000			03349cam a22003978i 4500
001			on1338301178
003			OCoLC
005			20230425100705.0
008			220916s2023 nyuab e b 001 0beng
010			_a 2022034906
040			_aDLC _beng _erda _cDLC _dOCLCF _dLJW _dGO6 _dIK2 _dRNL _dNFG
019			_a1373766714
020			_a9780593594841 _q(hardcover ; _qacid-free paper)
020			_a0593594843 _q(hardcover ; _qacid-free paper)
035			_a(OCoLC)1338301178 _z(OCoLC)1373766714
042			_apcc
043			_aa-af---
092			_a958.1047 _bZ94
049			_aNFGA
100	1		_aZuckoff, Mitchell, _eauthor. _9136725
245	1	4	_aThe secret gate : _ba true story of courage and sacrifice during the collapse of Afghanistan / _cMitchell Zuckoff.
250			_aFirst edition.
264		1	_aNew York : _bRandom House, _c[2023]
300			_a316 pages : _billustrations, map ; _c25 cm.
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 289-299) and index.
520			_a"When the U.S. began its withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Afghan Army instantly collapsed, Homeira Qaderi was marked for death at the hands of the Taliban. A celebrated author, academic, and champion for women's liberation, Homeira had achieved celebrity in her home country by winning custody of her son in a contentious divorce, a rarity in Afghanistan's patriarchal society. Homeira tried and failed to escape with her family through the turmoil of the Kabul airport, while evacuation planes departed without Homeira and her eight-year-old son, Siawash. Meanwhile, young foreign service officer from New Jersey named Sam Aronson was enjoying a brief vacation between assignments when chaos descended upon Afghanistan. Sam immediately volunteered his services in the evacuation and got on a plane to Kabul. As he frantically raced to help rescue the more than 100,000 Americans and their Afghan helpers stranded in Kabul, Sam learned that the CIA had established a secret entrance into the Kabul Airport, two miles away from the desperate crowds crushing toward the gates. He started bringing families directly through, personally rescuing as many as fifty-two people in a single day. On the last day of the evacuation, Sam was contacted by Homeira's literary agent, who persuaded him to help her escape. He needed to risk his life to get Homeira and Siawash through the gate in the final hours before it closed forever. He borrowed night-vision goggles and enlisted a Dari-speaking colleague and two heavily armed security contract "shooters." He contacted Homeira with a burner phone, and they used a flashlight code signal borrowed from boyhood summer camp. Homeira broke Sam's rules and withstood his profanities. They braved gunfire by Afghan Army soldiers anxious about the restive crowds outside the airport. Ultimately, they had to leave behind their family and everything young Siawash had ever known"-- _cProvided by publisher.
650		0	_aAfghan War, 2001-2021 _xEvacuation of civilians _vBiography.
600	1	0	_aQādirī, Ḥumayrā, _d1979 or 1980-
650		0	_aWomen authors, Afghan _vBiography.
650		0	_aMothers and sons _zAfghanistan _vBiography.
655		7	_aBiographies. _2lcgft _9870
994			_aC0 _bNFG
999			_c361266 _d361266