This article originally appeared on Coffee or Die. The two Apaches had arrived on station, drawing heavy gunfire, but nonetheless giving Turbine 34s crew back in the operations center a good look at the crash site. He had a look of competence and professionalism like he was ready to live out the Night Stalker creed, Brady said. That's who Erik really was," said Jason Redman, who served in SEAL Team 10 as an officer with Kristensen at the time of the Operation Red Wings disaster and had once been in Murphy's platoon. Chief Warrant Officer 4 Matt Rogie arrived in Bagram just before the Night Stalkers came back after dropping off the recovery force. Search instead in Creative? The SEALs did their best to hide the rope and keep their presence on the ridgeline hidden from enemy fighters. This was a desolate part of the Hindu Kush, and at night, you wouldnt really expect to see much, Brady told Coffee or Die Magazine. Children of varying ages ran around the coffins, playing and yelling, not yet old enough to understand the sacrifices these warriors made. — -- When Ed and Suzanne Kristensen first heard about a Chinook helicopter being shot down in eastern Afghanistan on June 28, 2005, at first they feared for their Navy SEAL son Erik, who was deployed there at the time, but were reassured by a Navy friend that he likely wouldn't have been aboard. However unusual a personality he had, those who knew him agree that he fell in battle personifying the words stamped into that dogtag picked up by the paratrooper in the grime of Turbine 33's wreckage ten years ago. Chief Warrant Officer 4 Matt Rogie arrived in Bagram just before the Night Stalkers came back after dropping off the recovery force. Ed Kristensen is a retired rear admiral who had led the Navy's 1996 recovery of TWA 800 which had crashed off New York with 230 souls lost. So the enemy is one factor, but the terrain and weather are now a huge factor, and theyre starting to overtake the enemy in terms of danger to the force, Brady said. A Taliban high-value target (HVT) sat tucked into the corner away from them all, guarded by other soldiers. The Chinooks took off toward the mountains once again, but as they climbed in elevation, severe weather rolled in. Approaching the insertion point, the pilots flared the Chinook and came into a hover. It doesnt make sense., But he knew and lived by the Night Stalkers promise to every customer: If we put you in, well stop at nothing to get you out even if its technically someone elses job.. A dog tag with the "Warrior Ethos" inscribed on it, discovered in the wreckage of a shot down MH-47 helicopter in Operation Red Wings on June 28, 2005. Brady knew that surveillance aircraft going off station without backup was supposed to result in aborting the mission. Hovering for that long over the same spot would burn the LZ and likely alert the enemy to the SR teams presence.. Coffee Or Die Good, Brady recalled Reich saying. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. Three of the 160ths MH-47D Chinooks on the flight line in Bagram, Afghanistan. Primary and secondary zones appear to be clear of potential threats.. You can't change it, you've got to live with it. The order was given to again abort the mission and return to base. The JSOC troops, along with their newly arrived reinforcements, went to work recovering those killed in action as well as sensitive equipment that could not fall into enemy hands. The extreme height of the trees made the full length of rope approximately 90 feet necessary. CA License # A-588676-HAZ / DIR Contractor Registration #1000009744 When the ramp lowered, the Night Stalkers on the Chinooks stood tall and proud for their fallen brethren as task force members boarded and began solemnly moving each remains bag to the mortuary affairs building. Pastors from the task force lead the caskets onto the C-17. As the pilots climbed the last 1,000 feet of elevation, the AC-130 crew providing overwatch on their destination radioed to say they had to leave their position due to a mechanical issue. Monitored and controlled by a Joint Terminal Attack Controller at Forward Operating Base Shank via a General Atomics MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, all six were positively confirmed killed by the bomb strike and subsequent attacks by a Lockheed AC-130 gunship and two Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships. #OperationRedWings pic.twitter.com/FWsObBsX6n Boot Campaign (@BootCampaign) June 28, 2019 The four SEALs on the ground had continued the fight, killing an estimated 35 militants, until Murphy, Axelon and Dietz were killed, leaving Luttrell gravely wounded and laying in a ravine after a grenade blast knocked him unconscious. Showing Editorial results for operation redwing. The crash was the second of a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan this year. He had a look of competence and professionalism like he was ready to live out the Night Stalker creed, Brady said. "Because he entered the teams a little later than his peers, he was a strong and humble leader. Weve got two military-aged males, possibly armed, on the northernmost LZ, the crew reported. Robert Thaler, courtesy of DVIDS. Once on the ground, they started their search for casualties, potential survivors, and sensitive equipment. Arriving on site, the task force members fast-roped in. Photo courtesy of Matt Rogie. Brady stood next to a SEAL commander both had to take command of their respective units when Reich and Kristensen were killed on Turbine 33. Flying toward Jalalabad en route to the last known position of the SEALs, they received word from Bagram on the number of men they could have on board each aircraft and still fly at the extreme elevation. Its not glamorous. Thats not possible, Brady replied, confused at how quickly the SEALs had become compromised. "Someone said Erik wouldn't be on the helo, recalled his mother, who goes by Sam. As with the specifics of the planning of this phase, 2/3 played no direct role in command and control, as this was the "SOF supported" portion of the operation. Ammunition magazines for M4 rifles, springs and un-fired cartridges litter the sooted ground. The 160th had only lost helicopters during daylight missions at that point theyre called, Combat Engineer: The Unsung Hero of the Battlefield, Troops Who Refused COVID Vaccine Still May Face Discipline, New Statue Will Pay Tribute to Vietnam-Era Military Wives Who Took on the US Government, Heroism & Guts What It Takes To Earn the Navy Cross, From the Silent Service to the Presidency: The Life of Jimmy Carter, Nolan Peterson, Coffee or Dies Ukraine Reporter, Addresses DC, Prosecutors: Marine Threatened To Chop Wife With Machete, Eddie Rickenbacker: Americas Most Decorated World War I Ace, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Disappointed, Brady followed the order and got off the aircraft. SEALs: Who's Had More Impact in the War on Terror? Eddie Rickenbacker, the ace of aces, may have broken the record for aerial victories in World War I, but that was hardly the most remarkable part of his extraordinary life. The Navy's summary of action of Operation Red Wings states that an MH-47 Chinook helicopter, with eight additional SEALs and eight Army Night Stalkers aboard, was dispatched as part of an extraction mission to pull out the four embattled SEALs. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . He was liberal in his thinking. He could relate to the most junior guy and to a general or admiral," Paro said. As he watched the two Chinooks taxiing onto the runway, he locked eyes with Russell, his platoon sergeant. The odds of enemy fighters hearing the echo of the dual-rotor helicopter increased every second it remained in a hover. Matt Bradys MH-47 Chinook helicopter on Bagram Air Base. With that, they retired to their rooms to rest for phase two of the operation the following night. Russell went to work right away getting the crews together to prep the aircraft for the mission. His parents buried Kristensen -- wearing his beloved Birkenstocks -- at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, which his father had also graduated from three decades earlier. Assigned to replace Eicher as senior flight lead, he was trying to learn as much as he could before hopping into an aircraft and joining the mission. They then used explosives to clear out a large enough area for Chinooks to land when they came back. As torrential rains in Maryland saturated a softball field and playground on Saturday, the friends of Erik retreated into an open air pavilion, where drenched children darted in the mud between adults laughing over "that one time" Erik had done this or joked about that, while the admiral donned an apron and flipped burgers on a grill. Back in the operations center, leaders were busy trying to figure out the SEALs last known location and calculating how many soldiers each helicopter could fly with. Instance of. It didnt look like there was any way anybody could have survived, Graham said. In an interview with American Military News, Brooks said the motto leave no man behind was drilled into our heads as U.S. Army Rangers and his first real mission instilled the importance of that motto as he and his unit risked their own lives trying to find the members of Operation Red Wings. One by one, the Rangers and SEALs loaded the fallen onto the Chinooks and headed back to Bagram with their brothers. It just didnt look good.. Wikipedia. The JSOC troops, along with their newly arrived reinforcements, went to work recovering those killed in action as well as sensitive equipment that could not fall into enemy hands. Frustrated and angry, Graham followed the order. They finalized plans and sent the Night Stalkers on their way. Some of the fallen members of Turbine 33 prior to being flown out. When Turbine 33 was shot down, they received orders to fly back along with Turbine 34 and the Apache gunships until the next phase of the mission was developed. Erik Kristensen and the fallen of Turbine 33 did not. Reich, who had been designated mission commander for phase two of the operation, felt the QRF was his responsibility. And if we just glamorize war all the time, I think thats a problem. Graham made a stop at a Forward Arming and Refueling Point just outside of Jalalabad. They rolled out with a convoy and with some vengeance, and they fought their way up that mountainside, all the way up to the crash site.. Erik Kristensen in the command operations center. Commander Erik Kristensen died trying to rescue his fellow SEALs in the Operation Red Wings disaster 10 years ago. Smith said he saw a line of armored vehicles full of troops. A California Marine remains in the brig, accused of threatening to chop up his wife with a machete. His unusual personality and fateful heroism has remained largely unknown in public compared to Luttrell and Murphy's legend, despite courageously leading the ill-fated rescue mission. Follow @CoffeeOrDieMag on Twitter. Smiling as he looked over the crowd and placing his hand on the shoulder of a first-time E-Day guest, his father Ed said, "He's amongst us all, right here. Kristensen's mother said swapping stories over beers and burgers is probably how the man his friends call the "gentle giant" would've preferred his life be celebrated, since he thought funerals were ridiculous and didn't even fill out the forms for his burial preferences, which most troops do.