By ANDERS KONGSHAUG
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Greater than 15 years in the past, Danish platoon commander Martin Tamm Andersen was main his countrymen and U.S. Marines via the warmth and sand of southern Afghanistan after a Taliban assault.
As Andersen’s automobile moved on the rear of the column, every thing was regular — till in a single on the spot the world turned sand-colored. His physique shook violently. “I had no concept what was happening,” he recalled. He ran his arms over his legs and arms to verify they had been nonetheless there.
When the mud settled, he noticed one among his troopers bleeding closely from his face. One other had been hurled from the turret and lay on the bottom, groaning in ache, his again damaged in two locations. The blast had torn the automobile aside.
Andersen known as in assist from the U.S. Marines, who halted a firefight with the Taliban, returned to safe the location, handled the wounded and helped put together them for evacuation.
On the time, American and Danish troops had been comrades in arms who risked their lives for one another in frequent trigger.
Andersen can barely imagine what has come of the U.S.-Danish alliance at present as President Donald Trump escalates his threats to grab Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to Denmark. Trump has repeatedly stated the USA should take management of the strategically situated and mineral-rich island, and views drive as one method to get it.
“When America wanted us after 9/11 we had been there,” the 46-year-old veteran stated in an interview with The Related Press.
“As a veteran and as a Dane, you understand, you are feeling unhappy and really stunned that the U.S. desires to take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he stated. “It’s a betrayal of the loyalty of our nation to the U.S. and to our frequent alliance, NATO.”
He spoke from the Danish Battle Museum in Copenhagen, the place his armored personnel service that hit the improvised explosive system in 2010 in Helmand Province is on show.
Earlier than his deployment to Afghanistan, Andersen had additionally served in Iraq. Good associates had been killed and wounded in each wars. He believed his service within the U.S. wars served the reason for freedom and democracy.
Former Platoon Chief Martin Tamm Andersen poses for a photograph on the danish Battle Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Picture/Anders Garde Kongshaug)
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Former Platoon Chief Martin Tamm Andersen poses for a photograph on the danish Battle Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Picture/Anders Garde Kongshaug)
‘It feels surreal’
Because the U.S. intensifies its threats to grab Greenland, that preliminary shock felt by many throughout Europe has advanced right into a profound sense of disappointment, betrayal and worry of what such a transfer may imply for Europe’s safety at a time of Russian aggression. Denmark’s prime minster has stated it will imply the top of NATO.
For Danish veterans, it feels profoundly private.
A NATO member since 1949, Denmark has been a stalwart ally to America. Forty-four Danish troopers had been killed in Afghanistan, the best per capita loss of life toll amongst coalition forces. Eight extra died in Iraq.
“It feels surreal. It feels prefer it’s a foul joke in some way,” Andersen stated. ” I imply, you’ll be able to’t actually fathom that that is really one thing that’s being stated out loud. It simply appears too loopy.”
Former Colonel Soren Knudsen exhibits his United States Bronze Star Medal for a photograph throughout an interview with The Related Press at his residence in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Picture/Anders Garde Kongshaug)
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Former Colonel Soren Knudsen exhibits his United States Bronze Star Medal for a photograph throughout an interview with The Related Press at his residence in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Picture/Anders Garde Kongshaug)
Packing away a medal and a U.S. flag
Søren Knudsen, a Danish veteran who served twice in Afghanistan, was watching tv final 12 months when he heard U.S. Vice President JD Vance say on Fox Information that Denmark was “not being a great ally.” Vance was making Trump’s argument that the USA wanted to take extra ”territorial curiosity” in Greenland for the sake of U.S. safety, and accusing Denmark of “not doing its job.”
He couldn’t imagine it. In his Copenhagen residence, the 65-year-old Knudsen retains a photograph of himself flanked by youngsters within the Afghan metropolis of Qalat. The mission, as Knudsen understood it on the time, was to assist the Individuals safeguard the way forward for Afghanistan’s youth. On the finish of his second tour, U.S. service members gave him an American flag as a parting present.
For years he proudly displayed the framed flag and a U.S. Bronze Star honoring his service in Afghanistan alongside different medals from his navy service.
He eliminated the medal and the flag in anguish and packed them away.
He informed his spouse that he’ll take them out of storage solely when the U.S.-Danish alliance is restored.
Knudsen, who’s the deputy president of the Danish Veterans Affiliation, stated he hears day by day from different veterans who categorical sorrow and harm at how the U.S. administration has turned towards Denmark.
“Many veterans who’ve wounds, whether or not on their souls or their physique, actually really feel this as a an offense straight to their coronary heart,” he stated.
Understanding U.S. safety wants
Danish veterans are livid at how the White Home rhetoric disregards the correct to self-determination of Greenland and Denmark. In addition they strongly object to Trump’s declare that Denmark, after combating alongside U.S. forces in wartime, is incapable of defending the West’s safety pursuits within the Arctic.
Each Andersen and Knudsen say they perceive considerations about safety within the area however are satisfied that Denmark is able to proceed doing no matter it takes inside the NATO alliance to defend the area.
Each males describe sustaining a bond and friendship with American troops they served with. Knudsen’s spouse is American-born, and his brother-in-law is a U.S. Marine. They’re satisfied that their onetime comrades don’t share Trump’s views concerning the Danes.
Danes typically be aware that the U.S. already has entry to Greenland underneath a 1951 protection settlement, and northwestern Greenland already homes the U.S. Pituffik navy base that falls underneath the Pentagon’s Area Power. It’s the U.S. that has chosen to scale back its navy footprint in Greenland up to now years — and Denmark and Greenland say they might accommodate a beefed up American navy presence.
However Trump informed the The New York Instances final week that “possession offers you issues and components which you can’t get from simply signing a doc.”
Knudsen says a U.S. invasion of Greenland “would most likely deliver me to tears.”
“I might be very sorry if it occurred, as a result of I might additionally see this as the ultimate moments of the NATO alliance,” he stated. “And I might most likely see it as the ultimate second of my admiration and love of what has been the American experiment for 250 years.”
Related Press writers Vanessa Gera and Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw, Poland, Stefanie Dazio in Berlin and Lorne Prepare dinner in Brussels contributed to this report.
