TSgt Chapman
 

I continue to go back to this video. I have yet to see it without emotion, empathy, and sheer awe at what this MAN must have had going through his mind.
Alone, cold, outnumbered, wounded.

THIS, gentleman, represents the best of US.

Every viewing I am humbled that much more...I feel less worthy to have fought beside men such as this.

A glass raised, a soldier received in the final patrol base, a legacy memorialized, an example....an INCREDIBLE example - never forgotten.

Thank you all for listening.

[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oKMjTqdTYo"]MOH on film[/URL]

One of my guys in my plt cross decked to the AF and went 24 STS and knew Chappie. Nothing but high praise for him.

Rest Peacefully, Brother. You certainly hold a high seat in Valhalla.

Words fail me with this Man. The video always brings me to the verge of tears. Proud that such Men lived.

Hats off to Dan Schilling for his incredible production and narration. The book is amazing too. Alone At Dawn.

Awesome book, even better true story.

I hope they get the film right as it’s all most will ever know, if at all.

Most of us will die broken, fat, old, and probably somewhat envious of how MSGT Chapman died a warrior’s death, displaying peak performance, surrounded by enemies he vanquished.

It’s the ultimate mike drop moment caught on video.

The word hero is way overused.

That's what a real one looks like.

Amen.....

[QUOTE=ussfpa;1059014315]I continue to go back to this video. I have yet to see it without emotion, empathy, and sheer awe at what this MAN must have had going through his mind.
Alone, cold, outnumbered, wounded.

THIS, gentleman, represents the best of US.

Every viewing I am humbled that much more...I feel less worthy to have fought beside men such as this.

A glass raised, a soldier received in the final patrol base, a legacy memorialized, an example....an INCREDIBLE example - never forgotten.

Thank you all for listening.

[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oKMjTqdTYo"]MOH on film[/URL][/QUOTE]

^^^
Yes!

Guess they're going to make a movie about him.

[url]https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/john-chapman-air-force-movie/[/url]

Re: the movie:
[url]https://www.socnet.com/showthread.php?t=139445[/url]

The more that comes out about what really happened the more the SEAL team leader and the Navy Brass look like jealous weasels. Not sure the chief should have received the Navy Cross much less the MOH.

[QUOTE=P304X4;1059148909]The more that comes out about what really happened the more the SEAL team leader and the Navy Brass look like jealous weasels. Not sure the chief should have received the Navy Cross much less the MOH.[/QUOTE]

Can't speak for Navy brass but Pete Blaber disagrees with your assessment of Slabinski. Every one on that team should have received valor awards. This is outside my lane but it it rubs me the wrong way when someone describes another that volunteered to return to the X for a selfless act of bravery as a "weasel." They volunteered not knowing if they would live and awards weren't part of the equation. I can only imagine Chapman would be disgusted by people taking shots from the gallery at his teammates. He died trying to save the people being called "weasels" and it cheapens his sacrifice to imply those men didn't deserve it.

The narration of one of the ISR vids doesn't comport with Blaber's review and recollection. Some discrepancies according to Blaber:
1) There is no "bunker 1." It's an open cooking area where the donkey was colocated.
2) Chapman didn't attack after the SEAL team left. IR shows his temperature going down rapidly. Blaber believes both Chapman and Roberts were dead when SEALs moved,
3) The firefight the narrator attributes to Chapman's "2nd MoH" was actually Taliban fratricide. The narrator attributed fire on the rescue helicopter to Chapman but Blaber points out that Chapman would not have shot at the helicopter. One of the 2 bodies found were wearing Roberts goretex pants.
4) Blaber says a Marine O-4 staff officer unaware of the terrain or situation 1,000 miles and a timezone away was tasked by the 1-star in charge of the theater to "rescue" Roberts. He ordered that team to "assault" the Taliban position. Blaber believes that language is what led Chapman, a rather young Airman, to move towards that cooking area when the rest of the SEAL team moved in a different location in defilade. Blaber notes that Chapman's trigger finger was best served on the PTT button bringing in fire support, not as an assaulter.

Everyone on that team volunteered to return to the X where they were shot off only hours before with a known DShK covering the landing area. All deserved accolades for selfless bravery. They obviously cared for each other and the animus seems manufactured post operation. They all risked their lives for each other. They deserved better from some leaders and could have used a few weeks of acclimatization before being tasked with the original mission. It would have also been interesting if they could have assessed Roberts condition faster from IR. Post-mission showed he had a severed femoral artery after being shot on the ramp as well as a GSW to the head soon after falling. Blaber believed the IR showed he was dead within minutes and his clothing was obviously stolen. Finally, nobody that was there seems to have anything bad to say about Slabinski including Alan Mack and Blaber. Both are Army, not Navy or Air Force.

[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMR3xacsxso"]Blaber w/ Brent Tucker[/URL]

Both were originally awarded respective crosses. After the video surfaced the AF put in for the upgrade for the MOH. First the Navy tried to kill it, when that didn't work the Navy stalled it till the narrative was rewritten to upgrade Slabinski's also. What really set it off was when curators at MOH museum in Arlington TX (of which Slabinski is a board member) contacted the Chapman family. The board requested a lot of info about John Chapman and even invited the family to attend an early showing eluding that John would have a good exabit. When the family arrived they saw a large exabit for Slabinski and had to look hard to find the one for John. The Navy narratives for the respective medals don't completely match up to the video shot by the drone.

BTW John was a 36yr. old TSgt. (E6) not a young airman.

In the Movies thread, there is some other discussion on this topic - including a link to this podcast with Blaber, who conducted the after action assessment. Very detailed and insightful:

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMR3xacsxso[/url]

Movie thread: [url]https://www.socnet.com/showthread.php?t=139445&page=2[/url]