LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -
On the one-year anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden, Nevada soldiers who served in Afghanistan say the threat is not over.
"There's always going to be a presence there, because when good men are not there to take care of the evil that people do, then that evil rises," said Command Sergeant Major James Richardson of the Nevada National Guard. "And that's the case we are in right now. If not us, then who? If not when, then how are we going to take care of that situation?"
Even with bin Laden out of the picture, Richardson says the threat of evil still lurks.
"They're a many-headed snake," Richardson said. "They have people to replace those leaders that fall in their quest for whatever they're doing. And for us, it's the next bad guy, and we'll take care of that bad guy too."
Those sentiments are echoed by former active duty Green Beret Jonah Auer, who did three deployments to Afghanistan.
Auer says while bin Laden's death is symbolic, it's not an end game.
"In the long run I don't think it's gonna have too much of an effect because it didn't seem like bin Laden was involved in many day-to-day operations of the organization," Auer said.
Nevada's efforts in Afghanistan are ongoing.
A new group of troops from the National Guard are set to deploy later this month.
Copyright 2012 KVVU (KVVU Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
