DENVER — In two weeks, the 2,500 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan will start coming home with the plan to have them all out by Sept. 11.
It will end a 20-year-long war, which is, by far, America's longest.
David Ortiz served in Afghanistan and was paralyzed from the waist down in a chopper crash. He now serves in the Colorado State House.
"I'm one of those 20,000 that came back permanently injured. I live life in a wheelchair because of my service in Afghanistan," Ortiz said. "We've all lost friends there. To make that sacrifice worth it, I want to make sure that we leave in a way to where we never experience a 9/11-style attack from that region of the world ever again."
Denver7's Shannon Ogden sat down for an interview with Ortiz and David Shultz, who also served in Afghanistan, about if the war was worth it, their memories from their time there and how the war will be remembered. Watch the full interview in the player below.