He didn’t die in vain. Nor did Cohocton’s Devin Snyder nor Fredonia’s Jonathan Gollnitz nor all the others.

He was Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael Murphy from Patchogue, Long Island. The ice hockey star who graduated with honors from Penn State was killed-in-action in Konar Province, Afghanistan, on June 28, 2005. He was 29.

Ambushed by the Taliban during a reconnaissance mission high in the mountains, Lt. Murphy and his three teammates fought valiantly while vastly outnumbered. Despite the intensity of the firefight and suffering grave wounds himself, Murph desperately tried to contact headquarters for help.

Realizing that because of the extreme terrain he’d have to move into the open to be in a position to make that call, he repelled outward again and again in complete disregard for his life-exposing himself to enemy gunfire. At one point he was shot in the back causing him to drop the transmitter. He picked it back up, completed the call and continued firing at the enemy who was closing in. Killed in the firefight along with Lt. Murphy were Sonar Technician 2nd Class Matthew Axelson, 29, and Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Danny Dietz. Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Marcus Luttrell miraculously survived though badly wounded. For his heroism, Lt. Murphy received posthumously the Congressional Medal of Honor. The other Medal of Honor winner in Afghanistan, born on the same day as my oldest daughter Carrie, was Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham from Scio who dove on a grenade to save his brothers nearby and died eight days later on April 22, 2004. He was 29.

Every time I see my grandson Devin Snyder, I think of Army Sgt. Devin Snyder. She was killed on June 4, 2011 by a roadside bomb. She was 20. And when I think of my old college town Fredonia, Marine Sgt. Gollnitz comes to mind. After serving 5 years in the Navy, he joined up with the Army, shipped off to Afghanistan and was killed in action on Sept. 26, 2012. He was 28.

With the shocking and sudden takeover of the country earlier this month by the Taliban, several media outlets have intimated that the sacrifices of our men and women in Afghanistan were in vain. But they weren’t! Because of the heroic actions of Lt. Murphy, Sgt. Snyder, Sgt. Gollnitz and 2,310 of their comrades in arms, the Afghan people benefited in so many ways, including the following:

1. Infant mortality dropped some 50%.

2. Literacy among Afghan girls rose from c.5% to c.40%.

3. Afghan women experienced newly found freedoms. Some became business owners while another 1,100 became journalists.

4. The country was transformed from an “information desert” into a place characterized by vibrant networks of radio, TV, and online media reach in all 34 provinces.

5. Afghanistan became a stable, open and inclusive society with terrorist groups like the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Isis either totally silenced or reduced to existences in remote mountain areas.

The Trump and Biden administrations have cited as major reasons for pulling out the demands of the American public (70%), corruption in the Afghan government and the cost (billions a year) factor. Regarding the former, I’d bet my meager life’s savings that the majority of the 70%ers hadn’t the slightest idea of the progress made over two decades-among others, the fault of a media addicted to accentuating/sensationalizing the negative.

As for corruption, the last four administrations could have made serious efforts to get Afghanistan’s leaders to clean up their acts or we’d hit the road. And as for cost, check out the following.

Uncle Sam has nearly 800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories costing c.$340 billion annually to support and maintain. The largest and costliest of the bases are located in Germany, Japan and South Korea. Compare the economies of the first two after their annihilation in World War II with their economic status today. Wonder why? I can vividly recall a couple of classes in the great Prof. Dan Roselle’s history class at Fredonia State where we debated the efficacy of those bases in Germany and Japan; it was 1962, the war had been over for 17 years, all that money could be put to much greater use here helping to fund JFK’s war on poverty. Comparatively, maintaining a presence in Afghanistan would have been a drop in the proverbial bucket. By staying, we would not only have given the country opportunities to grow in ways exemplified earlier, but we’d have guaranteed stability in a region now at the mercy of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Isis.

Recently, I had the great occasion to meet with Mrs. Lorie Schneider, Gold Star Mother of Marine Cpl. Kyle R. Schneider who was KIA in Helmar Province a day before his tour was to end. A devoted veterans’ advocate, Lorie and her husband Rick founded the Cpl. Kyle R. Schneider Foundation whose motto — “It’s My Turn” — echoes the words their son said in reply to a question why he chose to leave a “cushy” duty in the states to opt for deployment overseas. I plan to see her again soon. We’re bringing one of our Fallen Stars Memorial banners to her local Baldwinsville American Legion Post 113. And I’m going to tell her how proud I am of her son who did his job and did it to the ultimate degree.

He, Sgt. Snyder, Sgt. Gollnitz and all the others never failed in doing their duty. Their leaders did.

Ray Lenarcic is a 1965 State University of New York at Fredonia graduate and is a resident of Herkimer.