On July 9, in the early morning darkness, the U.S. troops and 24 Afghan paratroops established the vehicle patrol base.
Each day, locals warned the U.S. troops of an impending attack.
"There was intelligence an attack would occur," the report found, "but this was to be expected for the Waygal District."
Troops expected a "probing attack" of around 20 militants. Instead, at around 4:20 a.m., the force of 200 enemy launched a complex, well-organized attack that first targeted the troops’ heavy weapons.
The narrative describes a pitched battle in which troops fought militants firing from a mosque, an adjacent bazaar, up in trees and within 15 meters of U.S. positions.
Four of the nine soldiers at an observation post were killed within the first 20 minutes of fighting. Claymore mines and hand grenades were used liberally. Close-air support was called in, and nearly 100 artillery rounds were fired from Camp Blessing. An hour and 35 minutes into the fight, the first medical evacuation helicopters arrived; an hour and 48 minutes into the fight, the first reinforcements arrived.
In the interim, troops had mounted four brave runs at reinforcing the observation post. It was during the first of those attempts that Jonathan Brostrom was killed with two of his men.
It was obvious to me that some amazing bravery was displayed that day worthy of a movie. But for the determination of our troops to hold and fight, there would have been a massacre that day.
And note the repeated attempts to reach the small isolated outpost even though the entire unit was in danger of being overrun and destroyed. Our impulse to leave no man behind runs that deep.
We must not betray such men. I hope our Left remembers that they've called this the uniquely "good" war.
