Operation RedwingsThe story of four Navy SEALs sacrificing everything

they had for their country

By Chris Anastasopoulos

Michael “Murph” Murphy He was awarded the Medal of

Honor for sacrificing his life, to make a call back to try and save his friends

Although he had been shot and had sustained many more injuries, he carried on

He showed Incredible amounts of courage, selflessness, and bravery

Matthew “Axe” Axelson He had died while

fighting in the Mountains of Afghanistan along with Marcus, Mike, and Danny

He had been the last person Marcus was in contact with

Danny Dietz He had also died

while fighting for his friends in Afghanistan

He had possession of the radio but they had no signal in the mountains

Marcus Luttrell He had been the only one to

survive that battle in the Afghanistan mountains.

He was the only medic in the group but had lost his med kit while tumbling down the mountain side

He was recovered by a Pashtun tribal men who made the decision to protect him with his life

This decision was critical and is probably the only reason Marcus is alive today

Members from SEAL Team 10

More Information Operation Redwings took place on June 27, 2005. It consisted of four great Navy SEALs; Marcus Luttrell,

Michael Murphy, Matthew Axelson, and Danny Dietz. Their mission was to capture the Leader of a Taliban Group in the Mountains of Afghanistan. They had been informed that there would 80-200 Taliban militants that they could be up against. They had no plans of anything going wrong until goat herders had literally stumbled upon Marcus and his teammates. They had captured the goat herders and discussed the options of what they could do with them. They couldn’t kill them because they could face murder charges. They decided to let them go and abort mission. As they tried to radio in to base, they had no signal and couldn’t make the call. As they were struggling to call base the goat herders returned to their village and warned them that there was American men in the mountains. Taliban groups set out to find them. Their numbers ranged from 140-200 against four Navy SEALs. The Navy SEALs soon became overwhelmed and had to literally fallback from their position. The mountain side had been so steep they had no other choice but to fall down it. Soon they started to take casualties as Axelson, Dietz, and Murphy were shot. They couldn’t tend to their wounds because their med kit was lost as they fell. As they sustained more injuries, Danny Dietz had been killed. Marcus, Mike, and Matt had all been extremely battered by now. Michael decided to make a critical decision. He would climb a rock that was extremely exposed, but was high enough to provide the signal he needed to radio in to base. He had made the call that sent out a QRF (Quick Reaction Force) to come and try to rescue these Navy SEALs. After he had made the call, Michael Murphy had been killed. Marcus and Matt were the only ones that remained. Two Chinook helicopters set out to go get them out of there. As they reached the mountains, there was heavy fire directed towards the helicopters. One helicopter had pulled out and the other tried to land. As they prepared to fast rope down an RPG had hit the helicopter sending it to the ground killing everyone aboard. As Marcus and Axe remain in the mountains, an RPG explosion had separated. They had never seen each other again. Marcus had been thrown down the mountain and knocked unconscious. He came to later in the day. He climb and crawled his way down the mountain to try and find water. He was discovered by a Pashtun tribesman who had saved his life. He received medical attention and was given shelter. A messenger had sent a letter to a nearby military base. Once they had received the letter they had came in and rescued Marcus Luttrell.

Internet Resources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Red_Wings http://navyseals.com/ns-overview/notable-seals/

michael-p-murphy/ http://navyseals.com/nsw/matthew-g-axelson/ http://navyseals.com/nsw/danny-p-dietz/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Luttrell