http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/22/murphy.medal.of.honor/index.html Thought I would post this, as it coincides with a book I just got done reading about the actual battle where this occurred. The book is called Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell, the last surviving member of the 4 man SEAL unit that was attacked by over 200 Taliban fighters. What the CNN article doesn't mention is why the unit was found in the first place. The SEALs were getting into position to eliminate a known Taliban leader when 3 goatherders discovered their position. The SEALs were then faced with the choice of either having to kill the 3 to keep them from reporting their position to the Taliban or to let them go and risk being given away. After a vote, the goatherders were let go and the SEALs moved to what they felt was the most defensible postion they could find. Within 30 minutes they were attacked by between 150-200+ Taliban. The fighting that followed is something that has to be read to be believed. One SEAL was wounded 5 times and was still firing back and providing cover fire until he was killed. Another was badly wounded and still fighting back. The radio was shot early in the fight, so the only way to get a message back to the base was to use a cellular telephone. Due to the terrain, Lt. Murphy had to go into open ground in order to make the call. He was able to get through to the base and while on the phone was shot twice and dropped the phone, only to pick it up and acknowledge that help was on the way, and then thank the officer on the other end. He then moved back to a defensive position and continued to fire until he was killed. The last two SEALs were fighting it out when an RPG round exploded close to them and blew Luttrell down the mountain face. He was also wounded and ended up being hidden by the fall. He later crawled 7 miles to an Afghan village, who took him in under tribal protection and were able to keep him hidden until Army Rangers could make a rescue. It's estimated that the 4 SEALs killed or wounded over half of the attacking force. The rescue chopper was struck by an RPG just as it was flaring to drop the lines to allow the SEALs on board to fastrope to the ground, the ensuing explosion and crash killed everyone on board, including a MN native, CWO Corey Goodnature. The total of 20 special operators killed that day was the worst loss in US history. The awarding of a Congressional Medal of Honor is rare indeed, and something I thought you guys should know about. I highly recommend reading the book Lone Survivor and taking a second to stop and give thanks for the men and women of our military.
Bloody goat herders. Did you ever read Bravo Two Zero (Andy McNab) or The One That Got Away (Chris Ryan) ? They were part of an SAS squad that were caught out by goat herders in Gulf War 1.0. It's interesting to hear the same story from two perspectives; the guy who was captured, and the guy who evaded. Your tale sounds like a Hollywood movie shoot out. It's hard to conceive of these things happening for real. Stuart.
I bought that book for my dad for his birthday last week. It's a hell of a story. Personally, I would have bound and gagged them, then let the herders go afterwards. The problem is, you can't know who you can trust and who you can't over there.
I think we could infer the wounded part from the highlighted statements. I got to meet one of the other MoH recipients, a Vietnam vet. He stood atop a berm, completely exposing himself to enemy fire, to distract and harass the hostile forces from firing on his retreating team. Shortly after his MoH was presented to him his wife of 20+ years, who stood by him through the war and after, was killed in a car accident with a drunk driver (who survived, his 4th DUI accident). But being the hero he is he could only sit back and watch as the government and judicial system he fought and risked his life for put the man in jail for manslaughter to be released in 6 years. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room as he told his story. You don't have to be a MoH recipient to be a hero and I always make sure my friends in the armed forces know that.
