CLEARWATER, Fla. — For retired Army Staff Sergeant James Arnett, the war in Afghanistan ended a decade ago, but he remembers the danger like it was yesterday. 

"You couldn't turn your back on anybody," he said. "You couldn't trust anybody. Even the Afghan National Army or the interpreters. You just always had to kinda play it safe."

Initially, he served 15 months as an infantryman. Then he returned to Kabul as a military contractor. He said all the new developments these past few weeks hit home for him when he got an unexpected call from his former interpreter. 

"He basically said, 'Jimmy, I can't get out. There is no way I'm gonna make it to Kandahar. So me and some of the other interpreters are going to try to go over the mountain. Try to get up north where the Taliban isn't,'" Arnett explained. "When I saw that picture of the C-17 leaving, the only thought I had was, is this what I fought for? Is this what we went there for and what my friends got killed for?" 

When asked if he was proud of the job he did in Afghanistan, Arnett said, "I'm proud of my soldiers. They didn't get any credit for it. They didn't ask for it. They went out there and they did their job every single day." He said, "There are a thousand different ways this could have gone. Was it gonna be easy? No. Anyone who will tell you differently is lying to you. But there is a better way to do it."

When asked if he was glad the war in Afghanistan is officially over, he said, "I don't know. Do I want my little brother who is about to graduate from high school going to Afghanistan to fight? The same place I fought. No. God no. Is it worth another soldier, another Marine? No, it is not. But at the same time, we're talking about the fullness of history here. What was it for? That's the question that needs to be answered now."