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

waypoint 3. We reached the top approximately one hour before daylight. Our
GPS numbers were correct, as planned back at home base. And right up there on
top of this finger of pure granite, Mikey picked a spot where we could lay up.
He chose a position over the brow of the summit, maybe eighty feet down,
right on the uppermost escarpment. There were trees, some of them close
together, but directly beyond them was more barren land. We dropped our heavy
loads, the four-mile journey complete, and tipped the grit and stones out of our
boots. They always find a way in.
Medically, we were all okay, no injuries. But we were exhausted after our
grueling seven-hour hike up and down this freakin’ mountain. Especially Mikey
and me, because we both suffered from insomnia, particularly prepping for an
operation like this, and we hadn’t slept the night before. Plus it was freezing
cold, and we were still soaked to the skin even though the rain had stopped. So,
for that matter, was everything we carried with us.
Danny had the radio up and he informed HQ, and any patrolling aircraft, that
we were in position and good to go. But this was a little hasty, because right after
that communication, the moon came out once more, and we swept the area with
our NODs and couldn’t see a damn thing. Not even the village we were
supposed to be surveying in search of Sharmak. The trees were in the way. And
we could not move out of the trees because that put us back on exposed barren
ground, where there were a few very small tree stumps still in the ground but
zero decent cover. Jesus Christ.
This was plainly a logging area, maybe abandoned, but a place where a lot of
trees had been cut down. Away to our right, the night sky above the highest
peaks was brightening. Dawn was near.
Danny and I sat on a rock in deep conversation, trying to work out how bad
this really was and what to do. It was every frogman’s dread, an operation where
the terrain was essentially unknown and turned out to be as bad as or worse than
anyone had ever dreamed. Danny and I reached identical conclusions. This
really sucked.
Mikey came over to talk briefly. And we all stared at the brightness in the
sky to the east. Lieutenant Murphy, as command controller, called the shot.
“We’re moving in five.” And so we picked up our heavy loads once more and set
off back the way we’d come. After a hundred yards we found a down trail on the
other side of the ridge, walked below the waypoint, and selected a prime spot in
the trees overlooking the village, which was more than a mile and a half away.
We settled in, jamming ourselves against trees and rocks, trying to get into a