Lone Survivor_ The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 ( PDFDrive )

have a good feeling about this. And I cannot describe how unusual that was. We
go into ops areas full of gung ho bravado, the way we’re trained — Bring ’em
on, we’re ready!
No SEAL would ever admit to being scared of anything. Even if we were, we
would never say it. We open the door and go outside to face the enemy, whoever
the hell he might be. Whatever we all felt that night, it was not fear of the enemy,
although I recognize it might have been fear of the unknown, because we really
were unsure about what we would encounter in the way of terrain.
When we reached the ops area, the helicopter made three false inserts,
several miles apart, coming in very low and hovering over places we had no
intention of going anywhere near. If the Afghans were watching, they must have
been very confused — even we were confused! Going in, pulling out, going
back in again, hovering, leaving. I’m damn sure, if Sharmak’s guys were out
there, they could not have had the slightest clue where we were, if we were, or
how to locate us.
Finally, we were on the way into our real landing zone. The final call came
— “Redwing is a go!” The landing controller was calling the shots: “Ten
minutes out...Three minutes out...One minute...Thirty seconds!...Let’s go!”
The ramp was down, we were open at the rear, the gunner was ready with the
M60 machine gun in case of ambush. It was pitch black outside, no moon, and
the rotor blades were making that familiar bom-bom-bom-bom on the wind. So
far no one had fired anything at us.
The rope snaked from the rear of the aircraft to the ground, positioned
expertly so our guns could not get caught as we left. Right now no one spoke.
Loaded with our weapons and gear, we lined up. Danny went first, out into the
dark, I followed him, then Mikey, then Axe. Each one of us grabbed the rope and
slid down fast, wearing gloves to avoid the burn. It was a drop of about twenty
feet, and there was a stiff, biting wind.
We hit the deck and spread, moving twenty yards away from one another. It
was really cold up there, and the downward gale from the rotors, beating on us,
whisking up the dust, made it much worse. We did not know if we were being
watched by unseen tribesmen, but it was plainly a possibility, out here in this
lawless rebel-held territory. We heard the howl of the helicopter’s engines
increase as it lifted off. And then it clattered away into the darkness, gaining
speed and height rapidly as it left this godforsaken escarpment.
We froze into the landscape for fifteen minutes of total silence. There was
not a movement, not a single communication among us. And there was not a