For local veterans of the war in Afghanistan, the rapid collapse of the government amid the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops in the country has brought up memories of their service.

The current situation hasn’t changed what their service meant to them. But they can see parallels between the Taliban takeover of the country with what they saw when they were on the ground.

“When I came home, I had no idea how long we’d be over there. But I said I 100 percent expect it to return to a society where warlords run the country,” said Travis Steigerwalt, a retired Army lieutenant colonel from Lehighton, who served in the country between 2006-07.

Much of the 20 years since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was spent rebuilding the country, including preparing its army.

Steigerwalt was part of a Pennsylvania National Guard team tasked with training some of the first units created in the Afghan National Army. Their mission was to prepare the Afghan soldiers to fight the Taliban.

He saw very little consistency among the Afghan soldiers. The two top commanders in the unit he trained fought on opposite sides of the Afghan-Soviet War, and they refused to work together.

At that time, there was little outside guidance on how to train troops, and the Afghans had a steep learning curve. It was difficult to get them to return from their long midday lunch/nap break, and they were unwilling to repeatedly conduct drills to improve their skills.

“We were trying very hard to train them, but they didn’t want to cooperate with the training.”

The Afghan Army paid soldiers in cash and they could leave without facing consequences. While they did complete some missions successfully, his unit was often at 20-30 percent of their strength, with troops barely large enough to go on patrols.

“You really didn’t know if you could trust them a lot,” Steigerwalt said.

Nesquehoning native Lee Thear arrived in Afghanistan in 2010 with the Marine Corps.

Thear said during his time in the city of Marja the military gave Afghan soldiers all the tools to defend themselves, and sacrificing more U.S. soldiers would not have changed the outcome.

“We did what we set out to do, accomplished what we tried to do,” he said. “Unfortunately it didn’t stick, and anything more would be a waste,” he said.

During his time training soldiers, Thear didn’t see a willingness among Afghan fighters to stand up to the Taliban.

Many of them were farmers, and weren’t interested in engaging the militants unless there was a direct threat to their livelihood.

One unit he trained was repeatedly attacked on their patrols. The Marines decided before one mission to take away the Afghan soldiers’ phones, which they used constantly. After they did that, the attacks on the unit ceased, suggesting that someone in the unit was tipping off militants to their movements.

He did see positive advancements during his time in the country. A shuttered school which was previously male-only reopened for boys and girls.

“We know we did some good things, no matter what anyone has to say. Those who didn’t come home with us, it’s not in vain,” Thear said.

For the families who lost loved ones in the Afghan war, the recent events have been complicated and emotional.

Lehighton native Michael Wargo took his life in 2013, eight years after returning from Afghanistan. His father, Michael, of Lehighton, said he feels a lot of emotions when thinking about the meaning of the 20 years that the U.S. spent there. While he believes 20 years was long enough, he wonders if the U.S. could have maintained stability without more soldiers losing their lives.

“It is a sad day for America, devastating for military families, those who lost a loved one and those who came home physically or emotionally wounded,” Wargo said.

Those who served have also questioned whether the withdrawal of troops could have been handled differently.

“When the president and Congress sends the military to war, there has to be clear objectives, clear strategy on how to exit,” said retired Army National Guard Lt. Col. Dennis DeMara.

DeMara oversaw logistics for four U.S. air bases in Afghanistan in 2003-2004. He said with all of the time, blood and resources invested in the country - 2,448 American troops were killed in the country and another 1,144 from other NATO countries - some kind of continued presence in the region would have been helpful.

But he said that while the Afghan government’s collapse has been difficult to watch, it should not take away from soldiers’ pride in their service.

“We had no incidents on our home soil in those 20 years, kept Americans safe and free. It was honorable service to our country,” DeMara said.