Two SEALs will today receive the Navy Cross, the nation's second highest military award, posthumously.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Danny P. Dietz, 25, of Littleton, Colo., and Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Axelson, 29, of Cupertino, Calif., killed in action in Afghanistan last year, will be awarded posthumous Navy Cross medals Wednesday at the Pentagon.
It's been over a year since the two men died, but what they did on that day will live forever in the minds of those who come after them.
The two men were part of a four-man recon team "tasked with finding a key Taliban leader in mountainous terrain near Asadabad, Afghanistan" when they came under heavy fire by a numerically superior force. They called for a rapid deployment force for backup, but the rescue chopper was shot down by an RPG killing all 8 SEALs aboard as well as 8 Army Nightstalkers.
The rescue helicopter had crashed. The Navy SEALS were wounded by Taliban gunmen, vastly overpowered and outmanned in the remote region of Afghanistan.
In fact, they both did.
"Despite this terrible loss, the SEALS on the ground continued to fight. Although mortally wounded, Axelson and Dietz held their position and fought for the safety of their teammates despite a hail of gunfire. Their actions cost them their lives, but gave one of the other SEALs an opportunity to escape."
That SEAL, who has not been publicly identified, was sheltered by a friendly Afghan, then turned over to the U.S. military.
Froggy at Blackfive has more
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.
Payback's a bitch.
There are more than enough heros in the War Against Islamists, perhaps in another time and place their exploits would have been front page news and rightly revered by the public.
But in times like this, we have some newspapers and blogs who will remember and call them heros.
