SEAL's to Get Navy Cross

[tomahawk6]

Most of us remember the SEAL team that was lost last year and only one special operator survived.A quick reaction force that went in, lost a chinook with 8 Nightstalkers and 8 SEAL's. Alot of heroes that day and some are getting the recognition they deserve.

From Froggy at Black Five.

http://www.blackfive.net/main/fallen_but_never_forgotten/index.html

A year after the largest combat loss for Naval Special Warfare since D-Day, two members of the SR element that battled an estimated 50-100 taliban near Asadabad, Afghanistan will posthumously receive the nation's second highest award for valor. On September 13, 2006, the families of PO2 Matthew Axelson and PO2 Danny Dietz will be presented the Navy Cross in a ceremony at the US Navy memorial in Washington DC.

Dan Dietz, father of PO2 Dietz:

"He was tremendously brave, and he stuck around for his buddies," said Danny's father, Dan Dietz, of Littleton. "He was fighting all the time through this. I'm very proud that I'm his father. And I miss him tremendously."... And when he holds the medal, he said, "It will remind me of his dedication, his strength, and his loyalty. And his just . . . just his sheer guts."

Corky Axelson, father of PO2 Axelson:

"We are proud of our son if he didn't get any of these medals, but this is special."

Jeff Axelson, PO2 Axelson's brother:

"Yeah, I looked up to him even though he is a little brother."

Having been compromised during their recon, Axelson, Dietz, Lt. Michael Murphy, and the One were engaged by a numerically superior force of taliban from the mountainside above. After calling for a Quick Reaction Force to aid them in their extraction, the SR team fought the enemy for at least an hour. Upon the arrival of the QRF, one of the MH-47 helos was struck by an RPG and crashed, killing eight SEALs and eight Army Nightstalkers. The SR team fought on and Axelson, Dietz, and Murphy all gave their lives with only one survivor-who was also awarded the Navy Cross-escaping. The One evaded the enemy for another day or more having suffered numerous wounds and was taken in by some nearby friendly villagers. After watching taliban barter for his life on several occasions, the villagers helped to smuggle the One out of the village where he linked up with an Army Ranger patrol at which point he took the Ranger radio and called in a series of devastating airstrikes on taliban positions which had engaged them.

I recently met the One and his brother at the Marc Lee memorial service in Coronado. The One's father is a frequent commenter here at B5 named Pops, so if you see him in the comments be sure and show him the proper respect. Rumor has it that Lt. Murphy is under consideration for the Congressional Medal of Honor. All three SR team KIAs received the Silver Star initially, and since Murphy was not upgraded to the Navy Cross, it seems likely that he will be getting the CMH posthumously at some point. It is pretty much accepted in the SEAL community that the One is entitled to the CMH, but the requirement that the acts of valor be witnessed personally excludes him since he was the mission's sole survivor.

 

[tomahawk6]

Some archived articles about the SDV team and their memorial service.

http://froggyruminations.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_froggyruminations_archive.html

 

[The Bread Guy]

More, shared with the usual disclaimer.....

Fallen SEALs receive Navy Cross
Philip Creed,  Navy Times, 14 Sept 06
http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2104687.php

Navy Secretary Donald Winter presented the widows of Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew G. Axelson and Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew Danny Dietz with their husbands’ Navy Crosses on Wednesday evening at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The ceremony, held next to the “Lone Sailor” statue, honored the sacrifice Axelson and Dietz made June 28, 2005, when they died in the mountains of Afghanistan during a mission to “capture or kill” a high-level militia leader. Despite being mortally wounded during a firefight after the group of four SEALs was spotted, the two continued to fight, killing numerous enemy fighters and allowing one of their teammates on the ground to escape the swarming, numerically superior force.

During his speech, Winter invoked the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and the importance of special operations troops like Dietz and Axelson in the current war.

“They were precision weapons that are defeating a ruthless enemy,” Winter said.

The outdoor ceremony was attended by the SEALs’ families, friends and fellow sailors, including a contingent from Dietz’s SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2, and Rear Adm. Joseph Maguire, Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command.

Chief of Naval Operations Mike Mullen and members of Congress also attended.

Former teammates of each SEAL spoke of their lives and stressed their character.

Gunner’s Mate 1st Dave Albritton emotionally remembered Axelson, a member of SEAL Vehicle Delivery Team 1, as a quiet man who led by example, loved to play golf and showed quickly at SEAL training that he was a cut above.

“No matter how hard I worked at something, he was better,” Albritton said, adding that Axelson was a person who could handle adversity with a typical coolness. “Very rarely would you see him upset.”

Lt. Brad Geary gave Dietz’s tribute, describing the petty officer as a doting husband to wife Patsy and a man as selfless in life as he was in death. After qualifying for a coveted spot in sniper school, Dietz chose instead to go to the less glamorous communications school because of a greater need.

“Danny was a man of integrity. He was a loyal guy,” Geary said. “He treated all as equals. He was humble; he did not have an ego.”

Dietz and Axelson are the fourth and fifth SEALs to be awarded the Navy Cross since 2001. The SEAL saved by their actions, who is still on active duty and has not been identified by the Navy, received the award in July in a private ceremony, according to the Navy.

The awards are the first publicized from the deadly incident in the mountains, in which a helicopter carrying eight SEALs and eight Army special operations troops shot down while attempting to come to the aid of the group on the ground. It was the deadliest day in the history of the SEALs, and the worst loss of life in one day for Navy special operations fighters since World War II.

Lt. Michael Murphy of Delivery Vehicle Team 1, the fourth member of the ill-fated team, was also killed in action.

“These were my men,” said Maguire. “These were our men.”

The two other unnamed SEALs have been awarded the Navy Cross for actions earlier in the conflict in Afghanistan.

Hospitalman Luis Fonseca Jr. is the only other sailor to receive a Navy Cross since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, earning the honor during the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Summary of Op Red Wing, Hindu Kush, AFG
Defense Department Update, 15 Sept 06
http://www.defenselink.mil/home/dodupdate/documents/20060915.html

On June 28 2005, deep behind enemy lines East of Asadabad in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, a very committed four-man NAVY SEAL team was conducting a reconnaissance mission at the unforgiving altitude of approximately 10,000 feet of elevation. These SEALs, LT Michael Murphy, Petty Officer Danny Dietz, Petty Officer Matthew Axelson and a fourth SEAL operator had a vital task.  Their mission objective was to capture or kill a key militia leader, Ahmad Shah, aka, Mullah Ismail.  The mission was compromised when these SEALs were spotted by anti-coalition sympathizers, who immediately reported their presence and location to the Taliban.

A fierce fire-fight erupted between the four SEALs and a much larger enemy force of 30 to 40 anti-coalition militia.  The enemy had the SEALs outnumbered.  They also had terrain advantage.  They launched a well-organized, three-sided attack on the SEALs.  Three of the four SEALs were wounded.  The fight relentlessly continued as the overwhelming militia forced them deeper into a ravine. 

Approximately 45 minutes into the fight, the officer in charge of the element, LT Murphy, made contact with the SOF Quick Reaction Force in Bagram Air Base for fire support and assistance.  An MH-47 Chinook helicopter, with eight additional SEALs and eight Army NightStalkers aboard, was sent is as part of an extraction mission to pull out the four embattled SEALs.  The MH-47 was escorted by heavily-armored, Army attack helicopters. Entering a hot combat zone, attack helicopters are used initially to neutralize the enemy and make it safer for the lightly-armored, personnel-transport helicopter to insert.

The heavy weight of the attack helicopters slowed the formation’s advance prompting the MH-47 to outrun their armored escort.  They knew the tremendous risk going into an active enemy area in daylight, without their attack support, and without the cover of night.  Risk would of course be minimized if they put the helicopter down in a safe zone. But knowing that their warrior brothers were shot, surrounded and severely wounded, an unconventional decision needed to be made.  The rescue team opted to directly enter the oncoming battle in hopes of landing on brutally hazardous terrain.

As the Chinook raced to the battle, a rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter, killing all 16 men aboard. 

Three of the four SEALs, LT Murphy, Petty Officer Dietz, and Petty Officer Axelson were killed.  The fourth and sole surviving SEAL evaded the enemy for days and was eventually rescued.  He has since returned to full operational status within the Naval Special Warfare/SEAL community.  His name is withheld to protect his identity.   

This was the worst single-day U.S Forces death toll since Operation Enduring Freedom began nearly five years ago.  It was the single largest loss of life for Naval Special Warfare since the World War II Normandy Invasion. 

The Naval Special Warfare Community will eternally remember June 28th, 2005 and the heroic efforts and sacrifice of our special operators.  We hold with reverence the ultimate sacrifice that they made while engaged in that fierce fire fight on the front lines of the Global War on Terror.

-NSW-

 

[Trip_Wire]

Another article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091302071.html


2 SEALs Receive Navy Cross
Pair Died Fighting Taliban in Afghanistan
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page A12

Wounded and locked in a harrowing gunfight deep in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains, Navy SEAL Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Axelson laid down covering fire so a teammate could escape -- an act of heroism for which Axelson was yesterday posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, the service's second-highest medal.

Fighting nearby, Petty Officer 2nd Class Danny P. Dietz was also mortally wounded but stood his ground in a barrage of fire from 30 to 40 Taliban militiamen who surrounded his four-man SEAL reconnaissance team on June 28, 2005. For his "undaunted courage," as described by the military, Dietz, 25, of Littleton, Colo., also posthumously received the Navy Cross yesterday in a ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial.

Families and comrades gathered to honor them on a chilly, gray evening, with flags on ships' masts waving in the breeze. One SEAL, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work, recalled his close friend Axelson as laid back, a golfer and a quiet leader. His voice cracked as he described the inscription Axelson wrote on the back of a photograph of the two men that Axelson's wife gave him after Axelson died.

"But within the willingness to die for family and home, something inside us longs for someone to die beside. Someone to lock step with, another man with a heart like our own," the inscription read.

"I can't tell you how much I wish I could have been there for him," his friend told the gathering.

Patsy Dietz, 25, Dietz's widow, said her husband died during his final mission, only about two weeks before he was to return home. Describing him as a generous man who loved his dogs and who would hand out $20 bills to strangers, she said Dietz had volunteered for the deployment because he believed in the cause. She said he knew the risks that he faced. "Danny and his brothers went towards evil and ran forward and gave their last breath," she said in an interview.

The actions of Axelson and Dietz allowed a lone teammate to escape and survive, and he has also been awarded the Navy Cross, but the military has withheld his name for security reasons because he is still on active duty.
The perilous firefight erupted at 10,000 feet in some of the world's most rugged terrain along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, when the SEAL team probed deep into enemy territory on a clandestine mission to kill or capture a Taliban militia leader. By nightfall that day, three of the SEALs lay dead, along with eight other SEALs and eight Army Special Operations aviators whose MH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed during a daring rescue attempt.

It was the worst death toll in a single day since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, and the biggest single loss of life for the Naval Special Warfare forces since the invasion of Normandy in World War II, the Navy reported.
The fatal mission -- Operation Red Wing -- began June 27, when Axelson, Dietz, Lt. Michael P. Murphy and the fourth unnamed SEAL, bearded and camouflaged, were inserted into heavily forested terrain east of the Afghan town of Asadabad to track down militia leader Ahman Shah.

The next day, however, the SEAL team was spotted and pointed out by local residents who were sympathetic to the Taliban. A Taliban force launched a "well-organized, three-sided attack," taking advantage of the high ground to assault the SEAL position using rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, according to an official military account.

"Three of the four SEALs were wounded. The fight relentlessly continued as the overwhelming militia forced them deeper into a ravine," it said.
About 45 minutes into the firefight, Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., made radio contact with Bagram Air Base outside the capital, Kabul, asking for air support and reinforcements. Soon afterward, the Chinook lifted off with 16 special operations troops aboard on a mission to extract the surrounded SEALs.

The Chinook was escorted by Army attack helicopters, whose job was to suppress enemy ground forces to make it safe for the lightly armored troop carrier to land. But the heavier attack helicopters lagged behind at the high altitude and were outpaced by the Chinook, whose pilots then faced a life-or-death decision: Try to land unprotected in hazardous terrain in a battle zone, or wait while their wounded comrades on the ground risked being overrun.

They chose to land, but as the Chinook rushed into the fight, it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed, killing all 16 men aboard.

Meanwhile, Axelson, 29, of Cupertino, Calif., "ignoring his injuries and demonstrating exceptional composure" urged his teammate to escape, according to the medal citation. "With total disregard for his own life and thinking only of his teammate's survival, he continued to attack the enemy, eliminating additional militia fighters, until he was mortally wounded by enemy fire," it said. His body was recovered July 10 after a massive military search effort in Afghanistan's Kunar Province.

Dietz was lauded for "undaunted courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and absolute devotion to his teammates" as he remained behind to fight to defend his partners after he, too, was wounded.