Murph Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 LINK The U.S. Air Force is set to posthumously award the Medal of Honor to an airman for the first time since the Vietnam War, according to an exclusive report from Task & Purpose. The White House will award Tech Sgt. John Chapman, who was killed in eastern Afghanistan in 2002 while serving as a radioman with Navy SEALs, the highest award for military valor in a ceremony later this year, T&P said on Friday. The Air Force would not comment on the report, and referred all questions to the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to a Military.com query and did not confirm any details to Task & Purpose. In 2016, then-Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James reportedly pushed to elevate Chapman's award. Chapman was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross in 2003. Chapman, a combat controller, was attached to SEAL Team 6 team during Operation Anaconda, a large-scale attempt to clear the Shah-i-Kot Valley of al-Qaida and Taliban forces. The team's task was to establish an outpost on Takur Ghar at the top of the mountain. Due to timing delays, the helicopter carrying the team arrived to al-Qaida forces waiting for them and took heavy fire. During the assault, one SEAL, Petty Officer 1st Class Neil Roberts, fell out of the MH-47 Chinook. The helicopter crash-landed about four miles away. Chapman soon after began calling in airstrikes from AC-130 gunships circling overhead. According to his Air Force Cross citation, Chapman "then 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." Chapman eventually returned on another Chinook with five SEALs to rescue Roberts on the hillside, which would become known as "Roberts Ridge." Advancing into the region, the tech sergeant would engaged and kill two enemy personnel, and exchange fire with multiple fighters from all around. "From close range he exchanged fire with the enemy from minimum personal cover until he succumbed to multiple wounds," the citation said. "His engagement and destruction of the first enemy position and advancement on the second position enabled his team to move to cover and break enemy contact." While it was believed Chapman was killed in the firefight, Predator drone footage coupled with video feed from an AC-130 showed a grainy image of Chapman still living up to an hour after his teammates left the area. He would go on to kill more enemy fighters, engaging one al-Qaida fighter in hand-to-hand combat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falconxlvi Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 Wow. Thanks for posting Murph Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 Wow, sounds like he was left behind. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 Thank you for posting this. Regards, Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 Wow! A true hero Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alternative 4 Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 It makes me sad to think someone that dedicated and passionate is dead. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stephen Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 God bless him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 + Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted April 27, 2018 Author Share Posted April 27, 2018 21 hours ago, Scooby said: Wow, sounds like he was left behind. The SEAL team he was with stopped seeing his beacon move. After splicing and syncing the AC-130 and Predator feeds it's about 99% likely he was knocked out at some point, which led to everyone thinking he was dead. Regards, Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 A bit of inter-service dirty laundry being aired. Probably not very fitting, given this award is posthumous. https://www.yahoo.com/news/navy-seals-allegedly-left-behind-120002859.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RedCrown Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 Navy Seal awarded the MOH for his actions on Robert's Ridge. No Medal as of yet for John Chapman. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/05/24/trump-awards-medal-honor-to-navy-seal-for-controversial-mission-in-afghanistan.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 8 hours ago, RedCrown said: Navy Seal awarded the MOH for his actions on Robert's Ridge. No Medal as of yet for John Chapman. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/05/24/trump-awards-medal-honor-to-navy-seal-for-controversial-mission-in-afghanistan.html That’s sad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 11 hours ago, Scooby said: That’s sad. On every level, it's sad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.