27JUL2002: Serving as a medic with the Army's 1st SFOD-D in Afghanistan, SFC Christopher Speer was forward deployed as the hunt for Taliban and al-Qaeda leadership continued. Just days prior to this mission, Speer walked into a minefield to rescue two wounded Afghan children. After applying tourniquets, he hailed a military vehicle and got them to a hospital, saving both of their lives. Roughly a week later, Speer and his team were called to investigate a compound of interest. The Americans were dressed in traditional Afghan garb to better blend with the population and decrease their odds of being detected. As they neared the building, their interpreters went ahead to sort of 'call out' to those inside, hopefully securing a surrender. Instead, the enemy opened fire and cut down the two interpreters. As they returned fire, a US Soldier ran forward to pull the two wounded interpreters to safety. As grenades landed all around, Speer and his men poured down fire into the compound. Over the next 45 minutes, they coordinated attacks from Apache's, A-10s and eventually ended the engagement with two 500-pound bombs from an F-18. Speer and team moved forward to conduct a battle damage assessment and collect any available intelligence. As they entered the bombed out compound a lone enemy survivor appeared and threw a grenade. The detonation sent shrapnel across the room and severely wounded Speer in the head. The medics got to work on both Speer and the attacker. Sent to Bagram and eventually Germany for treatment, SFC Christopher Speer would die of his wounds on 06AUG2002 at the age of 28.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related