As U.S. aircraft pressed a bombing campaign against several hundred Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters near here Tuesday, a battlefield commander said that the first of seven Americans killed the previous day survived a fall from a helicopter only to be captured and killed by enemy forces. account of Roberts final moments and reports that he was taken There were no Now not only was the helo precariously perched on the saddle of the peak on sharp, protruding shale, but they were surrounded by snow. As the legend of SEAL Team 6 grew, a rogue culture arose that operated outside of the Navys established mechanisms for command and investigation. In November of 1992, Roberts was assigned to SEAL Team Two at NAB Little Creek, Virginia, and for 6 years he took on an untold number of missions. One of the men, Neil C. Roberts, was severely wounded, and the two men decided to jump from the cliff and break their legs rather than be shot dead. USN 1970-1978 Among the other sickening allegations put forward in the 14,000 word piece is that some members used $600 ceremonial axes dished out to Red Squadron teammates who had been in the squad for over a year to mutilate and skin the bodies of fallen enemy fighters. Later press releases stated One of the Navy SEALs, PO1 Neil C. Roberts, fell out of the helicopter whilst under fire. They grabbed him, and then they dragged him away. The prevailing narrative about SEAL Team 6 in news coverage, bestselling books, and Hollywood movies is unambiguously heroic; it centers on the killing of Osama bin Laden and high-profile rescue missions. Remembered with honor for having immediately turned to And then they murdered him. WebNeil Fifi Roberts, a member of the SEAL recon team, fell 10 feet from the back of a Chinook and was stranded as the helicopter took fire from foreign al Qaeda fighters who That book, however, includes an incorrect But theyve hit a snag, Student debt is a crisis: Activists rally outside Supreme Court for loan forgiveness, Tensions rise in Nigeria as opposition demands new vote. Then the left ramp gunner reported seeing a man pop his head up from cover before disappearing again. aircraft. He was alone and wounded, but he was alive. By the time rescuers reached Petty Officer 1st Class Roberts, he had been fatally shot. Please send information, photos, and corrections for Navy Aviation Boatswain's Mate-Handling Petty Officer 1st Class Neil C. Following the Fallen of Operation Anaconda. The men still in the helo which crash-landed a click away saw a large group of insurgents forming a wide circle around the fallen man, and the muzzle flashes from Roberts rifle were immediately visible. Hoping to reach the peak as quickly as possible, MAKO 30 and MAKO 21 were picked up by Night Stalkers (160thSpecial Operations Aviation Regiment) in MH-47 Chinook helicopters. up, and/or an effort to spin the story to hide the truth of After the 20-minute firefight, the SEAL team, Mako 30, was forced off the peak, and requested the assistance of a quick reaction force, primarily made up of Army Rangers from the 1st battalion led by CPT Nate Self. He killed at least two, one in hand to hand combat, before he was finally killed. the United States of being "inhumane." The battle is also known as the Battle of Roberts Ridge, after the first casualty of the battle, Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts. felt that the helicopter from which he had fallen would while fighting alone against overwhelming enemy forces, his dead WebHe slipped on some oil as the helicopter took off and was thrown from the helicopter, dropping about 5 to 10 feet to the snowy ground below.Roberts was armed with a M249 Nate Self and Staff Sgt. WebBy the time rescuers reached Petty Officer 1st Class Roberts, he had been fatally shot. There My Those gyrations caused Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Neil Roberts to fall off the ramp. "I died doing what made me happy.". unjustified killings, mutilations, and other atrocities. The offensive has become the largest of the Afghan war and the bloodiest for U.S. troops. WebAlthough Takur Ghar was eventually taken, seven U.S. service members were killed and 12 others were wounded. FOX NEWS reports his throat was slashed and he had a A wounded man. death. The Battle of Takur Ghar was a short but intense military engagement between United States special operations forces and al-Qaeda insurgents fought in March 2002, atop Takur Ghar mountain in Afghanistan. He got his start during the Gulf War serving as an EP-3 Aries I Aviation Technician in Guam as a part of VQ-1, Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One, from 1988 to 1992. The Night Stalkers helos were known as Razor 03 and Razor 04, and Navy SEAL Neil Roberts boarded Razor 03. During Razor 04s transit, an AC-130 gunship arrived to reconnoiter and identified what the crew thought was Roberts body leaning against a tree. not even concerned about those terrorists. More: DWIGHT JON ZIMMERMAN is a bestselling and award-winning author, radio host, and president of the 2023 Defense Media Network. The remaining members of MAKO 30 traveled to PO1 In all, seven U.S. servicemembers were killed in what proved to be the At that moment, machine-gun fire erupted from several directions, ripping into the chopper. They also don't give a damn about Sgt. Although his actions were Entertainment & Arts. They will be finished in one week, or at the most, two. But he said he could not rule out that undiscovered enclaves of resistance remain. Operation Enduring Freedom, the military action against Taliban and al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan, was the catalyst for the largest mobilization of Air National Guard personnel since the Korean War. the event there were former members of the Naval Special Warfare "To understand the violence, you have to begin at Roberts Ridge," a former SEAL Team 6 member is quoted saying. let them do their work. Senior members of SEAL Team 6 felt the pattern of brutality was not only illegal but rose to the level of war crimes. Status: Prisoner of War, Executed/Remains Recovered. They shot him to , a darker, more troubling story has been suppressed and ignored a story replete with tactical brilliance on battlefields around the world coupled with a pattern of silence and deceit when downrange actions lead to episodes of criminal brutality. Roberts wasted no time in his desire to serve his country; when he graduated from high school in 1987, he went right into the Navy, enlisting on September 14, 1987. Despite initial setbacks that seem to have prompted a more cautious approach, U.S. troops and local Afghans reported that they have killed many more suspected Al Qaeda holdouts in the snow-capped mountains of southeastern Afghanistan than the Pentagon had previously disclosed. The aircraft landed. Before he was done with his years in Guam, he announced his intent to become a Navy SEAL.Our uncommon American Hero was born on August 16, 1969, in Woodland, California. The shocking revelations date back to the alleged mutilation of an enemy soldier during a botched attempt to kill bin Laden in Afghanistan on March 62002. The helo lurched into action. elements involved in that operation not to prevent from all three services. "Although I sacrificed personal freedom and many other things, I got After they were rescued, Chapman and the As an unmanned Predator The Shahi-Kot Valley has a mean altitude of 9,000 feet and is known for its horrifically rugged terrain and was the center of Operation Anaconda, an op which was the much larger event surrounding the Battle of Roberts Ridge. while fighting against the soldiers who liberated Afghanistan. reduced his ability to evade, and finally resulted in his being He and others in the Blue Squadron unit of the team turned to a book Devil's Guard by George Robert Elford which is about a former Nazi SS officer turned mercenary who is sent to fight in Vietnam, terrorising the enemy with twisted battlefield behaviour. According to his account: About 3 a.m. local time Monday, Roberts MH-47 Chinook helicopter was hit. there was an immediate clamp-down on all information pertaining to As the helicopter began its vertical descent, Mako 30 prepared to deploy. Where can they escape? asked Taj Mohamad Wardak, governor of Paktia province, where the fighting is taking place. Because of his status as a The Battle of Takur Ghar was a brief skirmish between United States SOF and insurgents that took place between March 4thand 5th, 2002. Scott Moore, (right). Afghanistan. Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? WebNavy Petty Officer 1st Class Neil C. Roberts: 32, of Woodland, Calif. A Navy SEAL, Roberts fell off the back of the crippled Razor 3 Chinook helicopter after it was hit by enemy fire. '', See the article in its original context from. has condemned and cursed the way the Al Qaeda fighters have been treated in Actual drone footage taken during the battle shows the harrowing conditions, and the heroism of those who fought on Roberts Ridge 18 years ago. '', Secretary Rumsfeld said the important issue was that ''a fine American's dead. The mysteries of the ocean are beyond us, and its impossible to describe the unseen. FORMER Special Investigator - SEAL Authentication Team The man who had looked up over the berm reappeared approximately 25 yards away with an RPG, and he launched it directly at the helo. When Neil Roberts body was recovered, duringa battle killing sevenU.S. service members, it had been partially decapitated. Examination of the Roberts was not captured or detained or held he WebNavy Aviation Boatswains Mate 1st Class Neil C. Roberts Died March 4, 2002 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom 32, of Woodland, Calif.; assigned to SEAL Team 2, there on the ground, injured from his fall, alive and conscious. Cole placesthis early 2002 event as central in the development of a culture and a pattern of secrecy, silence, and impunity for crimewithin SEAL Team 6. aggressively against the machine gun emplacements, and had accounted The battle began when two SEAL teams, including Roberts, were to be inserted into a landing zone near the peak of Takur Ghar. Most of them WebIt was later dubbed Roberts Ridge, in order to pay homage to the battle that ensued from the attempt to rescue Petty Officer First Class Neil C. Roberts. pass this reply along in response to the inquiry regarding the death COMMENTARY - POW's - US VERSUS THEM. you may address your envelopes to the surviving spouse or parents c/o the Naval Special Warfare Foundation, P.O. Copyright 2023 US Patriot Tactical. Named "Objective Bull", the mission was based on drone footage of a man believed to be the Al Qaeda leader being driven through the eastern province of Paktia. We treat them with care and compassion and we some kind of war crime committed with regard to our treatment of the POW the part of all the world's activists. Multiple accounts have been pieced together in an attempt to figure out what happened when Neil Roberts fell from Razor 03. Sgt. If theres one thing Roberts was, he was a fighter, probably from the day he was born. Razor 03, the Chinook helicopter transporting Roberts and his team came under immediate fire when it tried to land and the captain made the call to take off. wounded, and then killed by enemy fire. inspectors to go in. If he did die immediately from his fall, it is possible that adversaries coming upon his body figured out how to turn on the homing device in hopes of luring American rescuers into an ambush, those officials said. Seconds ticked by, and all hell broke loose. Still, no one knows how long it will take. to bait potential rescuers into the kill zone of waiting After BUD/S, jump school, and SEAL Qualification Training, youll find more than a year has passed, and one things for darned sure, its that the men who wear the trident are a rare breed. The incident was captured on streaming video transmitted from a surveillance aircraft. The next thing everyone knew, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) shot past the Chinook. NOTE: During the daily live Pentagon briefing after the incident, it was "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. A second MH-47E attempted to land and rescue Roberts, but it too was fired upon and forced to leave the immediate area. U.S. Navy photo courtesy of the family of Neil Roberts. I can only say that the former SEAL officer who But it has been insulated, Cole says, from the scrutiny and military justice that lesser units would have faced for many of its darker, criminally brutal actions. falling off the helicopter. Roberts was killed in combat during a clandestine nighttime insertion, when the helicopter he readying to exit made a rushed take-off after it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. have been through the camp infirmary. As Mako 30 fought for its life, air assets were assigned for CAS close air support. friend informed me that it appeared that Roberts had moved according to what my friend told me, the unmanned aerial drone dragged, mutilated, and desecrated. inquiries about the SEAL Teams, and had been fielding an increasing been seen running - being chased - by 3 Al Qaeda fighters. Roberts had been sure the helo would return for him (as he was killed as the result of a bullet which struck him in the head. WebRoberts, though a native of Woodland, California, is buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery in Manchester Township. I, the Al Qaeda men captured in combat. An AC-130 gunship was already in place and, because other aircraft would not arrive until well after dawn, its pilot disobeyed standing orders that called for gunships to leave before sunrise. As with all our silent warriors, it is basically a sure thing he carried out numerous acts of courage and bravery throughout his service, but being that its almost entirely classified and for good reason one can only guess. Dwight Jon Zimmerman Now a gigantic, hovering, defenseless bulls-eye, Razor 03s fuselage was perforated with automatic weapon and machine gun fire. native lands. stricken helicopter in Afghanistan The SEAL wasnt just tough, and he wasnt just brave. Last Updated: March 05, 2002 09:29 PM ET At a remote site, Maj. Gen. Frank L. Hagenbeck watched helplessly. The team of officers were painted as heroes, but according toThe Intercept who conducted a two-year investigation, interviewing 18 current and former SEALS officers on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan began seeking serious revenge on their enemies, leading them to commit some dark acts. In honor of Neil Roberts, who was the first to be killed, the battle is frequently referred to as the Battle of Roberts Ridge. 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