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A US flag is seen posted in the rubble of the World Trade Center in New York, two days after the attack there Image caption: A US flag is seen posted in the rubble of the World Trade Center in New York, two days after the attack there

The BBC is covering the 20th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, which led to the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.

This is the story of Chris Cruz, who explains in an interview to BBC's OS programme why he decided to join the US army.

"My mother was heading to work on a normal 11 September day. As soon as she exited the subway, she was told to start running as the buildings were coming down. She literally saw them coming down and described people jumping out of the windows," says Chris.

"When she finally made it home, I - as an 11-year-old boy at the time - had to tell her that she had burn marks and blood spots on the back of her legs. She was in a state of shock.

"As I grew up, I realised... I had the ability to be part of an organisation that could defend and prevent these atrocities for all Americans.

"9/11 played a role, but not in a way of revenge. I didn't want to join out of bloodlust. I served two tours in Afghanistan. Both of those times I volunteered to go.

"I don't think our mission would have succeeded without our Afghan partners. I agree we couldn't be there forever, but we made a promise to keep our partners safe and that we wouldn't turn our backs on them, and that's exactly what we've done."

Chris adds: "I do think the way we pulled out, the way we left it, was completely wrong. There needed to be a better exit strategy."