Roberts RidgeAfghanistan, March 2002. In the early morning darkness on a frigid mountaintop, a U.S. soldier is stranded, alone, surrounded by fanatical al Qaeda fighters. For the man’s fellow Navy SEALs, and for waiting teams of Army Rangers, there was only one rule now: leave no one behind. In this gripping you-are-there account–based on stunning eyewitness testimony and painstaking research–journalist Malcolm MacPherson thrusts us into a drama of rescue, tragedy, and valor in a place that would be known as... ROBERTS RIDGE For an elite team of SEALs, the mission seemed straightforward enough: take control of a towering 10,240-foot mountain peak called Takur Ghar. Launched as part of Operation Anaconda–a hammer-and-anvil plan to smash Taliban al Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan –the taking of Takur Ghar would offer U.S. forces a key strategic observation post. But the enemy was waiting, hidden in a series of camouflaged trenches and bunkers–and when the Special Forces chopper flared on the peak to land, it was shredded by a hail of machine-gun, small arms, and RPG rounds. A red-haired SEAL named Neil Roberts was thrown from the aircraft. And by the time the shattered helicopter crash-landed on the valley floor seven miles away, Roberts’s fellow SEALs were determined to return to the mountain peak and bring him out–no matter what the cost. Drawing on the words of the men who were there–SEALs, Rangers, medics, combat air controllers, and pilots–this harrowing true account, the first book of its kind to chronicle the battle for Takur Ghar, captures in dramatic detail a seventeen-hour pitched battle fought at the highest elevation Americans have ever waged war. At once an hour-by-hour, bullet-by-bullet chronicle of a landmark battle and a sobering look at the capabilities and limitations of America’s high-tech army, Roberts Ridge is the unforgettable story of a few dozen warriors who faced a single fate: to live or die for their comrades in the face of near-impossible odds. |
From inside the book
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Page 7
... landing on that at night without a light . And if a landing zone isn't big enough , what you do is set the aircraft's aft gear down , hover , and several thousand feet below you is the bottom , with no visual reference . Put the ramp ...
... landing on that at night without a light . And if a landing zone isn't big enough , what you do is set the aircraft's aft gear down , hover , and several thousand feet below you is the bottom , with no visual reference . Put the ramp ...
Page 8
... landing zone at the base of Takur Ghar , the highest mountain in the area . On his first try , only six min- utes away from the LZ , he had asked a nearby Spectre gunship circling over the valley to take a look with its sensors at the ...
... landing zone at the base of Takur Ghar , the highest mountain in the area . On his first try , only six min- utes away from the LZ , he had asked a nearby Spectre gunship circling over the valley to take a look with its sensors at the ...
Page 13
... landed beside the tanker . Slab and two SEALS slogged through waist - deep snow to help pull out the survivors . One crewman was trapped in the wreckage . Slab went inside the broken fuselage and crawled amid CO2 hoses and spilled fuel ...
... landed beside the tanker . Slab and two SEALS slogged through waist - deep snow to help pull out the survivors . One crewman was trapped in the wreckage . Slab went inside the broken fuselage and crawled amid CO2 hoses and spilled fuel ...
Page 16
... landing and don't let you out , I'll have compro- mised your position . The enemy will know we are interested in that terrain . Is that OK with you ? " " I've seen the imagery , " Slab replied . " There's room up there for you to land ...
... landing and don't let you out , I'll have compro- mised your position . The enemy will know we are interested in that terrain . Is that OK with you ? " " I've seen the imagery , " Slab replied . " There's room up there for you to land ...
Page 19
... landing zone- three minutes . He looked through his night vision goggles ( NVGs ) at the peak over the helo's nose . He looked closer . From less than a mile out , he saw a dark scar in the snow that cut across a saddle just down from ...
... landing zone- three minutes . He looked through his night vision goggles ( NVGs ) at the peak over the helo's nose . He looked closer . From less than a mile out , he saw a dark scar in the snow that cut across a saddle just down from ...
Other editions - View all
Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain ... Malcolm MacPherson No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
Afghanistan Air Force aircraft al-Qaeda al-Qaeda fighters altitude asked AWACS Bagram Bartley bomb Brett Brown bullets bunker cabin Calvert Canon casualties Chalk Chapman Chechens Chinook climb cockpit commanders crash crew chief Cunningham dead DePouli DSHK Dube enemy fighters enemy soldiers feet fight fire flew flying Friel Gardez going grenade grid ground gunner gunship guys helicopter helo helo's Hyder JAARSO JSOC killed knew Kyle LaFrenz Lamereaux landing looked machine gun Mack Madden MAKO 30 Marc Anderson Marr Masirah Miceli Milani minutes mountain move NVGS Operation Anaconda peak pilot Polson Predator pulled Qaeda radio ramp Randy Rangers Razor 01 replied Roberts ROBERTS RIDGE SEALS Self's Shah-i-Kot shooting shot side Slab Slab's snow special operations Stebner strobe Svitak Tabron Takur Ghar Taliban Task Force 11 thinking thought told Tora Bora Totten-Lancaster Trebon tree troops Turbo Turner valley Vela wanted weapons wounded yelled