9 years ago, this day, In 2005, a four-man Navy SEAL team consisting of Lt. Michael Murphy, and petty officers Danny Dietz, Matthew Axelson and Marcus Luttrell departed for a reconnaissance mission high in the Hindu Kush Mountains near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The team’s target was Ahmad Shah, a local terrorist leader with close ties to Bin Laden who led a group of insurgents referred to as the “Mountain Tigers”. Five days after insertion, Luttrell was the only SEAL to make it out alive.
Three of four SEALS on the ground (Murphy, Dietz, Axelson) were killed during combat operations in support of Operation Red Wing. ON the same say, a QRF of eight Navy SEALs and 8 Army Night Stalkers were also killed when the MH-47 helicopter that they were aboard was shot down by enemy fire in the vicinity of Asadabad, Afghanistan in Kumar Province.
19 Warriors lost their lives that day, one of the highest in lives lost for any one operation.
Lest We Forget.
Fair Winds and Following Seas / NSDQ
Lt. (SEAL) Michael P. Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y.
1. Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew G. Axelson, 29, of Cupertino, Calif.
2. Machinist Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Eric S. Patton, 22, of Boulder City, Nev.
3. Senior Chief Information Systems Technician (SEAL) Daniel R. Healy, 36, of Exeter, N.H.
4. Quartermaster 2nd Class (SEAL) James Suh, 28, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.
SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2, Virginia Beach, Va.
1. Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny P. Dietz, 25, of Littleton, Colo.
SEAL Team 10, Virginia Beach, Va.
1. Chief Fire Controlman (SEAL) Jacques J. Fontan, 36, of New Orleans, La.
2. Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Erik S. Kristensen, 33, of San Diego, Calif.
3. Electronics Technician 1st Class (SEAL) Jeffery A. Lucas, 33, of Corbett, Ore.
4. Lt. (SEAL) Michael M. McGreevy Jr., 30, of Portville, N.Y.
5. Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SEAL) Jeffrey S. Taylor, 30, of Midway, W.Va.
Army Night Stalkers
3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Hunter Army Air Field, Ga.
1. Staff Sgt. Shamus O. Goare, 29, of Danville, Ohio.
2. Chief Warrant Officer Corey J. Goodnature, 35, of Clarks Grove, Minn.
3. Sgt. Kip A. Jacoby, 21, of Pompano Beach, Fla.
4. Sgt. 1st Class Marcus V. Muralles, 33, of Shelbyville, Ind.
5. Maj. Stephen C. Reich, 34, of Washington Depot, Conn.
6. Sgt. 1st Class Michael L. Russell, 31, of Stafford, Va.
7. Chief Warrant Officer Chris J. Scherkenbach, 40, of Jacksonville, Fla.
HQ Company, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.
8. Master Sgt. James W. Ponder III, 36, of Franklin, Tenn.
