Battle of Takur Ghar The Battle of Takur Ghar was a short but intense military engagement between United States special operations forces and Taliban insurgents fought in March 2002 , atop Takur Ghar mountain , Afghanistan . For the U . S . side , the battle proved the deadliest entanglement of Operation Anaconda , an effort early in the war in Afghanistan to rout Taliban forces from the Shahi - Kot Valley and Arma Mountains . The battle saw three helicopter landings by the U . S . on the mountain top , each greeted by direct assault from Taliban forces . Although Takur Ghar was eventually taken , eight U . S . service members were killed and many wounded . In honor of the first casualty of the battle , Navy SEAL Neil C . Roberts , the battle is also known as the Battle of Roberts Ridge . The battle . In the late evening of March 3 , two SEAL teams , MAKO 30 & MAKO 21 , were to arrive in Gardez for immediate insertion into the Shahi - Kot Valley . One of the SEAL teams , MAKO 30 , planned to establish an observation point on the peak of Takur Ghar , which commanded the Shahi - Kot valley . Due to time constraints , a helicopter insertion would be needed for the team to reach the peak before dawn . The AFO forces suggested insertion at a point 1300 meters east of the peak , but circumstances led the SEALs to choose the peak itself as the insertion point . The two teams were picked up by two MH - 47 Chinook helicopters , Razor 03 and Razor 04 , at 11 : 23 PM on March 3 . However , Razor 03 experienced engine difficulties , and two new MH - 47s were dispatched to replace the original helicopters . This delay meant that the SEALs could not be inserted into the LZ east of the peak until 2 : 30 AM on March 4 , with not enough time to reach the peak before daylight . In the fractured command situation at the time , Blaber ( SOF TF Commander ) was not notified that the SEALs were planning to insert at the peak in order . An AC - 130 gunship , Nail 22 , flew a reconnaissance mission over the peak prior to the landing and saw no enemy activity , but was called away to support other troops before Razor 03 and 04 arrived at the Landing Zone ( LZ ) . At around 0245 hours , Razor 03 landed at the LZ and was immediately struck in the left side electrical compartment by an RPG . The stricken helicopter took off , but Petty Officer First Class Neil C . Roberts fell out of the open ramp . Razor 03 attempted to return and retrieve him , but the damage prevented proper control and the helicopter was forced to crash - land in the valley approximately 7 miles away . Razor 04 returned to the peak to attempt to rescue Roberts , offloading MAKO 30 . The team came under immediate fire , and Air Force combat controller Technical Sergeant John A . Chapman was killed and two SEALs wounded . Mako 30 was forced off the peak due to its losses and requested the assistance of the Ranger quick - reaction force located at Bagram Air Base , led by Captain Nate Self . The quick reaction force ( QRF ) consisted of 19 Rangers , a Tactical Air Control Party ( TACP ) , and a three - man USAF special tactics team carried by two Chinooks , Razor 01 and Razor 02 . Due to satellite communications difficulties , Razor 01 was mistakenly directed to the " hot " LZ on the peak at . As Air Force rules prohibited AC - 130 aircraft from remaining in hostile airspace in daylight after the crash of an AC - 130 in Khafji in the Gulf War , the AC - 130 support protecting Mako 30 was forced to leave before Razor 01 reached the LZ . Further communications difficulties meant that the pilot of the AC - 130 was unaware that Razor 01 was incoming . At approximately 0610 hours , Razor 01 , under the command of Captain Nate Self , reached the landing zone . The aircraft immediately began taking fire , and the right door minigun ner , Sergeant Phillip Svitak , was killed by small arms fire . A RPG then hit the helicopter , destroying the right engine and forcing it to crash land . As the Rangers and special tactics team exited the aircraft , Private First Class Matt Commons , posthumously promoted to Corporal , Sergeant Brad Crose , and Specialist Marc Anderson were killed . The surviving crew and quick - reaction force took cover in a hillock and a fierce firefight began . Razor 02 , which had been diverted to Gardez as Razor 01 was landing on Takur Ghar , returned with the rest of the quick - reaction force at 0625 hours . Razor 02 inserted the other half of the QRF with its force of 10 Rangers at an “ offset ” landing zone , down the mountain some 800 meters east and over 2 , 000 feet below the mountaintop . The Rangers ’ movement up the hill was a physically demanding 2 - hour effort under heavy mortar fire and in thin mountain air . They climbed the 45 - 70 degree slope , most of it covered in three feet of snow , weighted down by their weapons , body armor and equipment . By 1030 am local time , the men arrived completely exhausted , with the enemy at the top of the hill a mere 50 meters from their position . As the ten men of Razor 02 arrived , the Rangers prepared to assault the enemy positions . As the Air Force CCT called in a last airstrike on the enemy bunkers and with two machine guns providing suppression fire , seven Rangers stormed the hill as quickly as they could in the knee - deep snow - shooting and throwing grenades . Within minutes , the Rangers took the hill , killing several Taliban fighters . The force was able to consolidate its position on the peak . An enemy counterattack midday mortally wounded Senior Airman Jason D . Cunningham , a pararescueman . The wounded were refused medevac during the daylight hours , due to risk of another downed helicopter . However , Australian SAS soldiers , along with US Air Force Combat Controller Jim Hotaling , had infiltrated nearby prior to the first helicopter crash as part of a long range reconnaissance mission . They remained undetected in an observation post through the firefight and CCT Jim Hotaling proved critical in co - ordinating multiple Coalition air strikes to prevent the Taliban fighters from overrunning the downed aircraft . This , plus the actions of the two SASR operators working with the 10th Mountain , earned the commander of the Australian SAS force in Afghanistan the U . S . Bronze Star for his unit ' s outstanding contribution to the war on terrorism . At around 2000 hours , the quick - reaction force and Mako 30 were exfiltrated from the Takur Ghar peak . As a result of this action , both Technical Sergeant Chapman and Senior Airman Cunningham were awarded the Air Force Cross , the second highest award for bravery . U . S . and Afghan sources believe at least 200 Taliban fighters were killed during the initial assault and subsequent rescue mission . Fate of Roberts . It is not certain whether the sailor died immediately or was killed by opposing fighters . There is a possibility that Roberts was captured by the Taliban fighters , and executed later with a single shot to the back of the head . ( One of the feeds showed a group of 8 – 10 fighters huddling around what appeared to be a body ; both GRIM 32 and MAKO 30 noted that an IR strobe was active , a video feed showed the fighters passing the IR strobe around . ) This report has not been confirmed . MG Frank Hagenbeck did confirm that Taliban fighters were seen ( on live video feed from a Predator drone orbiting the firefight ) chasing Roberts , and later dragging his body away from the spot where he fell . Another feed from the same predator showed a puff of heat [ from a rifle ] and the indistinct figure in front of it fall . Also , the quick - reaction soldiers reported fighters wearing Roberts ' gear and finding " a helmet with a bullet hole in it , [ from which ] it was clear the last person [ Roberts ] to wear it had been shot in the head " . Other reports have Roberts surviving for nearly an hour and inflicting serious casualties on opposing forces with his pistol and grenades before his death . Predator drone footage also shows the possibility that Chapman was alive and fighting on the peak after the SEALs left rather than being killed outright as thought by Mako 30 . A man was seen fighting in a bunker against multiple enemies until hit by an RPG . If this man was Chapman , he succumbed " a mere 45 seconds before . . . Razor 01 appeared over the mountaintop " . Note : A paper written by Col . Andrew Milani ( Former commander of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment ) and Dr . Stephen D . Biddle entitled " Pitfalls of Technology : A Case Study of the battle of Takur Ghar " noted that the Predator was on station 90 minutes after Roberts had fallen ; the images that were shot before the Predator had arrived were shot by GRIM - 32 ' s Infrared Cameras , although this has not been confirmed by commanders . U . S . casualties . USN SEALs : PO1 Neil " Fifi " C . Roberts , born 1970 , Woodland , California USAF COMBAT CONTROL : TSgt John A . Chapman , born 1965 , Springfield , Massachusetts USAF PARARESCUE : SrA Jason D . Cunningham , born 1975 , Carlsbad , New Mexico USA RANGERS : PFC Matthew A . Commons , born 1981 , Boulder City , Nevada SGT Bradley S . Crose , born 1980 , Orange Park , Florida SPC Marc A . Anderson , born 1972 , Brandon , Florida USA 160th SOAR : SGT Phillip " Spytech " Svitak , born 1971 , Neosho , Missouri In popular culture . The story of the video game " Medal of Honor ( 2010 ) " centers around a fictionalized account of the Battle of Takur Ghar with the character " Rabbit " loosely based on Neil " Fifi " C . Roberts . The captain in charge of Ranger unit Razor 01 , Nate Self , was dubbed a hero and was subsequently interviewed regarding both the battle and development of PTSD as a result of the incidents . He has written a book entitled " Two Wars " which details his experiences .