American Heroes in Special Operations

by Oliver North

  From the RQ-11 imagery, the Americans identified a compound that appeared to be the place from which the Taliban commander was directing the battle. It was near the village cemetery, about a third of a mile west of the SF team.

  Master Sergeant Thomas D. Maholic, the detachment’s senior NCO, now armed with the UAV data, devised a plan to disrupt the Taliban attack by taking down the enemy command and control site. Maholic quickly assembled a patrol and led them on the double through a network of irrigation ditches toward the objective.

  Maholic, a tri-athlete, was renowned for his physical fitness and was legendary for finding unique ways to stay fit. When the ODA was operating from Firebase Gheko—near the “hometown” of Taliban chieftain Mullah Omar—he led endurance runs in full combat kit up and down the rock promontory protruding nine hundred feet about their base.

  Now, despite their heavy gear and the heat, the Master Sergeant set a blistering pace, hoping to surprise the enemy. As they approached their objective, he emplaced a fire-support element in a position where they could bring their automatic weapons to bear, then led the assault element of his patrol to envelop the Taliban compound through an orchard. It was a good plan. But it didn’t work.

  Taliban machine guns, invisible on the RQ-11 imagery, opened up from the left, hitting one of the medics, Staff Sergeant Matthew Binney in the head, fracturing his skull. Thought the wound was not fatal, it rendered Binney unable to hear and he was seeing double. Nevertheless, he got back up and continued to fight. While leading a grenade assault upon one of the Taliban machine gun positions, he was hit a second time, a heavy round smashing into his shoulder, nearly severing his arm.

  An enemy fighter stood up and fired a rocket-propelled grenade at him. The fifteen-pound warhead crossed the length of a football field in less than a second and hit his partner, Staff Sergeant Joe Fuerst II in the leg. Though the round failed to detonate, the blunt force trauma all but severed his leg and he began to bleed profusely. He struggled to place a tourniquet on it with help from Jacob, their interpreter, but soon passed out from loss of blood. The only man left uninjured at their position was the twenty-one-year-old Afghan translator. He began firing his rifle, doing his best to hold off the advancing enemy and even shielding his wounded comrades with his own body.

  An Iraqi policeman has a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, which can penetrate a wall if needed.

  The Taliban were now advancing through the orchard, getting close enough to taunt Jacob—telling him they would let him go if he laid down his weapon and allowed them to capture the Americans alive. In reply, Jacob goaded the enemy fighters to approach and then opened fire. Well aware of what the Taliban would do to his friends if they were captured, Jacob used an undamaged radio to call Captain Ford, informing him that he was prepared to kill the two wounded Americans and then himself to save them from the horrors the enemy would doubtless visit upon them.

  “Negative! Negative!” Ford shouted into the radio. “We have people coming to get you. Just hold on!”

  But Ford’s rescue resources were extremely limited. His ODA and their Afghan allies were now separated into three groups, each surrounded by heavily-armed enemy fighters whose supply of ammunition seemed limitless. And after more than eight hours of fighting, he was beginning to wonder how much longer his Afghan soldiers would hold out.

  Back at the base in Kandahar, Sergeant Tara Fuerst was hard at work in her office. The wife of SSG Joe Fuerst, the two deployed together to Afghanistan nearly a year earlier, just months after their wedding. She was an intelligence analyst at the airbase in Kandahar. Joe, of course, spent nearly all his deployment on remote bases in the field. Though their “in-country” reunions were infrequent and brief, they had recently decided to voluntarily extend their tours of duty in Afghanistan to save money for the house they were building back home.

  Tara and Joe Fuerst

  As she sat working at her computer, she saw a notice scroll across the screen that a team from 7th group was engaged in a “TIC”—meaning Troops In Contact. She called Joe’s cell phone but got no answer. Then, more information on the engagement came in—including the battle roster numbers of the wounded. Among them was that of her husband and the knowledge turned her insides to ice.

  Afghan police

  A squad of Afghan police, dispatched from Kandahar City arrived at the village and attempted to break through to the beleaguered team. They were beaten back with such ferocity that five of them were killed outright and several more wounded. Estimates put the number of enemy fighters arrayed against ODA 765 and their handful of Afghan allies at more than two hundred.

  Though he had nobody to spare, rescuing the two gravely wounded Green Berets was already Captain Ford’s top priority. He decided to launch a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) led by SFC Brendan O’Connor. The officer-turned-medic gathered eight-men; including SFC Sean Mishra, a former regular Army Green Beret, now serving with the Oregon National Guard as a mentor for the Afghan Army unit they were advising. O’Connor and Mishra consulted the RQ-11 imagery and pinpointed on the map the probable location of their surrounded fire support element.

  But as the QRF departed the patrol base they immediately took fire from Taliban machine guns. They had to fire and maneuver just to get to the position where Thom Maholic and SFC Abram Hernandez were busy protecting Binney’s beleaguered fire-support element with well aimed carbine fire, while working the radios to keep air strikes on the Taliban surrounding them.

  O’Connor and the QRF fought their way to Maholic and Hernandez without casualties, but they still had to get to the wounded Binney, Fuerst, and Jacob, the interpreter. That meant they would have to traverse an open field which was swept by Taliban machine gun fire.

  O’Connor knew that no matter how fast he ran, he wouldn’t make it across the field alive. So he started crawling instead.

  Orchard outside an Afghan village

  His first attempt, face down, inching along, wearing his helmet, body armor, and ammunition pouches nearly got him killed. The armor and ammunition pouches beneath him pushed his profile too high in the thin vegetation, so he crawled back in the cover of an irrigation ditch, removed his armored vest, slung his magazines over his shoulder and began again.

  With nothing now shielding him from enemy fire, O’Connor pressed his body into the earth, willing himself to get smaller as he crawled out into the no-man’s land. He moved carefully, pushing his weapon in front of him as Taliban machine gun bursts raked the air above him, some so close they seemed to mow the grass through which he moved.

  The rest of the team rallied to pin down the Taliban who were trying to get to Binney and Fuerst. Team Sergeant Maholic took up an exposed position on the roof of a building and loosed volley after volley of well-placed fire. SFC Abram Hernandez had to fire with one hand while he used his other to brace himself on a rickety ladder perched against the mud wall of the compound.

  Their covering fire proved invaluable to O’Connor. The vegetation he used for concealment while crawling across the field ended twenty yards short of the vineyard wall where Jacob was protecting Binney and Fuerst. With no other choice, he bolted from his prone position, sprinted to the wall, and vaulted over it before the surprised Taliban gunners could adjust their fire.

  Protected by the low wall, O’Connor, crouched low, began picking his way through the rows of grapevines searching for Jacob, Joe, and Matt. When he found them, he immediately began treating their injuries only stopping to exchange fire with the Taliban fighters still intent on overwhelming the beleaguered team. With the help of Jacob and a coordinated barrage of fire by the other members of the team, O’Connor pulled the wounded men to the shelter of a nearby compound and began first aid in earnest. SSG Binney might have died from loss of blood were it not for O’Connor’s daring maneuver. For Joe Fuerst, it was too late. Despite his own and Jacob’s efforts to stop the flow of blood from his shattered leg, he succumbed to his wounds shortly after O’Connor reached him.

&nbs
p; While O’Connor turned his full attention to Binney, one hundred fifty yards away things were going from bad to worse. Thom Maholic took a Taliban bullet in the head and went down. Abram Hernandez jumped down from his ladder and ran to his side, but there was nothing he could do. He cradled the tough-as-nails team Sergeant in his arms as he died.

  With night falling once again, the surviving Green Berets took stock of their situation. Ammunition was running low; two of their teammates were dead, and a third badly wounded. Three of their Afghan soldiers were also killed. Every man wondered how much longer they could hold. Even the bombs and missiles being dropped on the enemy by orbiting helicopters and fighter jets didn’t seem to slow the Taliban onslaught.

  Captain Ford, determined to extricate his men from their perilous position under cover of darkness, found a place where helicopters could land approximately six hundred meters from their patrol base. Getting there would mean running the same gauntlet O’Connor braved to rescue SSG Binney and Fuerst. But this time, it was dark. They were all equipped with night vision goggles and there were two Apache Attack helicopters overhead with an arsenal of heavy weaponry.

  Ford coordinated with the Apache pilots to have the aircraft “paint” a lane with their nose-mounted infrared lasers that would stretch from their current position to the landing zone. The team then moved out along that lane—visible only with their night-vision goggles—and the Apaches engaged anything that moved outside of that illuminated pathway. The plan worked. Before dawn, the Americans and their Afghan counterparts safely boarded rescue helicopters for the flight to Kandahar.

  Apache helicopter

  When they arrived, Tara Fuerst was waiting on the flight line for her husband. Two of the medics who knew her walked where she was standing and with tears in their eyes, simply shook their heads and embraced her. No words were necessary. Tara knew. She collapsed into their arms, sobbing.

  The next day, the surviving members of ODA 765 gathered inside a giant C-17 cargo transport on the airfield in Kandahar and saluted as the flag-draped metal transfer cases containing the bodies of Thom Maholic and Joe Fuerst were boarded. In a brief, tearful ceremony, the team honored their fallen comrades, wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders, and prayed over the men they lost.

  Two days later, Tara Fuerst returned to the United States. Another ceremony followed months later when ODA 765 returned home to Fort Bragg. MSG Maholic was posthumously awarded the Silver Star as were Binney, Ford, and Hernandez. In addition, Five Bronze Star Medals and Three Army Commendation Medals with V-device for valor were awarded for Operation Kaika. Master Sergeant Brendan W. O’Connor was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

  Tara Fuerst struggled for more than a year with the loss of her husband. In the depths of her grief, she became aware of an organization devoted to young war widows called The American Widow Project. The camaraderie she found there helped her cope with her grief and she now devotes her time to helping others through the organization.

  Taryn Davis, right, supported by military wife, Shannon Williford, center, and Davis’s mother, Tobi Guerrero, at the memorial service for Davis’s husband, Cpl Michael Davis, in San Marcos, Texas. Davis created “The American Widow Project” (AWP) in late 2007.

  DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS:

  BRENDAN W. O’CONNOR

  The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Master Sergeant Brendan W. O’Connor, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in combat as the Senior Medical Sergeant for Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 765 (ODA 765), Company A, 2d Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, in Panjawal District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. On 24 June 2006, while conducting Operation KAIKA, Sergeant O’Connor led a quick-reaction force to reinforce a surrounded patrol and rescue two wounded comrades. He maneuvered his force through Taliban positions and crawled alone and unprotected, under enemy machine gun fire to reach the wounded soldiers. He provided medical care while exposed to heavy volumes of Taliban fire, then carried one of the wounded 150 meters across open ground to an area of temporary cover. Sergeant First Class O’Connor then climbed over a wall three times, in plain view of the enemy, to assist the wounded soldiers in seeking cover while bullets pounded the structure around them. Sergeant First Class O’Connor assumed duties as the detachment operations sergeant and led the consolidation of three friendly elements, each surrounded, isolated, and receiving fire from all directions. Sergeant First Class O’Connor’s distinctive accomplishments and dedication to his comrades are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army.

  Maj Sheffield Ford and Master Sgt Brendan O’Connor listen to a question during an interview with Lara Logan, a CBS news reporter, at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for a 60 Minutes story on Operation Kaika, the 2006 operation in Afghanistan that resulted in the most decorated Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha in the war on terror.

  SILVER STAR MEDAL: SHEFFIELD F. FORD III

  Citation: The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Sheffield F. Ford, III, Captain (Infantry), U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as the Detachment Commander, Operational Detachment Alpha 765 (ODA 765), Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), during combat operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, on 24 June 2006, at Pashmul, Kandahar, Afghanistan. Captain Ford’s heroic actions and courageous leadership were the decisive factors in the defeat of a determined and numerically superior enemy force. His actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct credit upon himself, the Combined Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, Special Operations Command-Central, and the United States Army.

  * * *

  SILVER STAR MEDAL: THOMAS D. MAHOLIC (KIA)

  Citation: The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Silver Star Medal (Posthumously) to Thomas D. Maholic, Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as the Detachment Operations Sergeant for Operational Detachment Alpha 765 (ODA 765), Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), during combat operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, on 24 June 2006, at Pashmul, Kandahar, Afghanistan. Master Sergeant Maholic’s heroic actions defeated a Taliban attack, saved the lives of his comrades, and prevented the destruction of his team. His actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct credit upon himself, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army.

  * * *

  SILVER STAR MEDAL: MATTHEW BINNEY

  Citation: The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Matthew Binney, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as the Medical Sergeant for Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 765 (ODA 765), Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), during combat operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, at Pashmul, Kandahar, Afghanistan, on 24 June 2006. Sergeant Binney’s heroic actions, despite two serious wounds, defeated a Taliban attack, saved the lives of his comrades, and prevented the destruction of his team. His actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct credit upon himself, the Combined Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army.

  * * *

  SILVER STAR MEDAL: ABRAM HERNANDEZ

  Citation: The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to
Abram Hernandez, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as the Engineer Sergeant for Operational Detachment Alpha 765 (ODA 765), Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), during combat operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, on 24 June 2006, at Pashmul, Kandahar, Afghanistan. Sergeant Hernandez’s heroic actions and dedication to duty defeated an enemy attack, saved the lives of his comrades, and prevented the destruction of his team. His actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct credit upon himself, the Combined Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army.

  OPERATION KENTUCKY JUMPER

  RAMADI, IRAQ

  By 2006, the city of Ramadi, capital of al-Anbar, Iraq’s largest Province, was the hands-down winner for the most violent place on earth. With no functional government, Iraqi and foreign insurgents allied with al-Qaeda visited brutal terror on the city’s four hundred thousand residents and made it clear they intended to drive out Coalition forces with brazen attacks on a daily basis.

  From 2005 onward, every U.S. Army Combat Brigade, reinforced U.S. Marine Battalion Landing Team, and U.S. Special Operations unit deployed to the city operated with the same goal: find local Sunni leaders who would help secure the city. But recruiting local sheiks and tribal elders to joint this cause, while keeping terrorists at bay, was no simple task. It often required, as one of the Ramadi commanders put it, “a velvet glove, a lot of tea—and the selective application of precise, deadly force.” One of those most expert at applying the necessary precision and force was U.S. Navy SEAL, Mike Monsoor.