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Subtitles by explosiveskull
www.OpenSubtitles.org
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[intense music]
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Eight, nine, ten...
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[indistinct radio chatter]
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[Kristi] Colossal 31,
it was an NVG mission,
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night vision goggles,
which means we're flying at night time
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using nothing but the, uh,
binoculars that we had.
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- [pilot 1] 4143, you're in the group.
- [pilot 2] South.
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[Kristi] We had a Chinook unit
that was attached to us
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called the Washington
Air National Guard,
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who had been going
in and out of the same LZ
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during the day time,
weeks prior.
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So when they heard that we were
gonna be coming out of Bagram
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doing it under NVGs, they kinda
called us up and said,
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"Don't do it, because it's
really high on the ridgeline,
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very high winds,
and a very steep valley".
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But the Ground Force Commander
wanted to be exfilled under NVGs.
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- [helicopter whirring]
- [radio chatter]
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[Kristi] So with that being said,
we put our most experienced pilot
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in command on board, we put
our most experienced PI,
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and we put four crew members
in the back, not just three.
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[control] You got a bad filter?
Hold your fort.
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- Hold her down.
- [pilot] Roger that.
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[pilot] Dropping back down
to about 500 AGO.
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- [control] Maintain it at 81.
- Okay.
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[pilot] Copy that, 06. Looks like
we're about two clicks from the LZ.
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[indistinct radio chatter]
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We've only got 364 days to go.
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The winds were pretty high,
the landing zone was essentially
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a rock ledge that was
probably 20 meters wide.
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[control] Colossal 31,
be careful on the approach,
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I see a lot of trees
on that ridge line.
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What the pilots were trying to do
was back in with the ramp down,
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put the lip of the ramp on the
rock, uh, ledge, have the LRAS team,
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I believe was seven people,
uh, come onto
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the Chinook and then,
uh, fly away.
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[Kristi] They had to do
a tailgate landing.
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It's something we'd practiced,
it's in our ATM, this is what we do.
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[pilot] Alright,
I'm bringing her down.
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[alarm beeping]
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[control] Keep it steady,
keep it steady.
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- [Kristi] So, we were tearing there.
- [camera clicking]
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They kinda started drifting aft.
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[alarm beeping]
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[control] It's coming awful close
to that tree line, Colossal 31.
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[helicopter whirring]
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[pilot] We're right
on the ridge.
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- [alarm beeping]
- [whirring intensifies]
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- [engine whining]
- [indistinct radio chatter]
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[control] A massive, 31.
Come in, come in.
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[whirring, rattling noises]
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[dramatic musical sting]
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[helicopter whirring]
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[Kristi] Back at Bagram,
probably about eleven o'clock at night,
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our SP knocked on the doors
and said that, uh,
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Eric Totten's aircraft
went down.
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The aft rotor system hit a tree,
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causing the forward
and the aft rotor system
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to collide and completely tore
apart the entire helicopter.
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Nobody survived,
we lost all ten.
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There was nothing but burning
embers at the bottom of the valley.
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We were in disbelief that like,
"This cannot be happening right now."
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[sighs]
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We were all listening.
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We were listening
for our friends to come home.
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And they never came home.
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[emotional music]
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What happened with the Apache?
They left our friends.
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[ominous music]
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So, this is all the stuff
I have from Afghanistan
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and, and my time
of active duty in the army.
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This is the actual patch
that we had on our flight suits,
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it says, "Ugly but well hung".
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This is 10th Mountain's,
a patch they gave to us.
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The Apache, the Hawk and the,
and the Chinook right there.
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[tense music]
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So, they came in that night,
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we're standing in between
our B Huts outside,
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it was already getting dark
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and the captain starts
telling us about what happened.
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He starts telling us that,
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"I guess you heard,
the Chinook crashed last night.
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And those guys pretty much killed
themselves and everybody on board",
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and he came across blaming them.
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Sat there for... what seemed like
forever, I think, "What, what the hell?
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That's... that's horrible."
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And he said, "No,
that's not the worst of it."
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You know, you... "What do you
mean that's not the worst of it?"
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So, he goes, "10th Mountain's blaming
us, the Apaches, for leaving them.
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Your buddies left them."
At that point he said like,
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"If y'all hear anything
from 10th Mountain
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bad about us, just ignore them.
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They don't know
what they're talking about."
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And at that point,
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my blood pressure was
through the roof.
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I pointed at the captain
and told him,
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"Who the fuck are you
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to bad-mouth
American troops like that?
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Who the hell are you to leave
American troops on that mountain.
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Don't you ever do that.
How dare you leave our guys like that?"
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I read that every now and then
to remind me also that
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you gotta watch out
for everybody else in life.
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"He called upon us all the sum of
his knowledge and made a judgement.
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He believed in it so strongly that
he knowingly bet his life on it.
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That he was mistaken in his judgement
is a tragedy, not stupidity.
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Every supervisor
and contemporary who ever spoke
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to him, had an opportunity
to influence his judgement,
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so a little bit of all of us goes
in with every troop we lose."
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[emotional music]
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Now, gotta read that,
every now and then.
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[tense music]
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[Deadwood] I haven't been up here since
these guys started shooting and stuff.
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- [copilot] Oh really?
- [Deadwood] Yeah.
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[Deadwood] Won't be surprised if we find
some RPGs in that woodpile down there.
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[Deadwood] Stay to the right here, till we
can get over this thing, if not we can make
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a left turn. Don't descend
unless you have to, alright?
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- [copilot] Roger.
- Keep the altitude that we got. [indistinct]
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[Anthony] What we were being told
to expect coming into Afghanistan
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was that the insurgency
was ba... basically broken.
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[Dog] Roger and over.
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[Anthony] So we'd turn on the lights,
we found a lot of Taliban and Al-Qaeda,
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and all of a sudden,
we were in contact just about everywhere.
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[whooshing sound]
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Shit.
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[radio chatter] I'm taking
fire. Just [indistinct]...
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Yeah, pick up your speed as fast as
you can. It's really not good up here.
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[indistinct radio chatter]
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[indistinct radio chatter]
Nobody up here.
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[indistinct radio chatter]
We just received fire
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about two clicks east
of the Lumberyard...
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- [rockets firing]
- [indistinct radio chatter]
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[Vandal] That looked to be a direct
hit, good shooting, Deadwood.
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[tense music]
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[Flores] We were not making friends
when we first started, so...
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God help us.
We've got ten months left,
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and it will be brutal.
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We had to be perfect.
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On this day, it was a day mission,
we were just to follow several Chinooks
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as they made it to the different FOBs
dropping off different things and people.
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Yeah, Deadwood 6-3,
uh, coming in from the West.
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We'd like to uh, open up their
[indistinct] range, give it a sweep here.
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- [indistinct radio chatter]
- [control] Roger that.
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We're flying across
the Gardez Desert.
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I was looking around and just at
that point... [inhales deeply]
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...I was thinking, "Jesus, what is
wrong?" It was like a solid rush of heat.
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[white noise]
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- [white noise]
- [Flores] Something's going wrong here,
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something... I wanna get out
of the helicopter.
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- [white noise]
- [TV anchor] The Apache helicopter went down
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00:11:38,182 --> 00:11:41,317
while trying to land at the
Montgomery County Airport.
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00:11:41,319 --> 00:11:46,488
Jeez, we're roasting across
the desert floor at 120 knots.
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[whirring and white noise]
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If I just get out of here,
all I gotta do,
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all I gotta do is just...
[white noise]
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Maybe just open the door and jump out...
jump out. [distorted voice]
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[TV reporter] Daniel Flores'
chopper went down.
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00:12:00,070 --> 00:12:02,404
I got a hotspot under my helmet,
I gotta change my helmet here.
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00:12:02,406 --> 00:12:04,140
- I gotta move my helmet around.
- [white noise]
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- Jesus, I gotta get out of here.
- [white noise]
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[distorted voice]
How did I even drive home?
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My wife will wake me up
any minute now.
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[high pitch noise]
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- And I'm like Jesus.
- [white noise]
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00:12:17,454 --> 00:12:19,389
Just take a deep breath.
Just take a deep breath.
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- I gotta get out of here. This is...
- [white noise]
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[inhales deeply] Just take
a deep breath.
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That was my first bout of what
would later become claustrophobia,
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anxiety and anxiety attacks
that go with it.
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That was the first time I'd ever
experienced something like that.
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[TV reporter] Somewhere in the
crumpled metal of the Apache helicopter
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00:12:44,649 --> 00:12:48,253
lies a clue as to what made it
fall from the sky.
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00:12:49,287 --> 00:12:51,555
[Flores] We set up to do
traffic patterns.
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I was doing the flying
from the front seat.
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00:12:54,993 --> 00:12:57,959
Just as I was
about to reduce power to land
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00:12:57,961 --> 00:13:00,196
to the approach end
of runway 1-4,
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a Learjet calls up
on the radio saying,
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00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:06,336
"Montgomery County traffic,
this is Learjet 6-5 Charlie.
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00:13:06,338 --> 00:13:10,573
We are four mile final
for runway 1-4."
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00:13:10,575 --> 00:13:14,210
I was thinking, "Yeah, this guy is gonna
be bearing down on us pretty fast".
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00:13:14,212 --> 00:13:17,547
So as I'm starting to slow down,
even more to land,
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Tommy's thinking the same thing.
He took the flight controls,
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00:13:21,252 --> 00:13:23,253
and we went forward
a little bit.
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00:13:23,255 --> 00:13:25,357
- [alarm beeping]
- [Flores] That's the last thing I remember.
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00:13:30,195 --> 00:13:32,463
[TV reporter] Less than five
minutes after take-off,
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00:13:32,465 --> 00:13:36,032
the chopper fell to the ground,
it's landing gear mired in the mud.
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00:13:36,034 --> 00:13:40,637
Chief warrant officers, Daniel Flores and
Thomas Einhorn were shaken up in the crash.
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00:13:40,639 --> 00:13:43,439
Both were taken to Medical
Center Hospital in Conroe,
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00:13:43,441 --> 00:13:45,610
put under observation,
then released.
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00:13:46,511 --> 00:13:50,583
How did I survive?
Literally by the grace of God.
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00:13:53,251 --> 00:13:57,188
[Flores] That was in August when
I had that first bout of anxiety.
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00:13:58,424 --> 00:14:00,225
I went and saw
the flight surgeon.
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00:14:01,259 --> 00:14:03,560
He... I told him
what was going on.
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00:14:03,562 --> 00:14:06,597
He worked with me a little bit, not much.
He just said, "You, uh,
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00:14:06,599 --> 00:14:10,032
you gotta learn to live with it, or you
want me to take you off flight status?"
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00:14:10,034 --> 00:14:12,104
And there was no way
I could do that. So...
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00:14:13,172 --> 00:14:15,240
I did what we all do
in the military.
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00:14:16,374 --> 00:14:18,107
I fought through it.
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00:14:18,109 --> 00:14:21,147
[intense music]
199
00:14:29,155 --> 00:14:33,524
On that day, early October 2006,
we had already set the aircraft up,
200
00:14:33,526 --> 00:14:38,228
as we call them, we cocked them up
for the QRF, quick reaction force.
201
00:14:38,230 --> 00:14:41,132
We'd just sit around and wait for the
radios to come alive, to go help somebody.
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00:14:43,202 --> 00:14:47,404
We were in the chow hall and
our Icom radios came to life.
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00:14:47,406 --> 00:14:51,308
The Apache crew Deadwood
launch the QRF right now.
204
00:14:51,310 --> 00:14:52,645
We all looked at the radio,
going like,
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00:14:53,679 --> 00:14:56,515
"Are they serious?
This has never happened before."
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00:14:59,285 --> 00:15:02,753
We ran across the flight line.
The other Apache on the QRF,
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00:15:02,755 --> 00:15:07,157
they were already sitting at 100
percent RPMs, waiting for me.
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00:15:07,159 --> 00:15:09,159
[Deadwood] Clear right,
clear left. Clear.
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00:15:09,161 --> 00:15:11,662
[Ross] We were stationed
at Bagram at the time.
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Most of our QRF missions were
just escorting Medivacs.
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00:15:15,267 --> 00:15:17,769
So, it was a little odd
that we were actually dispatched
212
00:15:17,771 --> 00:15:22,038
to a firefight in the Tagab
valley, because as far as we know,
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00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:24,977
at the time,
the Tagab was quiet.
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00:15:32,686 --> 00:15:35,421
[music fades out]
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00:15:37,089 --> 00:15:39,089
[engine idling]
216
00:15:39,091 --> 00:15:41,494
[speaking Dari]
217
00:15:51,805 --> 00:15:54,404
October 14th was
our first mission
218
00:15:54,406 --> 00:15:57,475
to roll down
through the Valley of Tagab,
219
00:15:57,477 --> 00:16:02,214
and meet with the senior members of
the village, and conduct a jirga.
220
00:16:05,217 --> 00:16:09,253
And we were also taking along a
donation of, um, school supplies,
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00:16:09,255 --> 00:16:12,292
that we were gonna pass along
to the children of the village.
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00:16:18,163 --> 00:16:21,133
I had turned 50 in 2006.
223
00:16:21,835 --> 00:16:23,068
[camera clicking]
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00:16:24,503 --> 00:16:27,539
[Best] And I arrived in Afghanistan.
I was not assigned to a unit.
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00:16:27,541 --> 00:16:29,207
[camera clicking]
226
00:16:29,209 --> 00:16:32,644
[Best] I was a forces
command fill,
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00:16:32,646 --> 00:16:36,714
because they needed embedded
tactical trainers, ETTs.
228
00:16:36,716 --> 00:16:37,684
[camera clicking]
229
00:16:38,985 --> 00:16:42,486
[Hall] The job as an ETT,
as an embedded tactical trainer is...
230
00:16:42,488 --> 00:16:45,156
you're supposed to embed
with the Afghan army,
231
00:16:45,158 --> 00:16:48,258
and you... you liaise
between the US military
232
00:16:48,260 --> 00:16:49,461
and the Afghan military.
233
00:16:51,131 --> 00:16:54,899
We were two-man teams,
one officer and one senior enlisted.
234
00:16:54,901 --> 00:16:58,736
"Hall and Best, you go over there
and you guys report to your unit",
235
00:16:58,738 --> 00:17:01,839
and we reported, and they said, "Okay,
you guys are just gonna be paired up."
236
00:17:01,841 --> 00:17:03,174
It's total happenstance.
237
00:17:03,176 --> 00:17:05,476
[gunfire]
238
00:17:05,478 --> 00:17:08,881
[Anthony] You would have these
teams embedded and 100
239
00:17:08,883 --> 00:17:12,149
to 200 Afghan national
army personnel, you know.
240
00:17:12,151 --> 00:17:13,618
[speaking Dari]
241
00:17:13,620 --> 00:17:17,488
Because only once
you've got them sufficient
242
00:17:17,490 --> 00:17:21,528
to where they could secure and
govern themselves, could we leave.
243
00:17:24,497 --> 00:17:28,766
[Best] When we left Nijrab, my vehicle
was commanded by Lieutenant Hall,
244
00:17:28,768 --> 00:17:31,570
he was sitting
in the team chiefs' seat,
245
00:17:31,572 --> 00:17:34,608
and then I was the gunner
in the, uh, turret.
246
00:17:35,875 --> 00:17:38,910
And we had Naser
as our interpreter in the back,
247
00:17:38,912 --> 00:17:41,379
with radios to allow us
to communicate
248
00:17:41,381 --> 00:17:43,850
with the Afghan forces
that we were working with.
249
00:17:45,318 --> 00:17:48,453
[Naser] I was a civilian
contractor. When I was working
250
00:17:48,455 --> 00:17:51,189
with the coalition forces
and NATO,
251
00:17:51,191 --> 00:17:53,358
my position was an interpreter,
252
00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:55,461
and I was doing
language services.
253
00:17:55,463 --> 00:17:57,930
- [camera clicking]
- [Hall] Naser was, was one of those kids
254
00:17:57,932 --> 00:18:01,566
who loves his country so much,
he loves Afghanistan so much...
255
00:18:01,568 --> 00:18:04,870
- [camera clicking]
- ...that he did whatever he could to help out.
256
00:18:04,872 --> 00:18:07,205
It wasn't
about the paycheck with him.
257
00:18:07,207 --> 00:18:09,874
It was all about helping
his country.
258
00:18:09,876 --> 00:18:12,913
[intense music]
259
00:18:14,514 --> 00:18:17,183
[engine roaring]
260
00:18:18,718 --> 00:18:19,654
[camera clicking]
261
00:18:20,721 --> 00:18:23,254
[Hall] In Afghanistan,
in the villages as soon as
262
00:18:23,256 --> 00:18:25,523
the light's up and after prayer,
they open up shop
263
00:18:25,525 --> 00:18:27,559
and they close
when they wanna close.
264
00:18:27,561 --> 00:18:30,863
- [camera clicking]
- Uh, so, when we were going down through,
265
00:18:30,865 --> 00:18:31,864
no shops were open.
266
00:18:31,866 --> 00:18:35,300
[camera clicking]
267
00:18:35,302 --> 00:18:38,470
As we moved through
the little village of Afghania,
268
00:18:38,472 --> 00:18:43,442
we noticed that the kids weren't out
there waving, giving us thumbs up.
269
00:18:43,444 --> 00:18:46,612
We started seeing women and
children running from the fields.
270
00:18:46,614 --> 00:18:47,615
[camera clicking]
271
00:18:48,816 --> 00:18:50,615
We continued on up the road
272
00:18:50,617 --> 00:18:53,419
and there was an Afghan
National Police post
273
00:18:53,421 --> 00:18:56,755
that you could always see Afghan
National Police walking on top of.
274
00:18:56,757 --> 00:18:58,723
[camera clicking]
275
00:18:58,725 --> 00:19:01,495
[Best] The building was
completely abandoned.
276
00:19:02,797 --> 00:19:06,266
So that kind of put your Spidey
senses on tingle a little bit.
277
00:19:08,402 --> 00:19:11,036
[Best] As we roll
past that post,
278
00:19:11,038 --> 00:19:14,539
the Afghan commander
stopped the vehicle
279
00:19:14,541 --> 00:19:17,276
and was calling Naser,
280
00:19:17,278 --> 00:19:19,580
our interpreter on the radio,
and telling us to stop.
281
00:19:20,981 --> 00:19:25,753
Uh, so, I asked them what's going on.
He said, "Enemy, enemy".
282
00:19:27,288 --> 00:19:28,355
[Best] Stop right here.
283
00:19:31,525 --> 00:19:34,626
[Hall] The Afghan commander
comes out, he walked out,
284
00:19:34,628 --> 00:19:37,295
he snatched the Dragon
off Sniper Rifle.
285
00:19:37,297 --> 00:19:39,600
He stuck it into
a hole in a compound.
286
00:19:41,736 --> 00:19:42,870
[knob clicking]
287
00:19:45,473 --> 00:19:48,407
[tense music]
288
00:19:48,409 --> 00:19:49,510
[safe clicks]
289
00:19:52,346 --> 00:19:55,382
[intense musical buildup]
290
00:19:58,385 --> 00:20:00,588
[two gunshots]
291
00:20:03,892 --> 00:20:06,860
And he gets back out and smiles
and looks at me and goes,
292
00:20:06,862 --> 00:20:08,029
"Two. I got two."
293
00:20:09,764 --> 00:20:10,798
That's when I learned...
294
00:20:12,868 --> 00:20:14,801
what it sounds like
to get shot at.
295
00:20:14,803 --> 00:20:18,339
[rapid gunfire]
296
00:20:23,744 --> 00:20:25,744
I began returning fire,
297
00:20:25,746 --> 00:20:29,015
and Lieutenant Hall called back
to the rear American vehicle
298
00:20:29,017 --> 00:20:32,486
to alert them that we were...
we had troops in contact.
299
00:20:33,420 --> 00:20:36,456
[rapid gunfire]
300
00:20:36,458 --> 00:20:38,858
[Hall] Big, long combo right, nine,
ten vehicles, something like that.
301
00:20:38,860 --> 00:20:42,761
The front three or four are the
ones getting engaged right now.
302
00:20:42,763 --> 00:20:46,099
- [gunfire continues]
- [men shouting in distance]
303
00:20:46,101 --> 00:20:50,937
[Hall] I'm lieutenant, I have a
captain, uh, in the Humvee to my rear.
304
00:20:50,939 --> 00:20:53,540
Their radio's not working
or something, so he gets out
305
00:20:53,542 --> 00:20:56,810
and starts running up to us,
bounding and hopping.
306
00:20:56,812 --> 00:21:00,046
And, uh, he comes up to say,
"Hey, what's going on?"
307
00:21:00,048 --> 00:21:01,817
And that's when I kinda
give him the situation.
308
00:21:02,884 --> 00:21:04,753
[soldier] Hey, get some guns
up high.
309
00:21:05,954 --> 00:21:09,022
When I turned my face,
I saw, uh,
310
00:21:09,024 --> 00:21:11,059
the rounds were hitting
in the Humvees.
311
00:21:12,426 --> 00:21:13,360
[bullets impacting]
312
00:21:14,864 --> 00:21:16,798
[gunner shouting]
Four, shot to four o'clock.
313
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,733
[Hall] The whole time I'm trying
to call for air support.
314
00:21:20,735 --> 00:21:22,436
[rapid gunfire]
315
00:21:23,405 --> 00:21:27,640
Deadwood 6-7, Deadwood 6-7,
this is Vandal 1-6, over.
316
00:21:27,642 --> 00:21:29,943
I know if I can get
some Apaches,
317
00:21:29,945 --> 00:21:32,445
they come with rockets, big guns
318
00:21:32,447 --> 00:21:34,649
and they can s... They come
with elevated positions.
319
00:21:44,893 --> 00:21:50,563
[Deadwood] Zero-five, 0-5,
6-7 to the blind and 8-4.
320
00:21:50,565 --> 00:21:51,967
[tense music]
321
00:22:00,176 --> 00:22:04,444
[Ross] You don't wanna send one
aircraft out on its own ever.
322
00:22:04,446 --> 00:22:07,447
That was policy at the time,
in case one goes down,
323
00:22:07,449 --> 00:22:10,151
you wanna have somebody else there to
be able to provide support for 'em.
324
00:22:11,787 --> 00:22:16,723
[Deadwood] Stay up high
[indistinct] down in there.
325
00:22:16,725 --> 00:22:20,027
[Ross] When they dispatch us
to these situations,
326
00:22:20,029 --> 00:22:21,862
all we get is a brief,
327
00:22:21,864 --> 00:22:24,064
"Troops in contact
at this grid location.
328
00:22:24,066 --> 00:22:27,637
Here's a radio frequency,
go make contact with them and help them."
329
00:22:30,672 --> 00:22:34,674
Vandal 0-5, Vandal 0-5,
this is Deadwood 6-7
330
00:22:34,676 --> 00:22:38,511
to the blind and Deadwood
8-4 inbound here rotations.
331
00:22:38,513 --> 00:22:40,580
[Flores] Their front seaters got put
in their coordinates to the entrance,
332
00:22:40,582 --> 00:22:42,484
to the Northern entrance
of the Tagab Valley.
333
00:22:44,153 --> 00:22:47,254
Where what we call, we're buster, we're
going as fast as we can. Military power.
334
00:22:47,256 --> 00:22:50,657
We didn't have any intelligence,
you know, on, you know,
335
00:22:50,659 --> 00:22:52,126
who these guys were
or what their...
336
00:22:52,128 --> 00:22:53,928
what their mission
actually was at the time.
337
00:22:53,930 --> 00:22:57,597
We knew we were supposed
to go talk to a Vandal 1-6,
338
00:22:57,599 --> 00:23:02,571
which was Lieutenant Hall and escort
him back, uh, back to their base.
339
00:23:04,106 --> 00:23:08,444
Any Vandal elements, any Vandal elements.
This is Deadwood 6-3.
340
00:23:10,646 --> 00:23:12,114
All these people on the trail
to the right.
341
00:23:14,750 --> 00:23:17,584
[Flores] From the time we launched,
to the time we got to the north end
342
00:23:17,586 --> 00:23:20,888
of the Tagab, was all
of 15 minutes at the most.
343
00:23:20,890 --> 00:23:23,724
Those guys had already been
in a protracted fight
344
00:23:23,726 --> 00:23:27,695
for easily two hours
before we got called out.
345
00:23:27,697 --> 00:23:30,297
They were getting surrounded
by the Taliban.
346
00:23:30,299 --> 00:23:33,834
[Vandal] Deadwood 6-7, is
that 1-6, we are in convoy,
347
00:23:33,836 --> 00:23:35,604
uh, to evac out of here.
348
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,943
[Deadwood] OK, coming in high? Big guy roger,
are you still in contact at this time?
349
00:23:43,980 --> 00:23:48,549
[Ross] From the standpoint
of a helicopter pilot,
350
00:23:48,551 --> 00:23:50,718
one of these things
is just like all the others.
351
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:53,921
It's a lot more
of a significant experience
352
00:23:53,923 --> 00:23:56,824
for the guys who are actually
on the ground swapping bullets
353
00:23:56,826 --> 00:23:58,494
with the bad guys,
back and forth.
354
00:24:00,763 --> 00:24:06,267
[Vandal] 5-3-3-7, this is 5-3-0,
coming hard now, coming hard.
355
00:24:06,269 --> 00:24:09,605
[rapid gunshots]
356
00:24:11,141 --> 00:24:12,175
[Hall] And where's it at?
357
00:24:14,111 --> 00:24:15,911
[Best] Man,
where the fuck are they?
358
00:24:20,117 --> 00:24:22,285
[Best] Fuck, they're shooting at
us from the [indistinct] trail.
359
00:24:24,321 --> 00:24:27,255
- [soldier] And where's it at?
- [Best] Now we're getting hit from our two o'clock.
360
00:24:27,257 --> 00:24:29,290
[man speaking indistinctly]
361
00:24:29,292 --> 00:24:31,992
[Hall] The Afghans came out
and tried to envelop us
362
00:24:31,994 --> 00:24:34,629
on both sides,
kinda like a bull's horns,
363
00:24:34,631 --> 00:24:38,035
and tried to enclose us in
and circle us on both sides.
364
00:24:39,735 --> 00:24:41,771
[machineguns fire]
365
00:24:45,776 --> 00:24:48,143
[Hall] Now the Afghans,
they fight hard and they fight
366
00:24:48,145 --> 00:24:51,746
with no body armor, they fight
with no pay, no socks,
367
00:24:51,748 --> 00:24:53,114
some of them don't have
boot laces,
368
00:24:53,116 --> 00:24:54,983
I mean, they... they fight hard.
369
00:24:54,985 --> 00:24:57,052
It was kinda
inspiring to, to work
370
00:24:57,054 --> 00:25:00,088
with these Afghan guys who,
who did so much for so little.
371
00:25:00,090 --> 00:25:02,125
[machinegun fire]
372
00:25:03,860 --> 00:25:07,762
[Best] Damn! I'm out.
Gonna need more rounds, need more rounds.
373
00:25:07,764 --> 00:25:11,632
Terry's in the gun shooting,
he's focused on,
374
00:25:11,634 --> 00:25:13,767
uh, firing rounds
and suppressing the enemy.
375
00:25:13,769 --> 00:25:14,771
[camera clicking]
376
00:25:16,206 --> 00:25:20,875
[Naser] I thought to myself,
because the Mark 19 had a lot of them,
377
00:25:20,877 --> 00:25:22,844
"Maybe that will be
the next target".
378
00:25:22,846 --> 00:25:25,849
I yelled at them to move,
move, move from that place.
379
00:25:27,751 --> 00:25:29,086
[Naser] Move, move forward.
380
00:25:36,193 --> 00:25:39,061
[whooshing and explosion]
381
00:25:39,063 --> 00:25:40,862
[Naser] That was an RPG.
382
00:25:40,864 --> 00:25:44,732
After they moved,
fortunately, uh,
383
00:25:44,734 --> 00:25:47,069
they had that place
with the RPG,
384
00:25:47,071 --> 00:25:49,737
but the, uh,
Humvee was not there.
385
00:25:49,739 --> 00:25:53,674
And that was our ride back
also to go to the base.
386
00:25:53,676 --> 00:25:57,679
So, uh, to make sure
we don't have to walk.
387
00:25:57,681 --> 00:25:59,316
- [gunfire]
- [men shouting]
388
00:26:05,123 --> 00:26:08,358
- [gunfire]
- [men shouting]
389
00:26:13,897 --> 00:26:16,831
[all] Ceasefire!
Ceasefire! Ceasefire!
390
00:26:16,833 --> 00:26:20,835
Over about a 45-minute period,
we were able to quell the contact.
391
00:26:20,837 --> 00:26:23,771
- [camera clicking]
- [Naser] We thought the fight is finished.
392
00:26:23,773 --> 00:26:26,942
One of the company commanders,
he sent one of his platoon soldiers
393
00:26:26,944 --> 00:26:30,812
- with the squad to go down see the damages.
- [camera clicking]
394
00:26:30,814 --> 00:26:33,948
[Naser] When those people came
back, they brought the flag
395
00:26:33,950 --> 00:26:36,819
of the Taliban, which was
on top of one of the compounds.
396
00:26:36,821 --> 00:26:40,054
- So we're just taking some photos.
- [camera clicking]
397
00:26:40,056 --> 00:26:45,361
[Naser] The Taliban already had
the Afghan army radio scanned.
398
00:26:45,363 --> 00:26:48,730
They was listening the Afghan army
communications on their radio.
399
00:26:48,732 --> 00:26:52,301
One of the Taliban guy,
maybe their leader or one of their men,
400
00:26:52,303 --> 00:26:56,272
he called the call sign of the
platoon Sargent when he answered,
401
00:26:56,274 --> 00:26:59,110
and respond, "Yes",
and he start, uh...
402
00:27:00,278 --> 00:27:03,978
Uh, sorry to say that, he said,
"We're gonna fuck you guys up."
403
00:27:03,980 --> 00:27:06,114
[Best] Target in!
404
00:27:06,116 --> 00:27:08,152
[gunfire]
405
00:27:12,989 --> 00:27:16,158
[Best] At this point, we still
had integrity of our convoy,
406
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,028
with an American vehicle
in the lead, uh,
407
00:27:19,030 --> 00:27:22,765
followed by five Afghan vehicles,
and then an American vehicle.
408
00:27:22,767 --> 00:27:26,535
The senior person on this convoy
was in the rear vehicle.
409
00:27:26,537 --> 00:27:31,374
- [camera clicking]
- And he asked Lieutenant Hall to have our vehicle
410
00:27:31,376 --> 00:27:35,012
- maintain our position while they moved up.
- [camera clicking]
411
00:27:36,214 --> 00:27:38,180
Some of his people got out,
Captain got out,
412
00:27:38,182 --> 00:27:40,517
went to aggress
and move to another building.
413
00:27:40,519 --> 00:27:44,987
[camera clicking]
414
00:27:44,989 --> 00:27:51,160
[indistinct radio chatter]
415
00:27:51,162 --> 00:27:55,300
[artillery fire and explosion]
416
00:27:56,301 --> 00:28:02,905
[distorted voice]
Move, move, move!
417
00:28:02,907 --> 00:28:04,276
[Best] Hey, watch
your rifle, Lee!
418
00:28:08,045 --> 00:28:10,815
[man] They got shot on,
leave it, leave it don't touch.
419
00:28:14,553 --> 00:28:18,488
- [man] Oh my God, dude.
- [Best] Where's Gus! We need air support.
420
00:28:18,490 --> 00:28:21,526
[ominous music]
421
00:28:22,893 --> 00:28:24,594
[Hall] We had been calling
for the Apaches for three hours.
422
00:28:24,596 --> 00:28:27,464
Now we were running out of ammo,
running out of fuel, and...
423
00:28:27,466 --> 00:28:30,233
but I was so focused
on what was going on, uh,
424
00:28:30,235 --> 00:28:33,804
I didn't really worry about what
could happen if they didn't come.
425
00:28:41,112 --> 00:28:45,017
[Deadwood] I'm out a little
bit further [indistinct].
426
00:28:46,285 --> 00:28:49,086
We get over the northern end
of the Tagab Valley,
427
00:28:50,021 --> 00:28:53,025
and, uh, we're circling,
circling would seem like...
428
00:28:54,126 --> 00:28:55,394
Oh man, at least 30 minutes.
429
00:28:56,762 --> 00:28:59,896
[copilot] I see smoke in the
one o'clock, about two miles.
430
00:28:59,898 --> 00:29:02,967
[Dog] Okay, we're, uh, armed.
We're armed all the way around.
431
00:29:04,001 --> 00:29:07,404
[Deadwood] Deadwood 6-7,
do you have eyes on the Humvee, over?
432
00:29:07,406 --> 00:29:09,406
There's a couple
of Humvees [indistinct].
433
00:29:09,408 --> 00:29:15,011
Vandal 1-6, Vandal 1-6,
this is Deadwood 6-7,
434
00:29:15,013 --> 00:29:17,949
over [indistinct] east now.
This is your location
435
00:29:19,984 --> 00:29:24,187
Sure enough, we find a convoy
that was engaged on an orchard
436
00:29:24,189 --> 00:29:26,458
on the other side of a ravine.
437
00:29:27,626 --> 00:29:31,094
[Deadwood] Vandal 1-6,
just give us the direction
438
00:29:31,096 --> 00:29:34,132
where you're taking fire from,
we can put down some fire.
439
00:29:38,504 --> 00:29:40,440
Roger, Deadwood 6-7, 8-1.
440
00:29:43,308 --> 00:29:45,876
God dammit, do you have eyes
on our location, over?
441
00:29:47,647 --> 00:29:52,315
[Deadwood] We've got eyes on
several [indistinct]
442
00:29:52,317 --> 00:29:57,356
along the roadway, uh,
kind of hiding behind a wall.
443
00:29:58,557 --> 00:30:02,961
[Vandal] Roger, Deadwood 6-7,
that's us in the Humvee, over.
444
00:30:04,364 --> 00:30:09,566
[Deadwood] Okay, here is the situation,
what you need is to put fire on them.
445
00:30:09,568 --> 00:30:15,004
[Vandal] Roger, they are in the
orchard to our east. [indistinct]
446
00:30:15,006 --> 00:30:19,379
- Anything you can fire up in there will be granted.
- Roll it out, rolling.
447
00:30:20,413 --> 00:30:23,581
[Ross] He's trying to direct us
where we need to put fire down on.
448
00:30:23,583 --> 00:30:26,283
It's a little more difficult
for us during the day
449
00:30:26,285 --> 00:30:29,186
to identify specifically where
they're being attacked from,
450
00:30:29,188 --> 00:30:33,156
because, you know, at night time you
can see where the rounds are coming off,
451
00:30:33,158 --> 00:30:37,294
you can see where the fires are coming
from, uh, you can utilize the flare,
452
00:30:37,296 --> 00:30:40,633
but it's more difficult during the day,
'cause you're primarily using your naked eye.
453
00:30:43,336 --> 00:30:46,470
[Deadwood] Roger [indistinct] and
there's smoking going on over here
454
00:30:46,472 --> 00:30:49,941
that could be a village, and the orchard
to the east that you're talking about.
455
00:30:51,511 --> 00:30:56,381
[Vandal] Roger that, 6-7, that's
[indistinct] go ahead and fire that up.
456
00:30:58,150 --> 00:31:00,019
[Deadwood] Okay,
we're gonna put down so fire.
457
00:31:03,523 --> 00:31:07,691
Alright, go ahead. That was some good shooting
right there that kicked up all the dirt.
458
00:31:07,693 --> 00:31:12,532
Yep, I saw it.
OK, let's come around.
459
00:31:13,466 --> 00:31:17,034
Coming around [indistinct]
Are you gonna fire rockets...
460
00:31:17,036 --> 00:31:18,702
Yeah, I'm gonna
try and fire rockets on this.
461
00:31:18,704 --> 00:31:21,104
Okay, you fire rockets and then
I'll clean up a gun.
462
00:31:21,106 --> 00:31:25,044
I got the gun [indistinct] now.
Finger's on the trigger.
463
00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:30,682
- Follow our guys a little bit and shoot into it.
- Okay
464
00:31:30,684 --> 00:31:36,420
- Eh, come on, right.
- Alright, coming right. 6-1 to...
465
00:31:36,422 --> 00:31:38,659
[intense music]
466
00:31:41,327 --> 00:31:43,260
OK, fire when you...
467
00:31:43,262 --> 00:31:49,166
1-6 and 1-6 [indistinct]
468
00:31:49,168 --> 00:31:52,371
[intense music]
469
00:31:58,644 --> 00:32:01,078
[Flores] That's when Vandal gets
on the radio saying like,
470
00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:02,681
"Who are you guys shooting at?
471
00:32:02,683 --> 00:32:05,752
We are a convoy
at the south end of the Tagab."
472
00:32:09,789 --> 00:32:12,691
"We're all standing behind this
wall and shooting to our east,
473
00:32:12,693 --> 00:32:16,260
is that what you're seeing?" He says,
"Yeah. It... Every shooting to the east".
474
00:32:16,262 --> 00:32:19,399
I'm, "Well, that's us,
but I don't see you."
475
00:32:24,570 --> 00:32:29,308
[Vandal] 6-7, Deadwood 6-7. I believe
we are south of your location, over.
476
00:32:30,811 --> 00:32:35,847
- Hold up on this round.
- Alright, holding up.
477
00:32:35,849 --> 00:32:38,650
[Deadwood] Roger that. He said
they're south of our location.
478
00:32:38,652 --> 00:32:42,152
[Dog] 6-1, see what these
guys are doing right here.
479
00:32:42,154 --> 00:32:45,792
- [Vandal] Deadwood 6-7 [indistinct]
- Get ready.
480
00:32:48,695 --> 00:32:49,695
Go ahead.
481
00:32:50,597 --> 00:32:55,534
[Vandal] W-D-5-8-1-5-5-
482
00:32:55,536 --> 00:32:58,372
6-0-4-3-0.
483
00:33:01,375 --> 00:33:03,810
[Dog] Roger. Good copy.
484
00:33:05,378 --> 00:33:09,748
[Ross] I was talking to, uh,
Lieutenant Hall on the radio,
485
00:33:09,750 --> 00:33:11,485
the radio reception
was crystal clear,
486
00:33:12,653 --> 00:33:15,389
but we were not supporting him.
He was...
487
00:33:16,423 --> 00:33:19,560
What? Five or seven kilometers maybe
further south of where we were.
488
00:33:20,694 --> 00:33:23,395
Oh my God,
who did we just shoot?
489
00:33:23,397 --> 00:33:24,663
[distorted voice] Shoot.
490
00:33:24,665 --> 00:33:26,099
[explosion]
491
00:33:36,810 --> 00:33:43,748
[distorted shouting]
492
00:33:43,750 --> 00:33:46,151
- [Best] There were three Afghans that were hurt.
- [camera clicking]
493
00:33:46,153 --> 00:33:50,755
[men shouting] - Over here! I saw two police!
- Where, where?
494
00:33:50,757 --> 00:33:55,193
[Best] The Captain got on the
radio and he called for a Medivac.
495
00:33:55,195 --> 00:33:59,331
The Medivac indicated
that they would push one up,
496
00:33:59,333 --> 00:34:03,103
- but they would not land until the area was secure.
- [camera clicking]
497
00:34:04,538 --> 00:34:07,272
[Best] So the Captain indicated
to Lieutenant Hall
498
00:34:07,274 --> 00:34:10,476
that he was taking half
the Afghans in the ambulance
499
00:34:10,478 --> 00:34:13,345
and they were gonna roll back
to combat output in Nijrab.
500
00:34:13,347 --> 00:34:14,816
"And you continue the fight."
501
00:34:18,519 --> 00:34:22,320
[Best] Lieutenant Hall indicated he
did not think it was a good idea.
502
00:34:22,322 --> 00:34:27,960
I was, uh, very vocal from my position
that it was an absolutely horrible idea.
503
00:34:27,962 --> 00:34:30,732
They needed to understand they
still had ten people pinned down.
504
00:34:31,698 --> 00:34:35,401
[Hall] They took away a big gun,
on top of that Humvee is a 50-cal.
505
00:34:35,403 --> 00:34:37,603
We have a Mark 19,
an automatic grenade launcher.
506
00:34:37,605 --> 00:34:40,305
You split those up,
and you don't have anybody
507
00:34:40,307 --> 00:34:43,411
to cover for him
while he's reloading.
508
00:34:44,479 --> 00:34:47,545
[Best] Reload. I'm out.
I need more rounds.
509
00:34:47,547 --> 00:34:49,614
[Best] You don't choose
who leads you
510
00:34:49,616 --> 00:34:52,818
in those situations.
They get force-fed to you,
511
00:34:52,820 --> 00:34:55,387
and my job
as an enlisted soldier,
512
00:34:55,389 --> 00:34:57,925
is to mitigate
the mistakes they make.
513
00:34:58,926 --> 00:35:01,327
[gunfire]
514
00:35:01,329 --> 00:35:03,596
[Best] The shots are coming
from right below us.
515
00:35:03,598 --> 00:35:06,567
[machinegun fire]
516
00:35:13,941 --> 00:35:16,776
They left us with only one American
vehicle and the American vehicles
517
00:35:16,778 --> 00:35:19,812
were out there because we had
the most fire power,
518
00:35:19,814 --> 00:35:22,248
and because we could
communicate with the skies.
519
00:35:22,250 --> 00:35:25,553
[tense music]
520
00:35:29,289 --> 00:35:30,191
[white noise]
521
00:35:31,859 --> 00:35:36,731
[indistinct radio chatter]
522
00:35:38,399 --> 00:35:43,571
So, this was a month after my first
real deal claustrophobic anxiety attack.
523
00:35:44,639 --> 00:35:48,909
[on radio] There's trails and everything down
here, they could be hiding in all those trees.
524
00:35:48,911 --> 00:35:55,048
It was on the back of my mind.
If I had a moment to stop and reflect...
525
00:35:55,050 --> 00:35:58,484
- [white noise]
- Yeah, here it comes.
526
00:35:58,486 --> 00:36:03,826
[Vandal muffled voice] Deadwood 6-7,
we are in convoy, we need evac out of here.
527
00:36:05,293 --> 00:36:07,795
[indistinct radio chatter]
528
00:36:13,468 --> 00:36:16,404
[indistinct radio chatter]
529
00:36:19,007 --> 00:36:25,911
[indistinct radio chatter]
530
00:36:25,913 --> 00:36:29,584
[indistinct radio chatter]
531
00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:34,988
And that's when I started realizing,
that as long as I can keep
532
00:36:34,990 --> 00:36:38,390
my mind preoccupied
with something else,
533
00:36:38,392 --> 00:36:41,863
yeah, the chances of having an
anxiety attack was much, much less.
534
00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:50,570
- [Vandal] Roger, Deadwood 7-6, I'm right underneath you.
- [Deadwood] Roger.
535
00:36:50,572 --> 00:36:53,339
[Ross] What we actually wound up
flying over first
536
00:36:53,341 --> 00:36:55,909
was a ground QRF force,
537
00:36:55,911 --> 00:36:59,880
that had been sent out
from their base to go help them.
538
00:36:59,882 --> 00:37:04,750
And so we supported those guys at
first for a good 10-15 minutes or so,
539
00:37:04,752 --> 00:37:07,956
before we realized this is not
where we're supposed to be.
540
00:37:10,492 --> 00:37:14,663
[Vandal] Deadwood 6-7,
we are in the last vehicle in this convoy.
541
00:37:16,064 --> 00:37:18,064
[Deadwood] Roger,
we have eyes on you.
542
00:37:18,066 --> 00:37:21,734
As soon as they got over the orchard
where the fighting was going on,
543
00:37:21,736 --> 00:37:27,408
sure enough there was a volley of
RPGs and smoke from all the shooting.
544
00:37:28,376 --> 00:37:30,912
[indistinct radio chatter]
545
00:37:30,914 --> 00:37:33,747
[Flores] I quickly slammed the stick
to the left, lined up my rockets
546
00:37:33,749 --> 00:37:36,650
and fired off three high
explosive rockets.
547
00:37:36,652 --> 00:37:39,553
[Deadwood] Oh yeah,
oh yeah, oh yeah.
548
00:37:39,555 --> 00:37:42,589
And I tell you, right now,
that felt great.
549
00:37:42,591 --> 00:37:45,929
[indistinct radio chatter]
550
00:37:52,134 --> 00:37:53,166
Come on back.
551
00:37:53,168 --> 00:37:55,637
[indistinct radio chatter]
552
00:38:03,847 --> 00:38:07,082
[Deadwood] Going in [indistinct]
look good at this point.
553
00:38:09,818 --> 00:38:11,685
Go around, you're in
a good position, over.
554
00:38:11,687 --> 00:38:19,060
Here we go.
555
00:38:19,062 --> 00:38:22,129
[Best] RPG, 0-8. Yeah!
556
00:38:22,131 --> 00:38:27,136
[Vandal] Deadwood 6-7, we are still
receiving fire from our inside, over.
557
00:38:28,570 --> 00:38:31,471
[Deadwood] [indistinct] north and
south so we get a little more to run.
558
00:38:31,473 --> 00:38:33,540
[Deadwood] Yes, and that way
he's coming in that direction.
559
00:38:33,542 --> 00:38:36,478
- I agree with them. Coming out [indistinct]
- OK.
560
00:38:41,817 --> 00:38:45,520
[indistinct radio chatter]
561
00:38:50,026 --> 00:38:53,930
- 6-1 is inbound
- Roger. [indistinct]
562
00:39:07,877 --> 00:39:12,679
[overlapping chatter]
563
00:39:12,681 --> 00:39:19,088
[overlapping chatter]
564
00:39:20,555 --> 00:39:22,723
- [Deadwood] Okay.
- [Vandal] Good round,
565
00:39:22,725 --> 00:39:25,026
Deadwood 6-7
you're right on target.
566
00:39:25,028 --> 00:39:27,997
[Deadwood] Okay, 6-7, roger.
567
00:39:31,534 --> 00:39:33,634
[Hall] We had all our Afghans
in the trenches,
568
00:39:33,636 --> 00:39:36,670
so we had to get everybody,
find them all with no radios.
569
00:39:36,672 --> 00:39:38,973
Get them all back in the vehicles
and I'm calling, I'm trying
570
00:39:38,975 --> 00:39:41,776
to talk to the Afghans and I
don't know, I don't know Dari,
571
00:39:41,778 --> 00:39:45,012
so I'm trying to find my interpreter,
and he's up on the front line,
572
00:39:45,014 --> 00:39:47,583
you know,
taking ammo to the Afghans.
573
00:39:48,952 --> 00:39:52,753
I had to call him and...
and provide cover fire for him
574
00:39:52,755 --> 00:39:55,690
to start bounding back to me,
and I had to grab him
575
00:39:55,692 --> 00:39:58,726
by the collar and...
and try to yell at him,
576
00:39:58,728 --> 00:40:01,663
"Hey, I need you with me, man.
I need you to stay with me."
577
00:40:02,833 --> 00:40:06,035
We finally got everybody together,
you know, we started, started to move out.
578
00:40:08,738 --> 00:40:13,876
[Vandal] Deadwood 6-7, [indistinct] we
are loading up to evac out of here, over.
579
00:40:15,678 --> 00:40:16,646
Roger.
580
00:40:18,816 --> 00:40:24,018
[Hall] There was about 500 enemy
insurgents in the valley at that time.
581
00:40:24,020 --> 00:40:28,991
When we came down, all the... the enemy
insurgents decided to come out to the road
582
00:40:28,993 --> 00:40:32,760
because they knew we'd have to come
back, and they laid in probably seven,
583
00:40:32,762 --> 00:40:35,631
eight ambushes for us
along those 17 kilometers.
584
00:40:41,070 --> 00:40:48,210
Roger, Deadwood 6-7, we are in route and we
are gonna have ambushes all the way home.
585
00:40:48,212 --> 00:40:50,812
- [Deadwood] OK, we're going with 'em.
- [Dog] OK, we stay with 'em.
586
00:40:50,814 --> 00:40:55,718
Roger won't be, uh,
[indistinct] location as you are north.
587
00:40:57,620 --> 00:41:00,789
[Flores] I could see that they were
starting to head north along the road.
588
00:41:00,791 --> 00:41:04,326
I rolled in, flying as fast as I
could, catching up the convoy,
589
00:41:04,328 --> 00:41:07,796
and roasted over them
at about 100 feet,
590
00:41:07,798 --> 00:41:09,998
to let them know
that we were with them,
591
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,833
and for any other possible
ambushes in front of them to know
592
00:41:12,835 --> 00:41:15,904
that there's Apaches that are
protecting our guys on the ground.
593
00:41:15,906 --> 00:41:16,905
[camera clicking]
594
00:41:16,907 --> 00:41:19,109
[tense music]
595
00:41:40,764 --> 00:41:42,266
[Dog] Do you copy, 1-6.
596
00:41:48,038 --> 00:41:51,139
The next village they came
up to, looked literally
597
00:41:51,141 --> 00:41:55,311
like an old western town,
with a dirt road down the middle.
598
00:41:55,313 --> 00:41:58,048
[kids speaking Dari]
599
00:41:59,383 --> 00:42:02,886
[Hall] It was a tight one lane
road, with buildings on either side.
600
00:42:15,299 --> 00:42:18,434
That's when Vandal 1-6
601
00:42:18,436 --> 00:42:20,902
screams down the radio that
they're shooting from the rooftops.
602
00:42:20,904 --> 00:42:27,076
- [Vandal] Rooftops, [indistinct] get down! Over.
- [Deadwood] Shit!
603
00:42:27,078 --> 00:42:30,078
[indistinct radio chatter]
604
00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:33,916
They were literally putting the gun
over the edge and just squeezing
605
00:42:33,918 --> 00:42:37,086
the trigger and letting,
letting them fly.
606
00:42:37,088 --> 00:42:39,754
[Deadwood] We can take out that house.
That's where they were shooting them from.
607
00:42:39,756 --> 00:42:41,960
I'm checking to see
where the shots came from.
608
00:42:43,361 --> 00:42:48,464
I was in a position right there, just above
the town, saw one building and I thought,
609
00:42:48,466 --> 00:42:51,200
"Alright, I'm fixing to put a
rocket right through the top of it."
610
00:42:51,202 --> 00:42:53,402
[indistinct radio chatter]
611
00:42:53,404 --> 00:42:56,707
[Deadwood] Okay, we're armed,
we're armed all the way around.
612
00:43:00,478 --> 00:43:01,712
But it didn't feel right.
613
00:43:03,448 --> 00:43:05,383
- [copilot] He's got nowhere to go if he get shot at.
- [Deadwood] Yeah, yeah.
614
00:43:10,455 --> 00:43:12,357
- [Deadwood] Alright, just get ready.
- [copilot] Roger.
615
00:43:16,227 --> 00:43:20,864
I eased off and circled around, I thought,
"Alright. Give them a little bit of time
616
00:43:21,933 --> 00:43:24,333
before I go make a shot and
possibly kill innocents in there."
617
00:43:24,335 --> 00:43:26,835
Because it's still, it's
a country where normal people
618
00:43:26,837 --> 00:43:28,939
that don't wanna be in this war.
That's where they live.
619
00:43:29,908 --> 00:43:32,310
So, in my mind,
that was a good...
620
00:43:33,478 --> 00:43:35,712
a good decision
not to take that shot.
621
00:43:37,882 --> 00:43:41,250
[Deadwood] He's pointing that
way somewhere, what the heck?
622
00:43:41,252 --> 00:43:43,352
Those guys are [indistinct]
right in front of us.
623
00:43:43,354 --> 00:43:45,855
[Vandal] Vandal to Deadwood.
624
00:43:45,857 --> 00:43:48,291
[Deadwood] Roger. See if there's
anybody down there as well.
625
00:43:48,293 --> 00:43:50,461
[copilot] I'm looking and lost.
626
00:43:52,397 --> 00:43:56,265
[Flores] So that's when I started
making runs up and down the road,
627
00:43:56,267 --> 00:43:58,303
popping flares
to let people know that,
628
00:43:59,370 --> 00:44:01,172
"You mess with them,
we will level this town".
629
00:44:02,874 --> 00:44:05,276
- [Deadwood] I'll send some flares [indistinct].
- [copilot] Go ahead. Roger.
630
00:44:06,844 --> 00:44:09,314
Power. Speed.
631
00:44:11,183 --> 00:44:13,318
[indistinct radio chatter]
632
00:44:14,553 --> 00:44:17,486
[Deadwood] And flares away.
633
00:44:17,488 --> 00:44:20,357
[Dog] We're throwing
flares everywhere.
634
00:44:20,359 --> 00:44:21,293
[camera clicking]
635
00:44:26,031 --> 00:44:28,198
[Best] The Afghans stopped
because they're taking fire,
636
00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:31,234
and they got out of the vehicles
to try and engage.
637
00:44:31,236 --> 00:44:32,237
[gunfire]
638
00:44:34,073 --> 00:44:36,139
[explosion]
639
00:44:36,141 --> 00:44:38,442
[Vandal] Deadwood 6-7,
we have [indistinct]
640
00:44:38,444 --> 00:44:44,581
- We are loading up to evac out of here, over.
- [Deadwood] Roger.
641
00:44:44,583 --> 00:44:46,849
They were out fighting, because they
didn't wanna be in their vehicles,
642
00:44:46,851 --> 00:44:49,053
so we get them back in the
vehicles and we start moving again.
643
00:44:50,556 --> 00:44:51,888
[Best] 2-40!
644
00:44:51,890 --> 00:44:52,924
[gunfire]
645
00:44:56,294 --> 00:44:57,393
[explosion]
646
00:44:57,395 --> 00:44:59,930
[Best] Oh fuck! Go ahead!
647
00:44:59,932 --> 00:45:02,900
We need airborne!
We need airborne!
648
00:45:03,935 --> 00:45:08,605
We were close to being black on ammo,
meaning that we were out of ammo.
649
00:45:08,607 --> 00:45:12,275
I had used all my Mark 19
rounds, so the guys in the skies
650
00:45:12,277 --> 00:45:15,848
had the only rounds
that were really being fired.
651
00:45:16,548 --> 00:45:19,583
Considering how many people
were stacked up against them,
652
00:45:19,585 --> 00:45:22,019
they were sitting ducks.
653
00:45:22,021 --> 00:45:24,023
[gunfire]
654
00:45:27,259 --> 00:45:29,158
[explosion]
655
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:33,497
The FOB was not even a mile away
and that's when Vandal 1-6
656
00:45:33,499 --> 00:45:37,166
yells out, "They're shooting from the
fields, they're shooting from the field."
657
00:45:37,168 --> 00:45:41,238
[Vandal] 6-7, 6-7 [indistinct]
658
00:45:41,240 --> 00:45:44,441
They're in the fields,
in the fields. Over.
659
00:45:44,443 --> 00:45:48,646
They're in the fields,
6-7, in the fields.
660
00:45:48,648 --> 00:45:53,049
[Deadwood] Roger, in the fields. I got
it, it's gonna be a tight turn backing up.
661
00:45:53,051 --> 00:45:57,187
[Vandal] Right down below
us, 6-7, right down below us.
662
00:45:57,189 --> 00:45:59,925
My front seater saw somebody
run into the fields shooting.
663
00:46:00,992 --> 00:46:03,396
- [Deadwood] Here we go. You see 'em?
- [copilot] Yep.
664
00:46:06,665 --> 00:46:07,599
[Deadwood] I didn't see 'em.
665
00:46:09,034 --> 00:46:11,269
[Vandal] Good shot, 6-7,
good shot.
666
00:46:11,271 --> 00:46:15,274
[Deadwood] I got it,
alright, coming left.
667
00:46:18,345 --> 00:46:23,015
- Left.
- Yeah, take a left turn, I saw the guys on the ground.
668
00:46:24,483 --> 00:46:27,084
We'd gotten so good at this
point with shooting rockets
669
00:46:27,086 --> 00:46:31,922
that I could put a rocket in a
window at a mile away. No problem.
670
00:46:31,924 --> 00:46:33,524
[Deadwood] Alright, straight on.
671
00:46:33,526 --> 00:46:38,563
- Oh, nice.
- Right there, there you go.
672
00:46:38,565 --> 00:46:41,566
I'm out of, I'm out of...
673
00:46:41,568 --> 00:46:43,969
[Vandal] Good round, 6-7,
good round.
674
00:46:44,671 --> 00:46:47,106
- [Deadwood] Roll out.
- [copilot] Alright out.
675
00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:52,145
By about that time the convoy
made up the last hill to the FOB.
676
00:46:58,351 --> 00:47:01,421
[calm music]
677
00:47:04,423 --> 00:47:08,027
[indistinct radio chatter]
678
00:47:09,027 --> 00:47:11,598
[Vandal] 6-7, it's 1-6,
we are in the FOB, over.
679
00:47:17,437 --> 00:47:19,236
[camera clicking]
680
00:47:19,238 --> 00:47:21,037
[Flores] If we would not
have shown up
681
00:47:21,039 --> 00:47:22,308
at the time that we did,
682
00:47:23,576 --> 00:47:25,510
the chances are they would
have had a lot more casualties
683
00:47:25,512 --> 00:47:27,612
if not all of them
getting killed.
684
00:47:27,614 --> 00:47:32,118
They secured our safe passage
out of that valley.
685
00:47:33,686 --> 00:47:36,019
I mean we shot a lot
of ordinance that day,
686
00:47:36,021 --> 00:47:38,456
in those,
in those three and a half hours.
687
00:47:38,458 --> 00:47:40,591
Terry brought
700 rounds of grenades,
688
00:47:40,593 --> 00:47:44,062
700 grenades that he shot.
689
00:47:45,433 --> 00:47:48,599
The Afghan are an amazing
fighting force and, uh,
690
00:47:48,601 --> 00:47:52,938
Matt is the best battle buddy
I've ever had.
691
00:47:57,143 --> 00:47:59,243
[Hall] If we would have had to
run back through that gauntlet,
692
00:47:59,245 --> 00:48:01,212
without cover fire,
693
00:48:01,214 --> 00:48:02,683
who knows how many people
would have made it back.
694
00:48:04,284 --> 00:48:07,086
We saved them that day,
we saved them that day.
695
00:48:08,621 --> 00:48:11,659
[emotional music]
696
00:48:22,035 --> 00:48:24,235
[Hall] We got back
that night and...
697
00:48:24,237 --> 00:48:26,338
- [camera clicking]
- And we had flat tires
698
00:48:26,340 --> 00:48:27,606
and we had no ammo.
699
00:48:27,608 --> 00:48:29,507
- [camera clicking]
- We were tired,
700
00:48:29,509 --> 00:48:31,142
and there was a point where I...
701
00:48:31,144 --> 00:48:33,177
you know, I sat on a berm
702
00:48:33,179 --> 00:48:34,748
and just kinda looked out
into the distance.
703
00:48:35,649 --> 00:48:38,617
- You know, I needed a minute.
- [camera clicking]
704
00:48:38,619 --> 00:48:41,152
And, uh, Naser came up
and sat down and I said,
705
00:48:41,154 --> 00:48:43,789
"Hey, you know,
I... we fired a lot of grenades,
706
00:48:43,791 --> 00:48:48,092
and we fired a lot of guns and,
we, we shot a lot of things, and...
707
00:48:48,094 --> 00:48:51,697
Uh, I'm sure we killed some bad
guys, but I'm worried that we...
708
00:48:51,699 --> 00:48:56,534
Uh, that we killed, you know, maybe,
maybe women and children. I don't know.
709
00:48:56,536 --> 00:48:59,240
And he kind of put his hand on my
shoulder and said, "We did good today."
710
00:49:00,139 --> 00:49:03,474
You know? "We did, we did good,
you did good today."
711
00:49:03,476 --> 00:49:08,647
That was huge. That little
ten seconds probably saved
712
00:49:08,649 --> 00:49:12,550
a lot of, a lot of therapy
and issues for me later in life.
713
00:49:12,552 --> 00:49:13,619
[camera clicking]
714
00:49:13,621 --> 00:49:16,657
[emotional music]
715
00:49:21,629 --> 00:49:24,164
- [helicopter whirring]
- [Deadwood] Got us here in the nick of time.
716
00:49:27,701 --> 00:49:30,204
[Deadwood] You know,
this is a whole lot of lightning going on.
717
00:49:31,705 --> 00:49:33,805
And actually it's fixing
to rain like crazy
718
00:49:33,807 --> 00:49:37,174
on us here in just a second.
We need, gonna get on a Hawk,
719
00:49:37,176 --> 00:49:39,578
to get back in this thing,
and here it comes.
720
00:49:39,580 --> 00:49:41,246
[helicopter whirring]
721
00:49:41,248 --> 00:49:42,449
[thunder rumbling]
722
00:49:46,220 --> 00:49:50,589
[Deadwood] Um, like I said,
we didn't... we didn't make it.
723
00:49:50,591 --> 00:49:56,063
This is just like Jurassic Park, so as
long as we don't move, we should be okay.
724
00:49:56,764 --> 00:50:00,164
But it's raining like crazy
and we are [indistinct],
725
00:50:00,166 --> 00:50:04,438
in bad guy country. Dust off,
the other Apache and us.
726
00:50:06,340 --> 00:50:09,411
I'm expecting a T-rex any minute
now, so we're not moving.
727
00:50:10,845 --> 00:50:14,513
And I'm scared.
Signing out for now.
728
00:50:14,515 --> 00:50:16,483
[thunder storm rumbling]
729
00:50:19,821 --> 00:50:22,089
- [Flores] Ahem, Chris, it's 2006.
- Hey.
730
00:50:24,692 --> 00:50:29,294
And what are we doing, all of us
from Texas? Shoveling snow.
731
00:50:29,296 --> 00:50:31,396
- Snow!
- You'd think we lived in Amarillo.
732
00:50:31,398 --> 00:50:33,802
[Flores laughing] That's true.
733
00:50:35,202 --> 00:50:38,639
Anyway, sometime in the middle of the
afternoon, it's snowing like crazy.
734
00:50:40,841 --> 00:50:47,114
And it's been snowing
all night, all... our Christmas.
735
00:50:48,749 --> 00:50:51,684
[Flores] We had two weeks left
before we would start packing up
736
00:50:51,686 --> 00:50:55,322
and heading home after a yearlong
battle there in Afghanistan.
737
00:50:56,256 --> 00:50:58,393
The fighting had
increased tremendously.
738
00:50:59,561 --> 00:51:01,326
At the morning brief,
we got the weather for the day,
739
00:51:01,328 --> 00:51:03,763
and we got all the missions
that were going out.
740
00:51:03,765 --> 00:51:05,932
One of the missions
that I'd heard was
741
00:51:05,934 --> 00:51:09,435
taking The Code
to the Korengal Valley
742
00:51:09,437 --> 00:51:11,570
in a Black Hawk
to go visit the FOBs.
743
00:51:11,572 --> 00:51:14,273
The Code is the General.
744
00:51:14,275 --> 00:51:16,244
[tense music]
745
00:51:23,618 --> 00:51:29,656
[Anthony] I was gonna spend Christmas
Eve of 2006 with Captain McKnight
746
00:51:29,658 --> 00:51:32,227
and his company,
up in the Korengal outpost.
747
00:51:33,595 --> 00:51:35,928
We had been collecting
all these letters...
748
00:51:35,930 --> 00:51:40,533
- [camera clicking]
- ...to see the smiles on troops faces when they open
749
00:51:40,535 --> 00:51:43,770
a "to any soldier" letter, it
just makes a huge difference.
750
00:51:43,772 --> 00:51:44,773
[wind whistling]
751
00:51:46,675 --> 00:51:50,576
Completely socked in,
snow, fog, everything.
752
00:51:50,578 --> 00:51:53,681
I told my aide, "Alright,
we're gonna go New Year's Eve.
753
00:51:53,683 --> 00:52:00,354
And snowed out, fogged out. And January
5th, 2007 was a crystal-clear day.
754
00:52:04,526 --> 00:52:08,260
[Deadwood] Alright, okay.
[indistinct]
755
00:52:08,262 --> 00:52:10,964
Flight brakes released,
panels in, lock lights on.
756
00:52:10,966 --> 00:52:14,000
- [Ark Angel] System check?
- [Deadwood] Systems, I got no crosses, no transfers.
757
00:52:14,002 --> 00:52:17,905
We're full of gas, [indistinct]
are green, 3000 hydraulics,
758
00:52:17,907 --> 00:52:20,974
no caution or warnings.
Supporting systems are checked. We're good.
759
00:52:20,976 --> 00:52:27,848
[radio chatter continues]
760
00:52:27,850 --> 00:52:32,285
The Korengal Valley was the most hotly
contested valley in all of Afghanistan.
761
00:52:32,287 --> 00:52:34,688
The Valley of Death
is what some people called it.
762
00:52:34,690 --> 00:52:37,592
Asher, I hear we're on the back
side of the [unintelligible].
763
00:52:40,595 --> 00:52:44,834
[Flores] And we started heading to the east
towards Jalalabad and then north to Asadabad.
764
00:52:49,538 --> 00:52:52,906
[Anthony] Two types of people
that troops often
765
00:52:52,908 --> 00:52:56,411
talk about regarding
who you'll find in a firefight,
766
00:52:57,379 --> 00:53:03,951
are those that will immediately
return fire or initiate fire,
767
00:53:03,953 --> 00:53:07,087
because their training
kicks in and they execute,
768
00:53:07,089 --> 00:53:11,091
and then, you have some
that are more contemplative
769
00:53:11,093 --> 00:53:14,461
and take a step back
and, and hesitate,
770
00:53:14,463 --> 00:53:18,665
but I didn't see too many
of those. What I saw mostly
771
00:53:18,667 --> 00:53:24,938
were troops that whenever, uh,
we needed fire on target,
772
00:53:24,940 --> 00:53:27,741
uh, rounds on target.
They would put it on target,
773
00:53:27,743 --> 00:53:31,112
and there's no greater
demonstration of that
774
00:53:31,114 --> 00:53:34,617
than that January 5th, 2007 day.
775
00:53:37,753 --> 00:53:40,489
[Dog] Dog 3-7, Deadwood 6-6.
776
00:53:41,557 --> 00:53:44,927
[Deadwood] Deadwood 6-6,
Dog 3-7 read your [indistinct] over.
777
00:53:46,062 --> 00:53:49,398
[Dog] 0-1-6-6, hear you loud and clear.
We're about one minute out.
778
00:53:51,366 --> 00:53:53,002
[Deadwood] Dog,
copy that one minute out.
779
00:53:54,403 --> 00:53:57,838
[Flores] We got radio traffic saying
that there's a troops in contact,
780
00:53:57,840 --> 00:54:01,876
a fight going on in the Pech River
Valley, right before the Korengal Valley.
781
00:54:01,878 --> 00:54:05,512
So, we had to land at Asadabad
to let that fight play out,
782
00:54:05,514 --> 00:54:09,050
because we could not go past there.
At that point, The Code gets out,
783
00:54:09,052 --> 00:54:14,721
the Black Hawk runs into the TOC and a second
later, they call us up on the radio saying like,
784
00:54:14,723 --> 00:54:17,926
"Deadwood, can you go
over there to that TIC,
785
00:54:17,928 --> 00:54:21,595
and help stop it so we can
go on to the Korengal valley."
786
00:54:21,597 --> 00:54:23,897
I probably said like, "We're
the only Apache out here,
787
00:54:23,899 --> 00:54:26,935
we're not allowed to go single
ship anywhere in this country."
788
00:54:26,937 --> 00:54:29,803
And right about then is
when the TOC called up saying,
789
00:54:29,805 --> 00:54:32,107
"The Code has just authorized
you to go single ship."
790
00:54:36,046 --> 00:54:37,680
[Deadwood] OK, copy.
Be looking for them.
791
00:54:39,515 --> 00:54:40,883
[radio chatter]
792
00:54:44,653 --> 00:54:47,188
[Flores] So, we took off,
talked to Dog 3-7 on the ground
793
00:54:47,190 --> 00:54:50,692
and he said, "Up on this ridge line,
the entrance of the Shuryak Valley,
794
00:54:50,694 --> 00:54:55,065
there's, uh, somebody's shooting at 'em with
RPGs and some, you know, small arms fire."
795
00:54:57,167 --> 00:55:00,969
Hey, Dog this is Deadwood 6-6,
where are you at from me right now?
796
00:55:00,971 --> 00:55:04,039
Is that you, uh,
are you on the main road?
797
00:55:06,743 --> 00:55:09,210
Dog 3-7, negative,
we are at control base.
798
00:55:09,212 --> 00:55:13,783
We are east of you right now,
as you're flying, over.
799
00:55:15,819 --> 00:55:18,585
Okay, uh, let's
[indistinct] right now.
800
00:55:18,587 --> 00:55:23,693
[Dog] Fly to is in, and they just gave
us [indistinct] southeast of that.
801
00:55:25,996 --> 00:55:30,832
Dog 3-7 to Deadwood 6-6.
Dog 3-7, over.
802
00:55:30,834 --> 00:55:35,738
[Deadwood] Yes, that last coordinate that
you gave me, is that friendly or enemy?
803
00:55:37,174 --> 00:55:42,045
[Dog] That's enemy. You are
safety [indistinct]. Over.
804
00:55:44,147 --> 00:55:46,017
Deadwood 6-6, roger.
805
00:55:47,651 --> 00:55:53,590
Okay, that's enemy position. Just run
on the nose, right there somewhere.
806
00:55:55,159 --> 00:55:56,491
And some rockets.
807
00:55:56,493 --> 00:55:58,595
[rockets whooshing]
808
00:56:03,934 --> 00:56:05,669
[machinegun fire]
809
00:56:18,748 --> 00:56:23,017
This spot level, I don't like, but it
looks like somebody come back to get 'em.
810
00:56:23,019 --> 00:56:25,890
[indistinct radio chatter]
811
00:56:33,563 --> 00:56:35,967
- [Deadwood] No, that is not working.
- [copilot indistinct]
812
00:56:37,934 --> 00:56:40,535
[Flores] And that's when the,
the gun stopped shooting.
813
00:56:40,537 --> 00:56:43,606
We could hear it cycling,
but no bullets were coming out.
814
00:56:45,076 --> 00:56:47,809
- [Deadwood] Can't be out of rounds already.
- [copilot] No way.
815
00:56:47,811 --> 00:56:51,146
Sounds like the gun was
running, but it wasn't firing.
816
00:56:51,148 --> 00:56:52,515
Oh Jeez.
817
00:56:54,151 --> 00:56:58,053
OK, Dog 3-7, Deadwood 6-6, either we're
out of bullets or our gun is broken.
818
00:56:58,055 --> 00:57:03,194
We're gonna get back to ABAD and continue with
the mission, we'll be back in a little bit.
819
00:57:04,295 --> 00:57:06,764
This is Dog 3-7, copy, over.
820
00:57:09,100 --> 00:57:11,102
[Flores] At that point,
we went back to Asadabad.
821
00:57:12,903 --> 00:57:17,006
The crew chiefs on the ground there, at Asadabad,
said like, "Hey, do you need any fuel?"
822
00:57:17,008 --> 00:57:21,643
And I said, "No, but could you check
the gun, see if it's broke or not?"
823
00:57:21,645 --> 00:57:25,147
So, they open the avionics bay
and they check the gun,
824
00:57:25,149 --> 00:57:27,749
and sure enough,
we're just out of bullets.
825
00:57:27,751 --> 00:57:32,354
So the kid comes back with a big
ammo can of 30 millimeter,
826
00:57:32,356 --> 00:57:35,157
and then they look at us
and that's when we find out
827
00:57:35,159 --> 00:57:40,029
that they don't have the proper equipment
to load the 30 millimeter bullets
828
00:57:40,031 --> 00:57:45,201
into the Apache. Unbeknownst to
us, that was taken away a week ago.
829
00:57:45,203 --> 00:57:48,370
Bullets, going into the Korengal
Valley was an absolute necessity.
830
00:57:48,372 --> 00:57:50,875
We had to have bullets.
831
00:57:51,808 --> 00:57:56,011
So, I suggested, "Hey, how about if
we fly back down to Jalalabad here,
832
00:57:56,013 --> 00:58:00,382
and, uh, get our guys to put bullets
in our Apache, refill us with gas,
833
00:58:00,384 --> 00:58:02,951
and we'll be back up here
45 minutes tops,
834
00:58:02,953 --> 00:58:05,154
and then we can go on
into the Korengal."
835
00:58:05,156 --> 00:58:08,858
At that point I saw the...
the Code getting out of the TOC,
836
00:58:08,860 --> 00:58:11,227
and running
and getting into his Black Hawk.
837
00:58:11,229 --> 00:58:14,730
And right at that point,
Ark Angel gets on the radio and says like,
838
00:58:14,732 --> 00:58:17,367
"Hey, you guys.
The Code's ready to go.
839
00:58:17,369 --> 00:58:20,272
You've got rockets and missiles,
let's go."
840
00:58:22,840 --> 00:58:28,045
5-3-7, roger. I just got word
that the General
841
00:58:29,713 --> 00:58:32,818
says that you have to have
an escort with you, over.
842
00:58:34,419 --> 00:58:37,822
- Alright.
- Dog 3-7 copy, over.
843
00:58:46,163 --> 00:58:50,902
This really sucks not having...
us going in here.
844
00:58:52,370 --> 00:58:58,374
So, I took off, Ark Angel, the Black Hawk
with the Code, takes off right behind me.
845
00:58:58,376 --> 00:59:01,010
Rolling straight
into the Korengal Valley.
846
00:59:01,012 --> 00:59:02,312
[birds chirping]
847
00:59:02,314 --> 00:59:05,350
[tense music]
848
00:59:13,725 --> 00:59:18,130
Korengal outpost, Lumberyard, this is
Deadwood 6-6, getting down with the Code.
849
00:59:19,864 --> 00:59:23,268
This is Lumberyard COP
control, copy that, over.
850
00:59:25,203 --> 00:59:30,206
I call up the Lumberyard,
or Korengal outpost, or the COP,
851
00:59:30,208 --> 00:59:33,044
tell 'em that, uh, it's
Deadwood inbound with the Code.
852
00:59:34,879 --> 00:59:38,915
[indistinct radio chatter]
853
00:59:38,917 --> 00:59:42,784
[Dog] Go in, take left turn now,
I'm at your right five o'clock high.
854
00:59:42,786 --> 00:59:46,091
Roger that [indistinct].
855
00:59:48,326 --> 00:59:52,097
[Dog] Uh, don't go any further south,
make a left turn now, make a left turn now.
856
00:59:53,865 --> 00:59:57,369
Yeah, pick up your speed fast as you
can, really not good up here.
857
00:59:58,403 --> 01:00:01,037
[Anthony] We're moving out at a
pretty good clip because we know
858
01:00:01,039 --> 01:00:04,307
that there's enemy in the area.
859
01:00:04,309 --> 01:00:07,410
Holes started appearing
in the side of the helicopter,
860
01:00:07,412 --> 01:00:10,214
which, you know, either rivets
are popping or somebody's
861
01:00:10,216 --> 01:00:13,283
shooting at us and of course,
it was the latter.
862
01:00:13,285 --> 01:00:17,887
And the left engine catches
on fire as we're landing,
863
01:00:17,889 --> 01:00:20,992
uh, hard landing
inside the Korengal outpost.
864
01:00:22,761 --> 01:00:25,329
[Flores] So, they're on the ground
dropping off the Code and the package
865
01:00:25,331 --> 01:00:28,332
and whatever else they had,
and I'm circling overhead
866
01:00:28,334 --> 01:00:32,035
and Lessum and myself, my copilot,
were discussing like, "Okay,
867
01:00:32,037 --> 01:00:35,139
we'll go back to Jalalabad, get
some bullets in this helicopter,
868
01:00:35,141 --> 01:00:38,009
and that should be about the time we
come back to pick up the... the Code."
869
01:00:38,944 --> 01:00:41,412
[Deadwood] All he's gotta do is
drop off and we go back to Abad.
870
01:00:41,414 --> 01:00:43,846
[copilot] Yeah, as far as we
know that's all he's doing.
871
01:00:43,848 --> 01:00:46,082
[Deadwood] You know, we ought
to, I don't know how much time
872
01:00:46,084 --> 01:00:49,453
they've got, but, I think
we can run down to ABAD,
873
01:00:49,455 --> 01:00:54,092
[indistinct]
and get, get bullets.
874
01:00:55,327 --> 01:00:56,829
Would be nice, wouldn't it?
875
01:01:00,899 --> 01:01:04,133
At that point,
they came under attack.
876
01:01:04,135 --> 01:01:05,805
- [man] Oh my god!
- [explosion]
877
01:01:06,939 --> 01:01:10,873
[muffled shouting]
878
01:01:10,875 --> 01:01:14,111
[gunfire]
879
01:01:14,113 --> 01:01:17,481
Now we're in full-fledged
ambush. There's rocket,
880
01:01:17,483 --> 01:01:21,252
propel grenades, criss-crossing
like Roman Candles.
881
01:01:21,254 --> 01:01:23,954
- [gunfire]
- [man] Open it up, open it up!
882
01:01:23,956 --> 01:01:26,791
[Anthony] And there's machine
gun rounds coming in.
883
01:01:27,859 --> 01:01:28,794
Eh!
884
01:01:34,866 --> 01:01:38,402
[Anthony] Captain McKnight comes
running up and, and grabs me
885
01:01:38,404 --> 01:01:41,372
by the body armor and says,
886
01:01:41,374 --> 01:01:45,209
"Sir, the last thing I need is
a dead general in my base camp."
887
01:01:45,211 --> 01:01:47,478
Go, get out, get out!
888
01:01:47,480 --> 01:01:49,115
[gunfire]
889
01:01:52,117 --> 01:01:55,521
[Anthony] Coming down the hill,
the young man named Sergeant Vile.
890
01:01:56,422 --> 01:01:59,225
- [camera clicking]
- [Anthony] And Sergeant Vile gets shot.
891
01:02:04,630 --> 01:02:08,465
He gets up, ties up his own
tourniquet and we all go piling
892
01:02:08,467 --> 01:02:13,172
into the command post,
be that what it was.
893
01:02:15,074 --> 01:02:17,074
[gunfire]
894
01:02:17,076 --> 01:02:21,245
[Anthony] The Korengal outpost
was under pretty significant
895
01:02:21,247 --> 01:02:22,946
contact at this time.
896
01:02:22,948 --> 01:02:24,982
- Here you go.
- [camera clicking]
897
01:02:24,984 --> 01:02:27,251
[Anthony] And I'm watching
Sergeant Vile,
898
01:02:27,253 --> 01:02:30,020
who is starting
to go into shock.
899
01:02:30,022 --> 01:02:34,326
But he was a mortar ballistic computer
operator, he had a very important job.
900
01:02:34,328 --> 01:02:38,564
He has a radio and he's punching numbers
into his mortar ballistic computer,
901
01:02:39,465 --> 01:02:42,400
and his left arm
was severely wounded.
902
01:02:42,402 --> 01:02:45,171
There was blood dripping
on the plywood floor.
903
01:02:46,305 --> 01:02:49,474
I tapped the medic and say,
"You need to check him out,
904
01:02:49,476 --> 01:02:53,545
he's getting ready to go into shock".
Because he was visibly shaking.
905
01:02:53,547 --> 01:02:57,082
And, uh, the medic sort of
smirked at me and says,
906
01:02:57,084 --> 01:03:00,585
"You don't know Sergeant Vile,
sir." And I said,
907
01:03:00,587 --> 01:03:04,188
"That may be, but, you know,
he looks like he's gonna...", and so...
908
01:03:04,190 --> 01:03:09,059
- [camera clicking]
- The medic goes over, I guess not wanting to upset the General
909
01:03:09,061 --> 01:03:13,298
and Sergeant Vile turns at him and growls,
you know, and get the F away from me.
910
01:03:13,300 --> 01:03:16,101
- [camera clicking]
- And this is, you know, the beauty
911
01:03:16,103 --> 01:03:20,239
of the American soldier is that he
didn't wanna let his teammates down.
912
01:03:28,583 --> 01:03:34,488
At this point, there's a string of bullets
coming at me between myself and Ark Angel.
913
01:03:36,455 --> 01:03:40,427
[Deadwood] Oh shit, what was that?
There, they are right there.
914
01:03:42,496 --> 01:03:46,464
I rolled in hard left, and I
thought, "Jeez, I have no bullets."
915
01:03:46,466 --> 01:03:49,300
At that point, I could
not go to our rocket shops
916
01:03:49,302 --> 01:03:52,471
because the Korengal outpost
was right on the other side.
917
01:03:52,473 --> 01:03:54,474
- [copilot] See that smoke right there?
- [Deadwood] Yeah, shit.
918
01:03:56,176 --> 01:04:01,281
Yeah, you're taking fire, just, uh, I
don't know if you saw it, it was left low.
919
01:04:03,650 --> 01:04:07,685
I squeezed over and I said,
"I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna kill you."
920
01:04:07,687 --> 01:04:11,358
Shoved the helicopter over into a
negative G push, squeezed that trigger.
921
01:04:12,559 --> 01:04:15,393
- [copilot] It was right there. Right there, right there.
- [Deadwood] Woah!
922
01:04:15,395 --> 01:04:18,697
[radio clutter]
923
01:04:18,699 --> 01:04:19,700
Come on.
924
01:04:21,668 --> 01:04:25,604
[Flores] Nothing was coming out,
I was in a one and a half negative G push.
925
01:04:25,606 --> 01:04:29,276
The safety inhibit on the Apache keeps
me from firing rockets at that point.
926
01:04:30,677 --> 01:04:36,214
You could see flashes of everybody
shooting at us from that ridgeline.
927
01:04:36,216 --> 01:04:38,418
Was like the paparazzi
was right in front of us.
928
01:04:41,289 --> 01:04:43,489
I pull back on the stick
929
01:04:43,491 --> 01:04:46,660
at that time to get out of a
stream of gunfire coming at me.
930
01:04:48,028 --> 01:04:51,564
That's when I saw my... my wife
931
01:04:51,566 --> 01:04:55,400
and my kids at the front
of the door of our house...
932
01:04:55,402 --> 01:04:57,770
[rattling sound]
933
01:04:57,772 --> 01:05:01,039
...thinking that...
934
01:05:01,041 --> 01:05:04,510
"How could dad have gotten killed
with less than two weeks left?"
935
01:05:04,512 --> 01:05:07,515
[distorted white noise]
936
01:05:08,816 --> 01:05:13,287
And then I looked and I saw my
daughter smiling saying, "No, uh...
937
01:05:15,389 --> 01:05:16,357
It's not gonna happen."
938
01:05:19,326 --> 01:05:20,260
[grunts]
939
01:05:23,364 --> 01:05:26,732
- My copilot says, "Daniel, you're hyperventilating."
- [rattling sound]
940
01:05:26,734 --> 01:05:30,236
- That was the point where like I thought, "No stop."
- [rattling sound]
941
01:05:30,238 --> 01:05:32,738
Finally, I breathe again.
942
01:05:32,740 --> 01:05:35,306
So now, I'm trying
to line up the nose
943
01:05:35,308 --> 01:05:38,746
and trying to get at least a half
a positive G to get a rocket out.
944
01:05:46,554 --> 01:05:47,688
[Deadwood] Fuck, fuck, fuck.
945
01:05:49,423 --> 01:05:53,762
And sure enough by the grace of God, I fire
one rocket and it goes right, center mass.
946
01:05:54,729 --> 01:06:00,534
[Deadwood] Combat Main, Combat Main. They were
just shooting at us underneath me right now.
947
01:06:00,536 --> 01:06:05,239
Combat main, they were just shooting at
us, just now. Did you see 'em?
948
01:06:07,241 --> 01:06:08,510
[Deadwood] That was a big gun.
949
01:06:10,646 --> 01:06:12,745
[copilot] Yeah, I saw some
big traces coming around here.
950
01:06:12,747 --> 01:06:15,514
[Deadwood] It was a big
machinegun shooting
951
01:06:15,516 --> 01:06:18,252
traces out of the next spot and
we were not allowed to shoot.
952
01:06:19,821 --> 01:06:23,155
Come back around, screaming on the
radio, telling the Korengal outpost,
953
01:06:23,157 --> 01:06:26,392
"We're taking fire from this spot.
Get a fire mission going."
954
01:06:26,394 --> 01:06:29,461
[gunfire]
955
01:06:29,463 --> 01:06:30,431
[explosion]
956
01:06:31,566 --> 01:06:35,602
[Anthony] You hear the loud funk
of the mortar go off.
957
01:06:35,604 --> 01:06:37,570
- [mortar whistling]
- [explosion thundering]
958
01:06:37,572 --> 01:06:39,338
[muffled shouting]
959
01:06:39,340 --> 01:06:41,741
[Anthony] The hang time's
probably about a minute.
960
01:06:41,743 --> 01:06:45,845
It's just silent in there except from
some of the machinegun rounds coming in.
961
01:06:45,847 --> 01:06:49,349
But nobody was talking
and you hear the explosion.
962
01:06:49,351 --> 01:06:50,652
[explosion thundering]
963
01:06:52,854 --> 01:06:54,854
[Anthony]
The machinegun rounds stop.
964
01:06:54,856 --> 01:06:56,756
- [camera clicking]
- Vile gets confirmation
965
01:06:56,758 --> 01:06:59,158
of a first round direct hit.
966
01:06:59,160 --> 01:07:02,896
He pushes the mortar ballistic
computer across the picnic table
967
01:07:02,898 --> 01:07:06,366
to his private. He turns
to the medic and he says,
968
01:07:06,368 --> 01:07:08,369
"Now you can work on me."
969
01:07:09,705 --> 01:07:13,342
[Flores] At that point, I could see
the Taliban running on the ridgeline.
970
01:07:14,543 --> 01:07:19,647
Deadwood 6-6, we're engaged right now, we got
them, we got them straight in front of us.
971
01:07:20,716 --> 01:07:25,417
And that's just when I begin to fire as
fast as I could, all the rockets I could,
972
01:07:25,419 --> 01:07:29,623
and actually remembering a World
War II pilot that I know, saying,
973
01:07:29,625 --> 01:07:31,858
"Wiggle the pedals back
and forth a little bit, that way
974
01:07:31,860 --> 01:07:34,428
all your rockets
won't end up in one spot".
975
01:07:35,463 --> 01:07:38,498
I wiggled the pedals just a little bit right
and left, as I'm squeezing the rockets
976
01:07:38,500 --> 01:07:41,235
and making my rockets hit
everywhere around them.
977
01:07:42,638 --> 01:07:43,903
- Fucking...
- There we go.
978
01:07:43,905 --> 01:07:47,442
[rockets whooshing]
979
01:07:50,746 --> 01:07:56,683
Deadwood 6-6, we got up on that spot. Combat
Main. Lumberyard, permission to [indistinct].
980
01:07:56,685 --> 01:07:59,719
[Flores] Swing back around again, we're
running out of high explosive rockets.
981
01:07:59,721 --> 01:08:04,524
We start shooting
flechettes, 2000
982
01:08:04,526 --> 01:08:08,294
two-inch nails coming
at those guys ripping into them.
983
01:08:08,296 --> 01:08:12,701
[rockets whooshing]
984
01:08:14,436 --> 01:08:18,908
[indistinct radio chatter]
985
01:08:21,543 --> 01:08:23,910
After that, run out
of flechettes, come back around
986
01:08:23,912 --> 01:08:25,782
and I start shooting
white phosphorous.
987
01:08:26,983 --> 01:08:30,419
- [firing rockets]
- [overlapping chatter]
988
01:08:31,386 --> 01:08:34,824
At that point, [sighs]
I have nothing left.
989
01:08:35,758 --> 01:08:39,259
I call the... the, uh, Korengal
outpost, tell them like,
990
01:08:39,261 --> 01:08:41,731
"We are Winchester.
We are out of here."
991
01:08:43,766 --> 01:08:50,037
- Alright, Deadwood 6-6, Winchester, we're out of here.
- Roger that, over.
992
01:08:50,039 --> 01:08:52,706
Fuck, why wouldn't that rocket
shoot on that first run? Damn it,
993
01:08:52,708 --> 01:08:56,477
that pisses me off.
And no gun. Dammit of all the...
994
01:08:56,479 --> 01:08:59,247
[copilot] Oh yeah, of all the times
not having a fucking gun, man.
995
01:09:04,887 --> 01:09:05,888
[copilot] Yes.
996
01:09:06,989 --> 01:09:11,458
[Anthony] The heroism of both
the Black Hawk crew
997
01:09:11,460 --> 01:09:16,664
and the, uh, Apache crew,
was just unbelievable.
998
01:09:16,666 --> 01:09:19,399
They stayed on station
999
01:09:19,401 --> 01:09:21,904
when it was so risky,
so dangerous,
1000
01:09:23,840 --> 01:09:26,708
to help the troops
on the ground.
1001
01:09:28,311 --> 01:09:30,411
[Deadwood] Alright, you sure
you guys did not take a hit
1002
01:09:30,413 --> 01:09:31,914
cause they were shooting
all over you.
1003
01:09:33,649 --> 01:09:36,018
[Ark Angel] Yeah 1-32, we took a hit, our
generator's out and our stabilizers out.
1004
01:09:37,887 --> 01:09:40,788
[Deadwood] We're totally viable
but we're gonna have to shut down
1005
01:09:40,790 --> 01:09:43,757
and take a look at it
when we get to ABAD.
1006
01:09:43,759 --> 01:09:48,631
We're gonna have to fly around and
get another aircraft for [indistinct].
1007
01:09:49,599 --> 01:09:51,598
[Deadwood] Sounds good.
1008
01:09:51,600 --> 01:09:56,003
Much later that evening, they
sent, uh, another Black Hawk out
1009
01:09:56,005 --> 01:10:01,509
to recover my team and me.
You know, I had five other stops
1010
01:10:01,511 --> 01:10:05,079
I was gonna make that day, but that,
that sort of changed the whole dynamic
1011
01:10:05,081 --> 01:10:09,350
of the visit
and so all the "to any soldier",
1012
01:10:09,352 --> 01:10:11,819
uh, packages and letters,
they all stayed right there.
1013
01:10:11,821 --> 01:10:12,822
[camera clicking]
1014
01:10:14,123 --> 01:10:16,557
[Anthony] We put Sergeant Vile
on our aircraft
1015
01:10:16,559 --> 01:10:18,960
and medivacked him to Bagram.
1016
01:10:18,962 --> 01:10:24,565
- [camera clicking]
- And before he got evacked, I pinned on his purple heart.
1017
01:10:24,567 --> 01:10:28,602
- [camera clicking]
- He's a personal hero of mine today.
1018
01:10:28,604 --> 01:10:33,809
This was the best teamwork I've ever seen.
It was completely unrehearsed,
1019
01:10:33,811 --> 01:10:37,814
it was all instinctual. These pilots knew
what to do, the soldiers knew what to do.
1020
01:10:38,781 --> 01:10:44,652
It was one of those days where I was never
prouder to be an American fighting soldier.
1021
01:10:44,654 --> 01:10:50,058
Because everybody did their job
above and beyond the call of duty,
1022
01:10:50,060 --> 01:10:53,961
and avoided
what really could have been
1023
01:10:53,963 --> 01:10:57,499
a catastrophic type of event.
1024
01:10:57,501 --> 01:11:00,938
It was just
an incredible sight to see.
1025
01:11:01,904 --> 01:11:03,105
[emotional music]
1026
01:11:44,781 --> 01:11:49,985
[Eric] It was a, a moment a few
years ago when he had, uh...
1027
01:11:49,987 --> 01:11:53,089
tweaked his elbow pretty bad
and he was in a cast,
1028
01:11:53,091 --> 01:11:56,591
and we were all just sitting
in here watching TV one night,
1029
01:11:56,593 --> 01:12:00,997
and he just started sweating
profusely and got up and just...
1030
01:12:00,999 --> 01:12:03,832
pacing around the room
and cussing saying,
1031
01:12:03,834 --> 01:12:05,901
"I need to get out of this,
I need to get out of this cast
1032
01:12:05,903 --> 01:12:07,969
right now, they need
to take this off."
1033
01:12:07,971 --> 01:12:10,805
'Cause he was having an anxiety
attack from being claustrophobic.
1034
01:12:10,807 --> 01:12:14,209
Then I started to think about it
more and looking back at like,
1035
01:12:14,211 --> 01:12:17,746
when we were in Colorado
and packed into that gondola,
1036
01:12:17,748 --> 01:12:21,650
packed in the long car rides
where you would start to notice
1037
01:12:21,652 --> 01:12:25,553
he's a little off about something,
but he's trying to hide it,
1038
01:12:25,555 --> 01:12:29,824
but he can't just quite do it.
It did humanize him a little bit
1039
01:12:29,826 --> 01:12:34,663
to see him act this way,
you know, have this episode.
1040
01:12:34,665 --> 01:12:39,534
But, uh, for the most part, I mean,
it was maybe two minutes of that,
1041
01:12:39,536 --> 01:12:43,239
and then he calmed right back down,
and just sat back down and said,
1042
01:12:43,241 --> 01:12:46,975
"Alright, I need to call the doctors tomorrow,
tell 'em to help me out with this",
1043
01:12:46,977 --> 01:12:50,212
and then, we just went right back to
watching whatever we were watching.
1044
01:12:50,214 --> 01:12:54,015
For a while there it was pretty
intense and with the cast thing,
1045
01:12:54,017 --> 01:12:58,988
like Eric was talking about earlier,
on his arm, that surprised me also.
1046
01:12:58,990 --> 01:13:01,556
I really never have even thought
about something like that.
1047
01:13:01,558 --> 01:13:05,527
I was thinking more of, you know,
the gondola, being in an enclosed space,
1048
01:13:05,529 --> 01:13:08,965
kind of made sense to me,
but having something on your arm,
1049
01:13:08,967 --> 01:13:11,533
didn't really make any sense,
why that would bother him.
1050
01:13:11,535 --> 01:13:15,137
He wrote this book and it, you know,
maybe thousands of people are gonna read
1051
01:13:15,139 --> 01:13:18,773
and he's talking about it just
like it's a normal thing, but he...
1052
01:13:18,775 --> 01:13:21,110
didn't quite talk about it
to everyone at home.
1053
01:13:21,112 --> 01:13:25,647
And, uh, it was a little off-putting,
you know, reading it, but I mean,
1054
01:13:25,649 --> 01:13:29,952
you understand it's a part of it and it's
a part of the story that he needs to tell.
1055
01:13:29,954 --> 01:13:32,489
[calm music]
1056
01:13:42,866 --> 01:13:46,302
- Hey, you must be Matt.
- I'm Matt, nice to meet you.
1057
01:13:46,304 --> 01:13:48,070
- Good to meet you, Ross Hovey.
- Hey Ross.
1058
01:13:48,072 --> 01:13:50,672
- Ross, man.
- Good to see you, brother.
1059
01:13:50,674 --> 01:13:52,842
- It's been a while.
- Yeah, great to see you.
1060
01:13:52,844 --> 01:13:54,677
And who are these guys?
1061
01:13:54,679 --> 01:13:58,147
Naser, my buddy. How are you?
Good to see you, Ross.
1062
01:13:58,149 --> 01:14:01,884
- Naser, I'm Daniel, nice to meet you, brother.
- I'm Terry.
1063
01:14:01,886 --> 01:14:04,820
- [overlapping speech]
- Terry, nice to meet you, man, it's been years.
1064
01:14:04,822 --> 01:14:08,191
- Yeah, I know, for sure.
- And you were the translator, is that right?
1065
01:14:08,193 --> 01:14:10,327
- I was the translator.
- OK, yeah.
1066
01:14:10,329 --> 01:14:12,261
That is too good,
and he was the door guy or...
1067
01:14:12,263 --> 01:14:14,629
I was the gunner
up top the Mark 19.
1068
01:14:14,631 --> 01:14:17,867
- He was the gunner, he was backseat and I was the TC.
- Alright.
1069
01:14:17,869 --> 01:14:19,168
- So, Vandal 1-6.
- Yep.
1070
01:14:19,170 --> 01:14:20,903
1-7.
1071
01:14:20,905 --> 01:14:22,638
- And Naser.
- I was relaxing in the backseat.
1072
01:14:22,640 --> 01:14:23,940
[laughter]
1073
01:14:23,942 --> 01:14:26,343
He was handing
the rounds up to me.
1074
01:14:26,345 --> 01:14:28,878
That's pretty good,
I like that. Yeah.
1075
01:14:28,880 --> 01:14:31,313
Well guys, you wanna
just step inside the bar,
1076
01:14:31,315 --> 01:14:33,818
we can just hang out, grab a...
grab a cold drink if you'd like?
1077
01:14:35,354 --> 01:14:39,923
A toast to our Afghanistan team,
our army family and friends
1078
01:14:39,925 --> 01:14:43,060
and all those that didn't get to come back.
That didn't make it home safe.
1079
01:14:43,062 --> 01:14:46,162
I remember that captain,
1080
01:14:46,164 --> 01:14:49,698
from the 2-6 cab, he said like,
"Guys, everything's heating up
1081
01:14:49,700 --> 01:14:53,270
there in the Korengal and the
Pech, but don't forget the Tagab,
1082
01:14:53,272 --> 01:14:56,807
'cause it is about
to explode and, uh,
1083
01:14:56,809 --> 01:14:59,109
I thought ah, whatever.
Same thing, flew over it all year long.
1084
01:14:59,111 --> 01:15:01,077
Two months after that,
I've forgotten what he's said
1085
01:15:01,079 --> 01:15:05,115
and then all of a sudden one day
we're on QRF and they say,
1086
01:15:05,117 --> 01:15:07,817
"We gotta take a tog out",
and I'm like,
1087
01:15:07,819 --> 01:15:11,220
"Really? There's something going on?
There's firefighting in the Takab?"
1088
01:15:11,222 --> 01:15:16,126
I say, "There's a convoy that's
been ambushed, and there's 200
1089
01:15:16,128 --> 01:15:19,228
Taliban out there
that are surrounding them."
1090
01:15:19,230 --> 01:15:21,698
I can't remember how long
it was, but it had to have been
1091
01:15:21,700 --> 01:15:25,202
five to ten minutes we were
supporting that QRF team.
1092
01:15:25,204 --> 01:15:27,236
And that it?
It felt like five hours.
1093
01:15:27,238 --> 01:15:29,139
[laughter]
1094
01:15:29,141 --> 01:15:30,209
I thought the same thing too.
1095
01:15:31,510 --> 01:15:34,144
I... I was looking up to the sky,
I'm like, "You guys are saying,
1096
01:15:34,146 --> 01:15:36,713
'Hey I'm dropping rounds.'"
I'm like,
1097
01:15:36,715 --> 01:15:39,416
"I don't see you,
let alone your rounds."
1098
01:15:39,418 --> 01:15:41,851
That's hit me in the leg.
1099
01:15:41,853 --> 01:15:44,688
Like you were saying, there were
ambushes all the way up there.
1100
01:15:44,690 --> 01:15:46,823
- Yeah, you didn't shoot anybody...
- That didn't need shooting.
1101
01:15:46,825 --> 01:15:50,360
...that were up to good. They
were actually after our QRF.
1102
01:15:50,362 --> 01:15:52,330
We were in the business of killing
and right then, business was good.
1103
01:15:52,332 --> 01:15:55,265
All I could tell was,
that there was American
1104
01:15:55,267 --> 01:15:58,701
made vehicles with A&A men in
them and they were under attack.
1105
01:15:58,703 --> 01:16:01,838
Yeah, we started moving up and as
we started moving up, uh, you know,
1106
01:16:01,840 --> 01:16:05,408
it was literally seven different
ambushes waiting for us.
1107
01:16:05,410 --> 01:16:07,978
They were laying on top,
not accurate firing,
1108
01:16:07,980 --> 01:16:10,414
but to hide themselves
in firing,
1109
01:16:10,416 --> 01:16:16,953
when we got back, I had a 8k round
in between my vest and my dune.
1110
01:16:16,955 --> 01:16:19,322
- Wow!
- That's I mean, so you know we were like, "Oh my gosh".
1111
01:16:19,324 --> 01:16:22,926
- Holy mackerel!
- And yeah, they were, it was crazy.
1112
01:16:22,928 --> 01:16:29,065
God bless the A&A, they would always
leave us in the [indistinct] Humvee sick.
1113
01:16:29,067 --> 01:16:33,237
We had... I had to get Naser out and say,
tell them to move up, move up, move up.
1114
01:16:33,239 --> 01:16:37,908
One of the Taliban, he already...
he was like, uh, the radio channel
1115
01:16:37,910 --> 01:16:41,112
of the enemy because he was
scanning the communication.
1116
01:16:41,114 --> 01:16:45,817
He called one of the sergeants, which he called
me, he took his handset, he answered, "Yes".
1117
01:16:46,752 --> 01:16:48,119
Oh yeah? [laughter]
1118
01:16:48,121 --> 01:16:51,322
He said, "I'm gonna
fuck you all up."
1119
01:16:51,324 --> 01:16:53,323
[laughter]
1120
01:16:53,325 --> 01:16:56,294
So, all you guys alive,
that's what the Taliban said.
1121
01:16:56,296 --> 01:16:58,697
- Wow, it's just...
- Kudos.
1122
01:17:01,501 --> 01:17:03,402
♪
1123
01:17:03,404 --> 01:17:08,404
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