This story has been corrected to reflect that only some of the families of the fallen SEALs say their loved ones were deliberately endangered. They start the movie showing George W Bush saying that after 9/11 we will hunt down those responsible. Missions like this one to insert or remove an assault force are the military equivalent of a perfect 10 in the Olympics -- equal parts skill, experience and daring. The Pentagons witness stuck to a theme that no mistakes were made that night, though the investigative file contained testimony from a number of witnesses saying the mission was riddled with missteps. Image:U.S. PresidentDonaldTrumpholds a campaign rally at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. October 13, 2020. The landing zone was small, and the commanders didnt want to split up the strike force. The United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DevGru)better known by its former name, Team 6-reportedly suffered the bulk of the casualties. It had been loaded well within its limits. U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that they believe that . A Defense Department special operations official told a House subcommittee last year that there is no indication the mission was compromised by the Afghans. They happened to be in the right place at the right time. Copyright 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. Your life is in danger. It was a good crew, it really was. Legal Statement. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. No one saw two Taliban armed with grenade launchers standing on a mud-brick turret well within range of the descending chopper. During the event organized by a group called Freedom Watch, family members and former military personnel claimed President Obama turned the SEALs group into a Taliban target after the administration revealed they had conducted the bin Laden raid. Conspiracy theories started almost immediately. Lee heard the call, and he knew what it meant. All but two of the SEALs were from SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, although military officials said none of the crash victims was on that mission in Pakistan against the al . Market data provided by Factset. It was the largest single loss of life for Seal Team 6, also known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, (DEVGRU) in the unit's history. To minimize the danger as much as possible, pilots will land Chinooks out of range of any weapons they know they enemy to have, and an Apache or a UAV will fly overhead to check for threats before the Chinooks drop off any soldiers. Extortion 17 then plummeted to the ground and erupted in a massive fireball. But why? Joining the 15members of SEAL Team 6, two pilots and three-man crew inside Extortion 17: ten other Navy and Air Force personnel, eight Afghansand a combat assault dog named Bart. With Robert O'Neill, Patricia Economo, Enrique Garcia, James Obrien. For many families of 9/11 victims, bin Ladens death symbolized justice and retribution. They then repeated and emphasized a few related questions: How could this happen? But the CH-47D has neither a flight nor voice recorder, only an engine performance data. Some of those Seals were members of Seal Team 6 that took part in the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, the AP reported today; although they were not actual participants in the Pakistan raid, according to the New York Times. Around 2007, U.S. intelligence officials discovered the name of one of bin Ladens closest couriers, whom they speculated may have been involved in supporting or harboring the terrorist. The Pentagon on Thursday identified the Americans as 17 members of the elite Navy SEALs, five Naval Special Warfare personnel who support the SEALs, three Air Force Special Operations personnel and. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The missions commanders decided to insert another team to go after Tahir while the Rangers held the compound. Patrick Hamburger, served among the helicopter's crew. A US helicopter crashed in Afghanistan yesterday killing 31 special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy Seals unit that killed Osama bin Laden. 4:05 p.m. - The first helicopter exits the compound. But why? The U.S. Army knows the risks when it plans air assault operations in Afghanistan. Apparently, someone tipped them off that the SEALs were coming; the helicopter was attacked from three sides in a coordinated ambush. And needless to say, it was the real Bin Laden who was killed, not an incredible facsimile. Three months after bin Ladens death, members of the SEAL Team 6 force -- though apparently not the same ones who carried out the bin Laden raid -- were on board the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, along with its Army National Guard aircrew, several support personnel and seven Afghan commandos. But some say the official report, which contained no direct criticism of decision-makers that day, did not delve deeply enough. The sheer amount of experience with our pilots, flight engineers and back-seaters and mechanics offered a wealth of knowledge, he said. Everyone on board died within a fraction of a second30 Americans, eight Afghans and one American military working dog. Strange also blamed top military brass for sending the troops into a situation they were allegedly ill-equipped and unprepared to handle. Could an enemy have specifically targeted the U.S. special forces team that took down bin Laden? Additional forces were then sent to secure the crash site. The team was responding to an Army Ranger unit that was engaged in a protracted firefight with Taliban fighters and needed reinforcements. It has now been four years since Extortion 17 was shot down, said Doug Hamburger, whose Army air crew son, Patrick, was one of the 30 Americans killed. The Chinook had no Apache escort, as did the Ranger team that enjoyed the element of surprise when it touched down hours earlier. SEAL Team Six was assigned three pre-invasion missions: two clandestine political missions relating to regime change on the island, and reconnaissance from the sea of the new airfield under construction on the island's southwest coast. Its lawyers have told the judge that the process of locating relevant documents and removing classified information takes time. Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft that supported the raid, including a Predator drone, and a variety of highly specialized spy planes, had kept continuous watch over the region during the operation. Hamburger said. Throughout, he said, Justice lawyers have refused to take his phone calls. "We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied. The hardest LZ Id ever been into, Lee said. I was terrified. Their target was a Taliban commander responsible for ambushes and other attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces. Planners had created an absolutely sound mission. (AP). In that incident, 16 Navy SEALs and Army special operations troops were killed when their craft was shot down while on a mission to rescue four SEALs under attack by the Taliban. This critical, but completely uncontrollable, aspect of war, is well-known among fighters like Buddy. The entire operation, which lasted only 40 minutes from start to finish, was the culmination of years of calculated planning and training. When they arrived at the compound, however, the strike force couldn't locate Tahir, and some of his fighters dispersed. SEAL TEAM SIX - EXTORTION 17 COVER UP theunitedwest 15.8K subscribers Subscribe 683 53K views Streamed 7 years ago WOW, watch author Don Brown blow the lid off of the official government report. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. In all, 17 members of the SEAL Team 6 counterterrorist force were on board the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, along with its Army National Guard aircrew, several support personnel and seven Afghan commandos. Does Donald Trump believe that Joe Biden played a part in murdering those Navy Seals? The military's public contradictions raise more questions than answers. An official investigation found no evidence of a pre-planned ambush, though it did suggest that other helicopter activity in the area could have tipped off Taliban fighters that more helicopters could be approaching, according to the report. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. 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You also want to come in from a different direction for the element of surprise.. Ninty-six days after the death of Osama bin Laden by SEAL Team Six, an old Vietnam era Army Reserve helicopter, call sign "Extortion 17," was shot down in the Wardak Province, Tangi River Valley, Afghanistan on Aug 6, 2011.On board the Chinook CH-47D were 15 members of SEAL Team Six, 15 SEAL Team Six Support personnel, 1 Bomb Dog, 7 unidentified members of the Afghan National Army, and 1 . But one thing that doesnt fade is never forgetting what they did.. Conspiracy theories over the years have alleged that President Barack Obama and presumably then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and now Joe Biden had somehow been responsible for the attack, supposedly in order to silence the Seals for something having to do with the Bin Laden raid three months earlier. Flying 250 feet above the valley floor at just under 70 miles per hour, Dave Carter, the pilot to the right of Nichols, guided the helicopter toward a carefully chosen landing zone just over a mile away. The RPG that struck Extortion 17 threw the helicopter into an uncontrollable spin. Some of the most highly trained and skilled war fighters in history, the Rangers moved overland to a location where intelligence indicated Lefty Grove and his small cadre of fighters would be holding a meeting. That assault team captured Tahirs compound and some of his men. That left it to .css-3wjtm9{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#1c6a65;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-3wjtm9:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Navy SEALs to undertake a dangerous raid in a notorious insurgent area to stem the Taliban's advance. Things like Benghazi and the NSA. The loss of a Chinook helicopter carrying members of Navy SEAL Team Six made yesterday the deadliest single day in the entire Afghan War for the U.S., The New York Times reports. September-11-pentagon-attack-survivors-evacuation. or redistributed. Just last week the Afghans arrested an Army officer for aiding Taliban suicide bombers through checkpoints, and doing so under employ by Pakistan. And you know, never before in the history of our county (had) a sitting president released that type of information to the public, especially when he was talking about special forces. One of the things I vowed, I will never forget. MARTHA RADDATZ, LUIS MARTINEZ and MIKE BOETTCHER, helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. These helicopters have been well protected from long-range missile attacks for years, but still have few defenses against a simple RPG fired at short range while the Chinook hovers in place. Fallen Angel.. On such missions, the Chinook pilots nearly always fly at night, wearing night vision goggles, or NVGs. While some of those who lost their lives that day were members of Seal Team 6, it was not the same platoon that had carried out the Bin Laden raid, and none of those killed in the crash had been a part of that event. The CH-47D that embarked on the mission that day had been built in the 1960s, she said, and last retrofitted in the 1985. That same day he obtained a medical waiver he needed to pursue an Army commission -- to serve an eight-year hitch before going to law school. AP sources: Crash kills members of SEAL Team 6. It's unclear how far away the helicopter was from the initial firefight when it went down and unclear how the troops in the firefight got to the crash location, the official said. Lee is 36 now, a civil attorney in Dallas, a world away from Afghanistan. With Sean Hannity, Raj Kala, Justin Torrence, Vee Bhakta. Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalersthe Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion, Navy SEAL's Savior Claims 'Lone Survivor' Got It Wrong. Aug. 6, 2011— -- A helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents as it was rushing to aid troops in a firefight, killing 30 Americans, including 22 Navy SEALs, most of whom belonged to Team 6, the unit whose members were involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said. Onboard were 17 members of SEAL Team 6; five naval special warfare operators, including one to intercept communications and another to handle Bart the war dog; five Army flight crewmen, including a National Guard and an Army Reserve pilot; and three Air Force personnel. I didnt want to die., He remembered the words of his old flight instructor: Never stop flying the aircraft.. Its almost always a miss.. President Trump has also claimed, including in the first presidential debate, that Biden opposed the raid that took out Bin Laden. What the men on the Chinook didn't know was that cloaked by darkness, two fighters had emerged from the small village of Hasan Khel, on the south side of the valley. The Rangers were not in need of rescue. Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The compounds unusual and extensive security features, along with further intelligence information, prompted suspicion that the residence was Osama bin Ladens hideout. Extortion 17: Directed by Franois Garcia. As more responsibilities fall on the shoulders of special forces, the risk of more losses like this one will continue to increase. PRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402. But the Team Six connection makes it a major symbolic victory for them. But why? All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, He has written about soldiers returning home from war and the mental health crisis facing young people. On a moonless night, an Army helicopter carrying 17 members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, is shot down in Afghanistan. Lee earned his wings at Fort Rucker, Ala., then deployed to Pakistan, where he did humanitarian missions, learning to fly into and out of mountainous terrain. This crash is incredibly demoralizing. The crash sent shock waves throughout U.S. special operations. A chief warrant officer 5, a member of the Colorado National Guard, Carter had over 4,500 flying hours, including more than 1,000 hours during combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The downing of Extortion 17 was a catastrophic and unprecedented tragedy for our nation," Reid testified. Rowan Scarborough can be reached at rscarborough@washingtontimes.com. Only the pilots, crew, and special operations ground forces commanders knew about the planned flight path and time. So, to do an infil on the X or Y, you know, having that element of surprise in the beginning of an operation is good, but by the time weve been there for three hours, and the partys up, bringing in another aircraft like that, you know, may not be the most tactically sound decision.. President Obama offered his thoughts and prayers to those killed in the crash. [PHOTOS:Fighting in Afghanistan Continues]. Special forces are very selective on who they partner with, but any collaboration with Afghans opens up U.S. Aug. 7, 2011 -- American communities are mourning the loss of 30 U.S. troops who were killed when Afghan insurgents shot down a helicopter carrying the most elite forces in the US military -- Navy . Chinooks are American forces' preferred helicopters in Afghanistan because they are powerful enough fly over mountains while carrying a full complement of troops. In the immediate wake of the tragedy, the military initiated two investigations. The Taliban shot at the Chinooks all the time with RPGs and rifles, Darack said. The helicopter crashed into a creek bed and a flash flood shortly afterward washed away some parts of the wreckage. The ensuing crash killed all 16 on board, eight Army special operations aviators, and eight Navy SEALs. "No amount of training, skill, or technology will ever defeat chance on the battlefield. Around 2:40 a.m., an Apache pilot flying in support came on the radio and shouted: Fallen Angel. The SEALS intentionally . But over time, they became more disturbing, including one that suggested the Taliban had been tipped off by someone inside the Afghan government as revenge for bin Ladens killing. His father Billy Vaughn recounted Thursday a phone call from his son following the White House decision to credit the highly secretive military unit for the bin Laden raid. No one is planting victory gardens, and were not rationing. They heard a helicopter coming, they grabbed their RPGs, and they fired in quick succession, Darack said. Photo: AP, Thousands of passengers are stranded after Colombias Viva Air grounds flights, The last of Mexicos artisanal salt-makers preserve a 2,000-year-old tradition, I cannot give up: Cambodian rapper says he will sing about injustice despite threats from govt, Ukrainian rock star reflects on a year of war in his country, Ukrainian refugees in Poland will now be charged to stay in state-funded housing, This Colombian town is dimming its lights to attract more tourists to view the night sky, Kneel and apologize!: 76 years after island-wide massacre, Taiwan continues to commemorate and debate the tragedy.
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