. Incredible.

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