John Chapman Died Alone On A Mountaintop Fighting Al Qaeda. Now He’s Getting The Medal Of Honor by Paul Szoldra:
"“Aw, don’t worry about it. I’ve felt harder [parachute landing falls],” he said, recalling a technique airborne soldiers use to minimize hard impacts.
Now on the ground, Chapman, according to the citation for the Air Force Cross he posthumously received in 2003, immediately performed his own specialized job of combat control — coordinating air strikes and handling communications — with precision, attempting to both protect the team and rescue Roberts, who had activated his infrared strobe to signal his position to friendly forces, still alone on the mountain above.
“Any Grim, any Nail, this is Mako 30,” Chapman said over the radio, reciting callsigns for AC-130 Spectre Gunships overhead. “We’ve just had a crash-landing and need some perimeter security.”
Afterwards, Chapman “directed the gunship to begin the search for the missing team member. He requested, coordinated, and controlled the helicopter that extracted the stranded team and aircrew members,” according to his Air Force Cross.
Less than an hour after Razor 03 went down, another MH-47 helicopter landed nearby. After a brief discussion, a new plan was hatched: The crew of Razor 03 would stay in place while Razor 04 brought Chapman and the SEALs back to Takur Ghar to rescue Roberts. But an Orion P-3 surveillance aircraft spotted approximately 40 enemy fighters approaching their current position..."
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| Air Force Sgt. John Chapman Honor |
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