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Soldiers • May 2009 9 that they would live, the team began the treacherous climb. Master Sgt. Scott Ford, the team sergeant, set up the medical evacuation and had the less seriously wounded carry the more critically injured down. While organizing the commandos, Ford was shot in the chest plate by sniper fire. He immediately got to his feet and continued to lay down suppressive fire. One of the insurgent snipers had Ford in his sights, and he shot him in the upper left arm, nearly severing it. With a tourniquet around his arm, Ford climbed down the mountain and continued to organize the medevac. Morales said that the team made its way down the cliff hanging onto branches and rocks. “Near the bottom of the cliff, most made a 20-foot drop,” he said. “I remember seeing John (Walding) carrying his leg down”— Walding’s leg had been amputed by sniper fire. As the wounded made their way down the cliff, Howard, Walton and Spc. Michael Carter, a combat camera- man assigned to the unit, remained behind to lay down suppressive fire and retrieve equipment. “There were a lot of guns around where everybody had been shot,” said Howard. “It kind of became an issue that there were too many guns up there, and we didn’t want to leave them in enemy hands.” Carter ran through a hail of fire to retrieve guns and other equipment. His own cameras had been shot up during the initial hours of the battle. He gath- ered equipment and began throwing it off the cliff, while Howard continued to pick off enemy combatants. “The stars really aligned,” said Wal- ton. “Bullets were coming down from the side and behind us, and we could hear guys yelling above us. An element that came to reinforce the team that was on the ground stepped out into the open and started firing and gave us the chance to get out. Seth was crazy enough to stay up there and cover us while we made the climb down.” Alone, with less than a magazine of ammunition left, Howard covered his team as they made their way down, and only after they were safe, did he leave the mountain. “We didn’t go into this mission hoping to make history. For us, it was just a regular mission—just like the one we had done the week before. Our goal is never to get into a fight. We’d rather sit down and drink some chai,” said Walton. “We were hoping this mission would be the same, but we got into a big fight, and some of us got hit while trying to save each other. That’s what we do. “We think we sent a pretty big message to the insurgents. We let them know that we could penetrate their comfort zone. We told them there’s nowhere you are safe that we aren’t willing to come in and go after you,” concluded Walton . v Janice Burton works for the U.S. Army John F. Ken- nedy Special Warfare Center and School. Spc. Michael D. Carter Afghan National Army commando cadets clear a vehicle during an ambush training mission at Camp Morehead in Kabul Province, Afghanistan, Oct. 8, 2007. Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland awards Sgt. 1st Class Luis Morales the Silver Star at Fort Bragg, N.C., Dec. 12, 2008, for actions in Afghanistan’s Shok Valley. Cpl. Sean Harp Soldiers • May 2009 9