LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville father is speaking out and working with a Kentucky congressman in an effort to get his son, Ryan Corbett, and other American prisoners of the Taliban back home.
Drue Corbett said his son has now spent over 500 days in Taliban custody and his family wants him released.
Ryan lived in the country for over 12 years and created a business that helped locals start their own. He and his family all fled the country when the American military withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021. He eventually went back at the age of 31-years-old on an approved 12-month visa to help aid the businesses he helped start.
"He was welcomed back and people say, 'Why did he go back?'" Drue said. "Well that was his country. It's where his kids grew up and people were suffering. The Taliban said we need you, we want you, we've lost a lot of people."
In August 2022, Ryan went to look at land outside of Kabul and that's when the Taliban noticed his American passport and detained him as a hostage.
Drue said he called and left a message to Kentucky congressman Morgan McGarvey about his son's situation and pleaded for help to get Ryan home. He's missed several life events with his family including his 20th wedding anniversary with his wife on Feb. 20.
McGarvey introduced House Resolution 965 on Jan. 16, 2024 in an effort to gain support from other House representatives. The resolution calls on the Taliban to immediately and unconditionally release Ryan Corbett and all other American detainees.
"The resolution has just been introduced in the last month or two which now I think we have 67 co-sponsors of it," McGarvey said. "Who are coming together and pushing this for a vote."
Drue said his main concern right now for his son is his health. The family has received little communication from Ryan and he fears his health is in jeopardy.
"They let him out once a month to see the sun," Drue said. "He's lost a lot of weight in the last picture that we've got of him. His eyes are beginning to fail him. His ears are ringing really loudly, having seizures, blood pressure is through the roof, they've said he is fainting, falling over some, extremities are discolored and tingling. The Taliban said he's in a guest house. He's not in a guest house."
Drue has a message for those who are keeping Ryan from his family.
"If I were to talk to the Taliban I would say you are very short sided," Drue said. "You get somebody, you get your million of dollars and then what? Then it's the next one. Actually what the Taliban needs is people like Ryan that love the country and love the people."
McGarvey also had a message, this one to Ryan as he continues to make efforts through the American government to help get him home.
"Ryan if you're able to hear this you have the thoughts, the prayers, the actions of every person in Louisville, in Kentucky, of your friends, of your family, the members of Congress, of your government, of your administration here working to bring you home," McGarvey said.
House Resolution 965 has been marked and is on track for a vote within Congress.
Ryan was designated "wrongfully detained" 14 months after he was taken into Taliban custody. McGarvey said they have conducted secure briefings with the White House and the State Department to continue these efforts for his return.
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