SEAL Team 6 and a Man Left for Dead: A Grainy Picture of Valor

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/w...t-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Then another of the Americans was struck in a furious exchange of grenades and machine-gun fire, and the chief realized that his team had to get off the peak immediately.

He looked back over at Sergeant Chapman. The laser was no longer moving, Chief Slabinski recalls, though he was not close enough to check the airman’s pulse. Chased by bullets that hit a second SEAL in the leg, the chief said, he crawled on top of the sergeant but could not detect any response, so he slid down the mountain face with the other men. When they reached temporary cover, one asked: “Where’s John? Where’s Chappy?” Chief Slabinski responded, “He’s dead.”

If approved by the president, the award will be the first of the more than 3,500 Medals of Honor given since the Civil War to rely not on eyewitness accounts but primarily on technology.

Click to expand...

Comments pls

Give the guy the honor? Not sure what you want here...

JANFU said:

The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia


Comments pls

Click to expand...

In a firefight like that one, anything can happen. Normally quiet men can reach to a place they never knew existed and find the will and ability to do previously unthinkable and/or heroic acts. Normally gregarious and fearless leaders can find themselves scared out of their wits and thinking of nothing but getting the hell out of there.

These statements, are both sad and telling at the same time:

Chief Slabinski still expressed skepticism that the new evidence — gleaned from software that can isolate pixel representations of people and help track their movements — was reliable.

Click to expand...

Chief Slabinski said he wondered whether the Air Force was motivated as much by hopes of receiving its first Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War as by a desire to fully understand what transpired on the mountain.

Click to expand...

Had he not made those statements, I would have never questioned Chief Slabinski's actions, or his word.

I've seen a few actions first hand that should have warranted the MoH. One was awarded the Air Force Cross, and the others were awarded a Silver Star.

SEAL Teams, IMHO, are less able to work with other non-SEAL operators than other SOF units. Army, Air Force, and Marine units or special operators seem to be able to work together without many problems, and none that create a life threatening issue. SEAL Teams, however, have never liked the fact that CCT's and PJ's from the Air Force are assigned to their units for critical missions. Delta and Force Recon always appreciated the help and extra talent. SEAL's are assholes. It comes with the territory I guess. However, that attitude can cost lives, and in this case, potentially cost the recognition of the heroics displayed in the sacrifice of a life. We see here, that the CPO is trying to cover his and the SEAL's ass by his statements and equivocations.

The CCT should have been awarded the MoH in the first place. This additional evidence should only make it evident that his heroic actions should have been recognized long ago with his award being upgraded immediately.

Sergeant Chapman is a true selfless hero deserving of being recognized by the United States with the award of the Medal of Honor. May he rest in peace.

Beaudreaux said:

In a firefight like that one, anything can happen. Normally quiet men can reach to a place they never knew existed and find the will and ability to do previously unthinkable and/or heroic acts. Normally gregarious and fearless leaders can find themselves scared out of their wits and thinking of nothing but getting the hell out of there.

These statements, are both sad and telling at the same time:



Had he not made those statements, I would have never questioned Chief Slabinski's actions, or his word.

I've seen a few actions first hand that should have warranted the MoH. One was awarded the Air Force Cross, and the others were awarded a Silver Star.

SEAL Teams, IMHO, are less able to work with other non-SEAL operators than other SOF units. Army, Air Force, and Marine units or special operators seem to be able to work together without many problems, and none that create a life threatening issue. SEAL Teams, however, have never liked the fact that CCT's and PJ's from the Air Force are assigned to their units for critical missions. Delta and Force Recon always appreciated the help and extra talent. SEAL's are assholes. It comes with the territory I guess. However, that attitude can cost lives, and in this case, potentially cost the recognition of the heroics displayed in the sacrifice of a life. We see here, that the CPO is trying to cover his and the SEAL's ass by his statements and equivocations.

The CCT should have been awarded the MoH in the first place. This additional evidence should only make it evident that his heroic actions should have been recognized long ago with his award being upgraded immediately.

Sergeant Chapman is a true selfless hero deserving of being recognized by the United States with the award of the Medal of Honor. May he rest in peace.

Click to expand...

The Chief was wrong, and his comments were to say the least inappropriate. I missed that and in my opinion you nailed it

"findings could rekindle tensions between Team 6 and other Special Operations organizations that lost men in the March 4, 2002, mission, which they felt the SEALs had planned and executed poorly" --- tough ****, truth has to to prevail in the end or it's worth nothing. Pretty damn sure team 6 had zero intention of taking bin laden alive either (not that he deserved better, but it was a kill mission)

This part leaves me asking: did Sergeant Chapman voluntarily, "go above and beyond the call of duty", or, was he fighting from a position relative to the rest of the team?

If he was left for dead, but was still alive and concious and fighting, that alone doesn't qualify as going above and beyond the call of duty, IMO.

Now, had he volunteered to stay berhind and cover the team's retreat, that would qualify as going above and beyond.

Now, more than 14 years after that brutal fight, in which seven Americans ultimately died, the Air Force says that Chief Slabinski was wrong — and that Sergeant Chapman not only was alive, but also fought on alone for more than an hour after the SEALs had retreated.

Click to expand...

apdst said:

This part leaves me asking: did Sergeant Chapman voluntarily, "go above and beyond the call of duty", or, was he fighting from a position relative to the rest of the team?

If he was left for dead, but was still alive and concious and fighting, that alone doesn't qualify as going above and beyond the call of duty, IMO.

Now, had he volunteered to stay berhind and cover the team's retreat, that would qualify as going above and beyond.

Click to expand...

I have to agree. Simply put defending yourself does not rise to the usual required standard of the MOH. What other options did he have.

apdst said:

This part leaves me asking: did Sergeant Chapman voluntarily, "go above and beyond the call of duty", or, was he fighting from a position relative to the rest of the team?

If he was left for dead, but was still alive and conscious and fighting, that alone doesn't qualify as going above and beyond the call of duty, IMO.

Now, had he volunteered to stay behind and cover the team's retreat, that would qualify as going above and beyond.

Click to expand...

this^

i see a man who died fighting, but that criteria could apply to hundreds of thousands of US soldiers, the moh is 'special'.