American Heroes by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann & Tim Malloy

Author:James Patterson & Matt Eversmann & Tim Malloy [Patterson, James & Eversmann, Matt & Malloy, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biographies, Military & Spies, Navy, Army, Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780316407205
Amazon: 0316407208
Goodreads: 207567720
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2024-10-21T05:00:00+00:00

We’re able to gain a foothold in the main gate area. It has sufficient shelter from direct fire and gives us an opportunity to try to communicate with our Afghan counterparts about the situation on the ground.

We can’t stay in this spot. Anytime we try to peek around a corner, AK rounds whistle by us. Fortunately, having spent a week living here, I know the lay of the land.

I leave the SBS guys on the rooftop. They directly engage the bad guys below with machine guns as the rest of us exit the fortress and make our way to the north side, to another parapet—the last known location, I’m told, of Dave Tyson.

The steep walls and the moat around the fortress’s exterior are designed to repel people from trying to enter. Thankfully the moat is dry due to drought, but the challenge now is to get up the walls and then over the top of the parapet. It’s very steep. Luckily, a few of the Afghans inside the parapet take off their scarves, tie them together, and then throw it over to use as a rope.

I manage to reach the parapet. Tyson is no longer here.

There is one bit of good news. From this position, I can see both the southern and northern parts of the courtyard. The vantage point will allow me to call in and direct air strikes into the southern courtyard, where most of the resistance is taking place.

I hear screaming, see Taliban fighters charging into the northern section. Other heavily armed fighters are trying to escape the fortress, to head out into the nearby villages. The SBS soldiers use their heavy machine guns on them and break up the attack.

Now I’m faced with a “Sophie’s Choice” moment.

Calling in an air strike will potentially kill Americans who are alive and sheltering in place somewhere inside these buildings. If I don’t call in the air strike, I’ll risk being overrun by superior numbers and allow the enemy to achieve its objective of seizing the fort. In addition to the lives lost, including possibly my own, such a sudden reversal of fortune will likely convince some of the Taliban’s erstwhile partners here to take up arms again, setting back our efforts by months—or worse.

I decide to call in the air strike. There’s no other choice. If I don’t, we’re all going to die.

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