Sarah Feinberg: Veteran +
When veterans take off the uniform their sense of duty remains. And whether a parent, a sibling, a neighbor, or friend, they proudly play the role of citizen AND soldier. Meet Sarah Feinberg, a U.S. Marine veteran, a mother, and a Christian. She supports refugees.
Sarah was a captain in the Marine Corps, and her service included a tour in Iraq. After leaving the Marine Corps, starting a family, and beginning a new career in Virginia, she was disturbed to watch the rising anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-refugee fear mongering that accompanied the election. She felt it violated both her faith and American ideals to turn our backs on those in need.
So her family decided instead of selling their old home, they would offer it up to a refugee family. Their church, The Church of the Resurrection, filled it with donated furniture and home goods.
Soon Arif, a former interpreter for USAID in Afghanistan, moved in with his family. While being vetted for over a year to get approved for the Special Immigrant Visa program, they lived in hiding from the Taliban. Arif’s children didn’t go outside for an entire year. Now Sarah and Arif’s son play together.
“My husband and I decided it was important for us to take a stand on this issue because this defines us as Americans, it defines us as Christians,” Sarah says.
Veterans for American Ideals, a project of Human Rights First, empowers veterans to challenge the United States to live up to the ideals that inspired them to serve in the first place. We are focused on protecting refugees, preserving the Special Immigrant Visa program for interpreters and translators who served U.S. forces, and countering anti-Muslim bigotry.
