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

Danny was saturated in blood, still conscious, still trying to fire his rifle at
the enemy. But he was in a facedown position. I told him to take it easy while I
turned him over. “C’mon, Dan, we’re gonna be all right.”
He nodded, and I knew he could not speak and would probably never speak
again. What I really remember is, he would not let go of his rifle. I raised him by
the shoulders and hauled him into an almost sitting position. Then, grasping him
under the arms, I started to drag him backward, toward cover. And would you
believe, that little iron man opened fire at the enemy once again, almost lying on
his back, blasting away up the hill while I kept dragging.
We’d gone about eight yards when everything I dreaded came true. Here I
was, just about defenseless, trying to walk backward, both hands full, when a
Taliban fighter suddenly loomed up out of the rocks to our right. He was right on
top of us, looking down, a smile on his face as he aimed that AK-47 straight at
my head.
Neither of us saw him in time to return fire. I just said a quick prayer and
stared back at him. Which was precisely when Axe banged two bullets right
between his eyes, killed that tribesman stone dead instantly. I didn’t have time to
thank him, because the grenades were still coming in, and I just kept trying to
drag Danny to safety. And, like Axe, Danny kept firing.
I got him to the rock face just a few yards from Mikey. And it was clear the
enemy had nearly managed to surround us for the fourth time today. We could
tell by the direction of the gunfire and occasionally the RPGs. Danny was still
alive and willing to fight, and Mikey was now fighting shoulder to shoulder with
Axe, and they were inflicting heavy damage.
I still thought we had a chance of getting out, but once more the only option
was down, toward that village and onto the flat ground. Fighting uphill, as we
had been doing since this battle started, did, in the words of our mission officer,
really suck.
I yelled out loudly, “Axe! Moving!” He had time to shout back, “Roger
that!” before they shot him in the chest. I watched his rifle fall from his grasp.
He slumped forward and slipped down the rock he’d been leaning on, all the
way to the ground.
I absolutely froze. This could not be happening. Matt Axelson, a family
fixture, Morgan’s best friend, a part of our lives. I started calling his name,
irrationally, over and over. Privately I thought Danny was dying, and all I could
see was a stain of blood gathering in the red dirt where Axe was slumped. For a
brief moment I thought I might be losing it.