10/07/2026
On March 4, 2002, during Operation Anaconda, an MH-47E Chinook tried to put a reconnaissance team on top of Takur Ghar in Afghanistan.
They didn't know they were landing directly on an enemy stronghold.
RPG and machine-gun fire tore into the helicopter. During the escape, Navy SEAL Neil Roberts fell from the rear ramp onto the mountain.
Alone.
The damaged Chinook couldn't go back. It made an emergency landing several miles away.
Another Chinook recovered the team and they went back for him.
Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman stepped off and fought uphill through the snow under fire from multiple directions.
He killed two enemy fighters in one fortified position.
Then a machine gun opened up from another position roughly 12 meters away.
Chapman moved into the open and engaged it.
He was hit.
Badly.
And he kept fighting.
Then came another Chinook carrying Army Rangers and Air Force personnel.
It was hit before it even touched the ground.
The helicopter slammed down. Men were killed within seconds. Others were wounded.
The survivors organized casualty collection points, passed am******on, treated their wounded and fought.
They stayed in that fight for 17 hours.
By the time Takur Ghar was over, seven Americans were dead.
That was part of Operation Enduring Freedom which began on October 7, 2001.
Americans fought from mountains above 10,000 feet. They moved through villages and valleys. They flew helicopters into places where they became a target. They cleared compounds, hunted terrorist networks, trained Afghan forces, treated casualties and went back outside the wire again.
Twenty-five years later, Remember what those words actually cost.
U.S. combat operations under OEF in Afghanistan ended in December 2014.
But you can't put an end date on the scars people carried home.
Remember every service member who stepped forward.
Remember the sacrifices made by their families.
Remember the lives lost.
Remember them all. 🇺🇸
To everyone who served during Operation Enduring Freedom: THANK YOU.
Drop a picture in the comments if you served during OEF.