WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Biden has made clear it is time for American troops to leave Afghanistan starting May 1.
"This is a country that has seen war after war," Veteran Tom Porter said.
He would know he did a tour in Afghanistan from 2010-2011 with the Navy.
"I worked with a lot of the media, I worked with some of the government agencies and mentoring and partnering with my Afghan counterparts," he said.
Porter said the news of President Biden announcing a pending troop withdrawal from Afghanistan doesn't come as a surprise.
"I had wanted to see us further down the road in terms of security before we were out of there, but they've made a lot of progress," he said.
The withdrawal of troops will begin within a matter of weeks.
"I've concluded that it's time to end America's longest war. It's time for American troops to come home," President Biden said.
The move ends a war that's resulted in the deaths of about 2,400 American troops in that nation.
"We'll be out of Afghanistan before we mark the 20th anniversary of that heinous attack on September 11. But we'll not take our eye off the terrorist threat," President Biden said.
WPTV reached out to Representative Brian Mast, an Army veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom. He lost both of his legs in an explosion while serving in Afghanistan 11 years ago.
He released this quote, "I have long believed that it is well past time for the United States to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan. I supported President Trump's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2020, and I agree with President Biden's decision today."
Porter said he has one request for the current administration.
"We need to make sure that we take care of those veterans that have deployed there and Iraq and other places," he said.