On March 4, 2002, TSgt John Chapman and 6 Navy SEALs participated in Operation Anaconda, the objective of which was to disrupt Tal!ban and al-Q@eda forces. That night, the team was to fly in a Chinook helicopter to Takur Ghar Mountain in eastern Afghanistan to set up a observation post An AC-130 had scanned the area shortly before with thermal vision for hostiles, but could not pick up anything.
However, insurgents had hidden in bunkers under the thick blanket of snow and took such heavy fire on the team’s Chinook on approach that the electronics failed, a fire broke out and Navy SEAL Neil Roberts fell out of the tailgate. After the helicopter made an emergency landing about 10km away, the soldiers decided to voluntarily fly back into the danger zone to rescue their comrade.
As soon as the team dismounted from the helicopter, it came under heavy machine gun fire and moved into position. Chapman, however, called in an AC-130 and then fought his way alone through the heavy snow to one of the bunkers, where he killed 2 enemy at close range. He then attacked a second bunker, where he was hit and collapsed.
When yet another team member was shot, the squad leader decided to take evasive action, overlooking Chapman in the darkness and leaving him behind. The latter, despite his life-threatening injury, regained consciousness some time later, resumed the fight and shot an enemy who was rushing toward him.
Although hit again, he wrestled down another insurgent in hand-to-hand combat. Hearing the Quick Reaction Force helicopter at dawn, Chapman charged out of cover one last time and drew fire to prevent the enemy from shooting down the helicopter.
Completely blanked and after 16 shrapnel / gunshot wounds, Chapman finally suffered a final hit to the heart and died. The fierce battle on the hill continued into the evening, claiming the lives of 7 U.S. soldiers. Chapman was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in August 2018.