![]() ![]() On the ground and nearly out of ammunition, the four SEALs, Murphy, Luttrell, Dietz and Axelson, continued the fight. But knowing that their warrior brothers were shot, surrounded and severely wounded, the rescue team opted to directly enter the oncoming battle in hopes of landing on brutally hazardous terrain.Īs the Chinook raced to the battle, a rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter, killing all 16 men aboard. Risk would, of course, be minimized if they put the helicopter down in a safe zone. They knew the tremendous risk going into an active enemy area in daylight, without their attack support, and without the cover of night. The heavy weight of the attack helicopters slowed the formation’s advance prompting the MH-47 to outrun their armored escort. Entering a hot combat zone, attack helicopters are used initially to neutralize the enemy and make it safer for the lightly-armored, personnel-transport helicopter to insert. The MH-47 was escorted by heavily-armored, Army attack helicopters. Murphy returned to his cover position with his men and continued the battle.Īn MH-47 Chinook helicopter, with eight additional SEALs and eight Army Night Stalkers aboard, was sent is as part of an extraction mission to pull out the four embattled SEALs. Murphy picked it back up, completed the call and continued firing at the enemy who was closing in. At one point he was shot in the back causing him to drop the transmitter. He calmly provided his unit’s location and the size of the enemy force while requesting immediate support for his team. While continuing to be fired upon, Murphy made contact with the SOF Quick Reaction Force at Bagram Air Base and requested assistance. This deliberate and heroic act deprived him of cover and made him a target for the enemy. Moving away from the protective mountain rocks, he knowingly exposed himself to increased enemy gunfire. Murphy, intent on making contact with headquarters, but realizing this would be impossible in the extreme terrain where they were fighting, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own life moved into the open, where he could gain a better position to transmit a call to get help for his men. But before he could, he was shot in the hand, the blast shattering his thumb.ĭespite the intensity of the firefight and suffering grave gunshot wounds himself, Murphy is credited with risking his own life to save the lives of his teammates. Approximately 45 minutes into the fight, pinned down by overwhelming forces, Dietz, the communications petty officer, sought open air to place a distress call back to the base. Trying to reach safety, the four men, now each wounded, began bounding down the mountain's steep sides, making leaps of 20 to 30 feet. The firefight continued relentlessly as the overwhelming militia forced the team deeper into a ravine. They launched a well-organized, three-sided attack on the SEALs. The SEAL mission was compromised when the team was spotted by local nationals, who presumably reported its presence and location to the Taliban.Ī fierce firefight erupted between the four SEALs and a much larger enemy force of more than 50 anti-coalition militia. Under the assumed name Muhammad Ismail, Shah led a guerrilla group known to locals as the "Mountain Tigers" that had aligned with the Taliban and other militant groups close to the Pakistani border. The four SEALs were scouting Ahmad Shah – a terrorist in his mid-30s who grew up in the adjacent mountains just to the south. Michael Murphy, Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny Dietz, Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew Axelson and Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (SEAL) Marcus Luttrell had a vital task. On June 28, 2005, deep behind enemy lines east of Asadabad in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, a very committed four-man Navy SEAL team was conducting a reconnaissance mission at the unforgiving altitude of approximately 10,000 feet. (SEAL) Michael Murphy: For actions during Operation Red Wings on Jun. He returned to his cover position to continue the fight until finally succumbing to his wounds. While being shot and shot at, Murphy provided his units location and requested immediate support for his element. ![]() Murphy knowingly left his position of cover to get a clear signal in order to communicate with his headquarters and was mortally wounded while exposing himself to enemy fire. The team came under fire from a much larger enemy force with superior tactical position. Murphy was killed by enemy forces during a reconnaissance mission, Operation Red Wing, June 28, 2005, while leading a four-man team tasked with finding a key Taliban leader in the mountainous terrain near Asadabad, Afghanistan. Murphy, 29, from Patchogue, NY is pictured on the far left side of the back row. 19, 2001) - Navy file photo of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) graduating class 236. ![]()
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