In light of Friday's executive ordertemporarily barring immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, Americans are sharing their experiences with immigrants and refugees. One of the most moving stories is from Army veteran Dylan Park, who tweeted about his experience a 16-year-old Iraqi boy working as an interpreter for a unit.

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I told this story about #refugees a couple years ago on Veterans Day with a humorous slant. I'm going to tell it again today, unfiltered. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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Years ago, on my first deployment to Iraq, I befriended a local boy, Brahim, who would quickly become one of our interpreters. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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He was able to do so, bc the turnover rate for local nationals work with us was enormous. And not bc they quit, bc they were killed. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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Besides the money, we were able to get them to volunteer with us by promising them refugee status in the U.S. if they completed a tour. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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(But really, I think the chain of command knew that most interpreters wouldn't make it through their contracts alive.) — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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Anyway, Brahmin would tell me about all the family members he lost in the conflict--brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, all of em. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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He told me how he lived in a one bedroom house with 7 people. No clean, power every other week because of the rolling blackouts, etc. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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He told me how they did have the basic necessities most days and that him volunteering w/ us was one of their sole sources of income. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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One day, I went down to the PX and bought him $20, maybe $30 worth of toiletries. Nbd really. Just didn't want dude to smell like shit. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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When I presented it to him, he cried. Literally bawled his eyes out and said he give his life for me. OVER SOAP. Completely sobering. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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He spent the next year acting as our liaison, providing us with valuable intel, essentially saving our lives on a daily basis. At 16. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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At the end of my tour in Iraq, I knew I was leaving him to die. I knew I'd never see him again. Was just kinda like "take care kid." — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

That's heartbreaking enough on its own, but this is when the story takes an even more devastating — and surreal — turn.

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Fast forward 5-years. And I'm flying home to Phoenix to bury my little brother who was brutally murdered. (Gun violence is another subj.) — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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I remember the day like it was yesterday. I cried my eyes out all the way from Hawaii to Arizona. Fucking brutal. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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Spend 6 years fighting wars and you don't expect to get a phone call that your kid brother was randomly murdered in a carjacking. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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Anyway, I land in Arizona and it's pouring. Hop off and walk down to the taxi stand. (Uber's weren't really a thing in 2013.) — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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I get in the first taxi that pulls up and we're off. Driver starts to make the standard small talk. Where you from, what do you do, etc. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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I tell him I just got out of the military and blah blah. He says "oh great. I love the military. You ever travel anywhere?" — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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Tell him, "Sure. Been to every corner of the globe. Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc." He says "Oh! I'm from Iraq! What part?" — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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I say "Kirkuk, mostly." And he says "Im from Kirkuk." And then gets really fucking quiet. Like awkwardly quiet. Making me nervous quiet. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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My first thought is I killed one of his family members and he recognizes me. And now im literally getting ready to bail out of the cab. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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I see him staring at me in the rear view. I can see the anguish in his eyes. And then he starts to PULL THE CAB TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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He stops, turns around and says, "Dylan, you remember me? It's me, Brahim." And I'm like wtffffff. And just start sobbing. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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We got out of that taxi off the I10 and Rural and hugged it out on a bridge in the rain on some Notebook shit. I didn't ever care, man. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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So I'm like WTF ARE YOU DOING IN FUCKING ARIZONA?! HOW? MAN WHAT? And he's like I did my 4 years and they gave me a visa. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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They gave him some cash and a 1 way ticket to the States. Asked him where he wanted to go, and he said where the weather is like Iraq. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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So they sent him to Arizona. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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5 years after I left him in Iraq and a few days after my younger brother was violently murdered, the universe linked us up again. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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Brahim literally saved my life, twice. — Dylan (@dyllyp) January 28, 2017

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*Wipes tears from eyes; pulls out credit card to donate to the ACLU to keep up the fight against the immigration ban.*

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Laura Beck Laura Beck is a Los Angeles-based TV writer and frequent contributor to Cosmopolitan.com — her work has appeared in the New York Times, New Yorker, Jezebel, and the Village Voice.

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