While it was believed Chapman was killed in the firefight, Predator drone footage coupled with video feed from an AC-130 showed a grainy image of Chapman still living up to an hour after his teammates left the area.

He would go on to kill more enemy fighters, engaging one al-Qaida fighter in hand-to-hand combat.

https://www.military.com/daily...ved-medal-honor.html

Report: Fallen Air Force Tech Sgt. Approved for Medal of Honor



The U.S. Air Force is set to posthumously award the Medal of Honor to an airman for the first time since the Vietnam War, according to an exclusive report from Task & Purpose.

The White House will award Tech Sgt. John Chapman, who was killed in eastern Afghanistan in 2002 while serving as a radioman with Navy SEALs, the highest award for military valor in a ceremony later this year, T&P said on Friday.

The Air Force would not comment on the report, and referred all questions to the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to a Military.com query and did not confirm any details to Task & Purpose.

In 2016, then-Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James reportedly pushed to elevate Chapman's award. Chapman was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross in 2003.

Chapman's final hours in Afghanistan were unveiled in new details first obtained by The New York Times. New evidence from drone footage showed that Chapman fought al-Qaida fighters alone on a mountainside after his unit departed, the Times said.

Chapman, a combat controller, was attached to SEAL Team 6 team during Operation Anaconda, a large-scale attempt to clear the Shah-i-Kot Valley of al-Qaida and Taliban forces. The team's task was to establish an outpost on Takur Ghar at the top of the mountain.

Due to timing delays, the helicopter carrying the team arrived to al-Qaida forces waiting for them and took heavy fire. During the assault, one SEAL, Petty Officer 1st Class Neil Roberts, fell out of the MH-47 Chinook. The helicopter crash-landed about four miles away.

Chapman soon after began calling in airstrikes from AC-130 gunships circling overhead.

According to his Air Force Cross citation, Chapman "then directed the gunship to begin the search for the missing team member. He requested, coordinated, and controlled the helicopter that extracted the stranded team and aircrew members."

Chapman eventually returned on another Chinook with five SEALs to rescue Roberts on the hillside, which would become known as "Roberts Ridge."

Advancing into the region, the tech sergeant would engaged and kill two enemy personnel, and exchange fire with multiple fighters from all around.

"From close range he exchanged fire with the enemy from minimum personal cover until he succumbed to multiple wounds," the citation said. "His engagement and destruction of the first enemy position and advancement on the second position enabled his team to move to cover and break enemy contact."

While it was believed Chapman was killed in the firefight, Predator drone footage coupled with video feed from an AC-130 showed a grainy image of Chapman still living up to an hour after his teammates left the area.

He would go on to kill more enemy fighters, engaging one al-Qaida fighter in hand-to-hand combat.

Good for him. Great effort. A real hero.

Awesome news, scandalously overdue in my opinion.

a true badass and a real hero

I’m glad his heroism is finally being recognized.

wonderful news

about time

That's horrible, left behind still alive.

What happened to, "No man left behind?"

Great news and well deserved.

As far as left behind maybe you should read what happened and see what happened. Under heavy attack and he appeared to be dead. More than half the team was wounded. I am sure you two keyboard warriors would have already pissed your pants.

The seal who was with him when it happened was a career seal and a is very highly regarded individual.

http://www.businessinsider.com...n-afghanistan-2018-4

The split-second decision made by Chief Slabinski to evacuate the peak, in the years since, has remained controversial, which he acknowledged in his interview with The Times: "They're going to say: 'Yep, it's all your fault. You left him up there, behind, alive,'" Slabinski said. (Slabinski could not be reached for comment on this story).

Some in the combat controller community certainly see it that way, according to one CCT source, although others chalk it up as a tough call amid the fog of war. The latter view is held by Chapman's sister, Lori, who doesn't fault Slab for his decision to withdraw.

"I'll never ever believe that Slab left him there on purpose," she said. "He truly believed that John was dead. And then they did what they needed to do to keep from getting killed themselves."

quote:

Tech Sgt. John Chapman

Grant that MAN the recognition he deserves.

quote:

Originally posted by Baran:
I am sure you two keyboard warriors would have already pissed your pants.

Perhaps. But these real warriors seem to agree.

quote:

Some in the combat controller community certainly see it that way,

I don’t know anything about military operations so I’m probably speaking out of turn but I’m surprised that a special operations unit would leave somebody behind. I probably just watch too much tv as I said I have no clue about the military.

Easy there Hondo, no one was pointing fingers or blaming anyone. What you posted just backed up what I said, he was left behind. And that's horrible.

Was this Hero's body subsequently recovered?

tac

Seems to be a bit of controversy over this in the special forces community. I remember reading this story when it came out, and I am glad to see TSgt Chapman is now up for the MOH. His body was recovered according to this NYT article.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/0...n-left-for-dead.html

"Sergeant Chapman had enlisted in the Air Force as a computer technician, but soon found that he was not suited to a sedentary lifestyle. A former high school diving and soccer star from Windsor Locks, Conn., he transferred into the elite ranks of the Air Force Special Operations Command as a combat controller, a job that involved calling in airstrikes and handling radio communications for SEAL Team 6 and other secretive units."

He earned the award based on his actions going into the rescue.

No sure why it took so long to get to this point, I realize it is an extreme process, and not privy to the facts, as well as the award approved, my opinion on that matters not.

As far as After Action. Such discussions need be closed door and all facts gleaned and used as lessons learned, release information as appropriate and by law, and we move on, but never forget. No good comes of "public discussion" during that process or in the process of dealing with it in the moment.

And my post is mostly rhetorical, because it is likely that is what comes.

FWIW, there are people in the ranks who may be in the group but were not there and therefore make the same judgments and offer the same opinions as most people, and I know all too well how some folk's "assessment and opinion" are baseless.

The only people who know for fact, were there and God, and God ain't talking.

Thank you TSgt. Chapman, for walking tall.

May you surely, Rest in Peace.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
Was this Hero's body subsequently recovered?

tac

The story link that Airman Jeff provided references an autopsy being done to assess wound patterns, so it seems that his body was recovered afterwards.

Edit: story definitively says the body was recovered later that day

Brave man.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
Was this Hero's body subsequently recovered?

tac

As cited from the nytimes article airmanjeff posted.

“His body, which was recovered later that day, had nine bullet wounds, five below his waist and four above. The sequence of the injuries is not known. But the two fatal rounds entered at what would have been an impossible angle had he been killed where the SEALs said he had fallen, according to people familiar with the Air Force briefing.”

Damn Few,
Fair winds and following seas,Airman.

Well said, Sigmonkey.