WALK DISASTER IN AFGHANISTAN

John was shot and killed and Dave was wounded.

David and John Kunst were more than halfway around the world when their 14,500 mile journey turned to disaster.

The date was October 21, 1972. The brothers and their pack mule, Willie Makeit II were three days out of Kabul, Afghanistan when they stopped and set up camp about 6 p.m. Saturday night. They prepared their evening meal, fed their mule and made preparations to bed down for the night before the ambush of six bandits occurred.

The following is a telegram received by the Kunst family, describing the shooting and incidents leading up to the incident and the activity following the tragedy. The telegram was sent by Richard Diets of the U.S. State Department two days after the shooting.

Bandits start shooting!

“Kunsts departed Kabul 10/19/72 and spent the first night near an Afghan Army Post at the Western end of the Kabul Gorge. The second night night was spent at the Eastern edge of the Gorge. On 10/21/72 the brothers reached approximately 20 kilometers East of Sarobi and about 6 p.m. they decided to stop for the night at a point where the shoulder of the road widens to an open area about 50 feet deep and 100 feet wide. The far side of the highway is bordered by the Kabul River. The Kunsts parked their supply wagon parallel to the road with the trunk facing East. The mule was unhitched and fed and the Kunsts ate and prepared to bed down in the wagon. Between 7 and 8 p.m. the Kunsts observed 6 Afghan males walking East on the road towards Sarobi. By this time, it was dark, but there was a full moon that lighted the area. Shortly after seeing the Afghans, David realized a large Afghan truck had stopped some 150 feet East of them. They had not heard it pull up and assumed it had coasted to a stop. They saw two Afghans open the hood and work on the engine.

“At about 9:30 p.m., the Kunsts saw the same group of 6 Afghans they had observed earlier walking along the road now heading East toward Kabul. They saw the 6 men stop at the truck and apparently began beating the two men at the truck. Both men were seen being dragged across the road into a culvert. The 6 Afghans then begin looting the truck. The Kunsts then secured their belongings and loaded their shotgun while continuing to observe the activity at the truck. The Afghans were seen carrying boxes from the truck across the road and up the mountainside. The Afghans would hide, as other trucks passed the area. At about 10 p.m. the six Afghans left the truck and headed for the Kunsts wagon. Five walked along the road and one flanked them along the rocks at the foot of the mountain.

Both Kunsts were out of the wagon by this time and after yelling to the men to go away, David fired a warning shot in the air from the single shot shotgun. An Afghan policeman had told the brothers that if they were approached by bandits they should tell them to go and if they didn’t to fire a warning shot.

“The Afghans were startled , retreated slightly and were heard laughing. As David reloaded, he heard a shot from the rocks to their side. Another shot was fired, this one from the road, and David was hit in the chest. As he fell, he handed the shotgun to John and told him to shoot. “John shot once and then was hit in the side, the bullet passing through his chest and out the left side. David said all the Afghans rushed them immediately and he heard John cry out, “this is stupid, you dummies. Please! “ David called to John to play dead and then heard John moaning. At that time another shot was fired from very close range striking John in the neck.

“For about the next 30 minutes, David played dead. The Afghans shined a flashlight on his face, took a knife belt from his waist, his watch off his wrist and dragged him behind the wagon. Then they looted the wagon, pausing only to hide when a vehicle passed. It turned out that just prior to approaching the wagon, the six Afghans had tied up the truck driver and his assistant and left them on the mountainside. According to the truck driver’s story, he and his assistant freed themselves while the wagon was being looted and returned to their truck. They started the truck and drove by the wagon site. It appears that this action frightened the bandits away and they left the campsite running down the road.

“David waited several minutes fearing the bandits would return, then he checked John and found no pulse. David then staggered to the roadside to flag down passing trucks. Only two vehicles passed and both were trucks. They slowed but seeing John's body they drove away. At one point, David tried unsuccessfully to mount the mule to ride for help. He attempt to get help continued for several hours. The only other persons he saw in this area during this time was two caravans of Koochis (Itinerant people such as gypsies) which passed without stopping. David said the Koochis were acting very nervous and all held rifles.

The hijacked truck had proceeded West but had broken down after going about five kilometers. It was found there by a police patrol at about 12:30 a.m. on 10/22/72 . After the driver related his story the patrol car took him and his assistant to Sarobi where the he was treated for head injuries and a broken arm. The police didn't stop at the shooting site for fear there might be to many bandits since the truck driver and his assistant claimed many men had attacked them.

The patrol car returned to the camp-site with reinforcements where they found David about 4 a.m. The police had radioed Kabul shortly after arriving in Sarobi. The commandant of Kabul police ordered his deputies to proceed to the site with a platoon of soldiers. At about 4:30 a.m. the truck carrying the police from Kabul overturned on a curve about 25 miles West of Sarobi. Two policemen were killed , 6 critically injured and another 10 suffered various injuries.

“Further reinforcements were dispatched from Kabul and the commandant himself proceeded to the site. David was brought to Kabul where he was treated at the Embassy dispensary hospital. Embassy representatives were at the site by 8 a.m. The authorities discovered belongings from the wagon scattered on the mountainside about 500 yards East of the campsite. Apparently the assailants had stopped there to divide their loot. Police also discovered boxes from the hijacked truck which had been hidden along the mountainside.

“The German police advisor who was on his way to Peshawar, Pakistan assisted the Afghan police in taking finger prints and footprints. Both the Kabul commandant and the provisional commandant were present. Wit Aloy the U.S. information officer who had been control officer for the Kunsts during their Kabul stay was there. The Embassy counselor officer and the bureau of Narcotics representative at the Embassy in Kabul aided the police in their search of the area and then brought John’s body back to Kabul.

Ambassador Neumann visited David at the dispensary during the day. Afghan police continue to hold the truck driver and his assistant pending verification of their statements. Police are searching the mountains and suspect hide-outs for evidence information. Full cooperation has been received from the Afghan authorities and the embassy is maintaining close liaison with authorities.

Return to the site of the shooting!

On Sunday October 22, 1972 the Kunst family was notified of the tragedy by Richard Diets senior duty officer of the operations center of the state department. Some of the Kunst family members were out of town and Sheriff Don Eustice telephoned WCCO radio in Minneapolis and asked them to place an emergency call for the brothers mom and dad on the air. Within 10 minutes the Waseca, County dispatcher in the Sheriff’s office received a call from Al Kunst. Al and Augusta Kunst arrived in Waseca about 11 a.m. Sunday and began placing calls calls to the state department to clarify the information that was available.

Later that day the Kunst family made the following statement to concerned friends and to the media gathered in Waseca.

“ We hold no hate in our hearts, we believe in what the brothers were doing, walking for world peace and understanding through UNICEF. We hope that somehow through John’s death and Dave’s injury their mission and UNICEF’s mission will be furthered and that during this Halloween season people will remember John and Dave and what they were trying to accomplish by walking around the world helping UNICEF”.

The Kunst family assisted by the State Department begin immediate processing to bring David and the body of John back to Minnesota. It was estimated the fare for the body and Dave would cost $1800.00. Money was wired to Afghanistan by the State Department. John’s body arrived in Waseca on Friday October 27, almost one week after the shooting. The funeral was held that following Sunday, with seven area priests celebrating the Mass at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Waseca. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey attended the service.

John was buried at the Calvary cemetery, south of Waseca. Brother, David, returned
to Minnesota Tuesday, December 5, 1972 after recuperating for several weeks at the American Dispensary in Kabul, Afghanistan

About two months after the shooting the family received word that three suspects in the shooting had been arrested. They also received a small picture of one bandit, Noor Muhammad and they were told that there were six men involved in the shooting, but only the three had been arrested. The remaining bandits apparently escaped into the Khyber Pass of Pakistan. David Kunst was told later by Afghan police that the bandits had followed the walkers for two days before staging their attack. Later information revealed that newspaper reporters in Afghanistan had published stories about the world walkers and said they were collecting money for UNICEF. The bandits thought David and John had large amounts of money in their possession.

David Kunst returned to Minnesota December 5, 1972 over one month after the Afghanistan ambush that claimed the life of his brother, John. He was greeted by family, friends and a mob of reporters at the Minneapolis airport. A brief press conference was held at the airport then Kunst returned to Waseca to begin plans for continuing the world walk. David decided to continue the world walk a few days after the ambush. He said the primary reason was that he and John had agreed that, if such an event occurred the survivor would continue. “If I go on ‘, he explained, then John didn’t die for nothing. He’s always going to be a part of this walk and when we finish it, the walk will be history”. Another reason David said, “was that the walk wasn’t just ours anymore. I owe it to all the great people who helped us to begin and want us to finish.

Following the shooting and David’s announcement to continue the world walk he was offered companionship from several people all over the world. David turned them down telling them, “I know my brother Peter would really like to go with me, but I haven’t had a chance to talk with him yet to see if he can work it out.

A few weeks after David arrived in Waseca he flew to Santa Ana, CA. to visit with Peter about joining the world walk. Peter agreed to join David for one year of the walk and officially made that announcement, quit his job with a firm in Santa Ana, CA. and made arrangements for his family for the year he would be gone and came to Waseca with David. While in Waseca, the brothers finalized their plans for the remainder of the walk and decided to resume the 15,000 mile journey in March of 1973.

January and February of 1973 were filled with press conferences, speaking engagements and visits with Governor Wendell Anderson and Hubert Humphrey. When David and Peter visited Governor Anderson in February he presented them with a plaque and proclaimed February 22, 1973 as Kunst brother’s day in Minnesota.

March 1, 1973, David and Peter left Waseca to resume the world walk. A short program and presentation was held in Waseca, before the brothers left for their trip to the Minneapolis airport. At the airport there was a press conference and teary good-byes from family and friends. Following a quick stop in New York, the brothers continued their plane trip to Afghanistan. Returning to the site of the shooting they resumed the world walk right at the scene of the shooting on March 20, 1973.

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