Operation Red Wings: The Untold Story Behind Lone Survivor (Kindle Single) (SOFREP) Read Online Free PDF

searching for any reference at all. He later recalled thinking that they were going to die, that he’d failed not only his crew but Marcus and the rest of the guys on the ground.
    When Gonzo warned him about the wall on their left, and with increasingly frantic warnings coming from the crew in the back, Spanky tried to correct to the right. The Black Hawk has two sets of controls, both of which can affect the bird at the same time. This is to allow the pilot or copilot to moderate the other’s maneuvers. Gonzo grabbed the stick and moderated Spanky’s correction, keeping them from going out over the edge.
    Then, through the dust, in the dark, Spanky saw something. It was a bush on the terrace ahead of them, waving wildly in the rotor wash. He said it reminded him of the hanging plants he’d known as a kid. It provided him the hover reference he needed to get the bird steady. He eased the helicopter to the ground and landed. Once the pitch of the rotor blades changed, the dust began to settle. Spanky would later admit that he never would have tried such a landing if there had been any other option, even in daylight.
    The PJs disembarked, and the first thing they saw was an Afghan tribesman approaching the helicopter. Without any identification, they first thought he was a threat, and the lead PJ had his weapon trained on him. Then a second, smaller man stepped forward, trying to communicate that they were friendly. The PJ wasn’t sure what to do until one of the Rangers approached and made linkup, verifying that the first man was in fact Marcus Luttrell. He was in Afghan tribal dress, largely because his uniform had been torn to pieces by bullets, RPG shrapnel, and the fall down the mountain.
    The PJ asked Marcus an authentication question, to determine for certain that he was indeed the missing SEAL. In this case, the question was “What’s your favorite superhero?” Marcus, strung out from his injuries and the stress of the Taliban threatening to take him for the last four days, at first looked at him as if wondering why he was being asked such a ridiculous question on the side of an Afghan mountain in the dark. Then he remembered and answered correctly. “Spider-Man.” It was one of the pieces of verifying information that had to be left at the JOC before any SOF team went outside the wire, in case just such a situation arose.
    Although the original plan had been to extract Gulab and his family, the family was not on the LZ. The PJs brought Marcus and Gulab onto the Black Hawk and started looking Marcus over. The one who had first met him and verified his identity found himself wondering why they hadn’t taken off yet. They were still perched on a tiny LZ on the side of a mountain, and there were still Taliban out there in the dark. Then he remembered that it was his responsibility to alert the pilot that they were ready, so he called forward to Spanky that they were good. Spanky pulled them up off the mountainside, and they were headed away.
    The bird headed to Asadabad first, only about 15 kilometers to the east. At 1942Z, they arrived at Asadabad and dropped off Gulab. He would be questioned, and measures would be taken to protect him and his family from retaliation by the Taliban for their role in sheltering Marcus. Marcus only had a moment to say good-bye to the man who saved his life; then the bird was pulling for the sky again, heading for Jalalabad.
    At 1956Z, both Black Hawks landed at Jalalabad, and Marcus was taken to an MC-130 that was waiting to return him to Bagram Airfield. He arrived at Bagram at 2045Z and was met by four doctors and the repatriation team. The process of repatriation and recovery had to begin.
    Marcus refused the litter the medical personnel had brought for him. Though he had been shot in the leg, he insisted on walking off the bird. He was a SEAL; he would walk.
    One of those who met him was the CRO. He had left the JOC long enough to go meet Marcus, shake his hand, and know, for