An infantryman from the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, connects a Humvee to a CH-47 Chinook flown by a crew from  Company F, 131st Aviation Regiment. The photo was taken in the same region where the Georgia Guard aircrews helped in a daring rescue of Soldiers from the 2-35 Infantry.

Members of Savannah’s Det. 1, Company F, 131st Aviation have been praised for their actions during a daring rescue operation by the commander of 15 American Soldiers caught up in five straight days of heavy fighting during early October in the Afghan town of Baylough Daychopan.

In an Oct. 9 sworn statement, Captain Peter W. Farrell, who commands the 25th Infantry Division’s Company A of 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, 3rd Brigade, said he’d never seen such efficient pilots and crews and as those of Det. 1.

“The bravery and skill shown by them is unprecedented,” Farrell said in his statement. “They are an inspiration to us all…and will never be forgotten by the 15 men of Alpha 2/35 Infantry.”

According to Farrell 17 of his Soldiers were ambushed on Oct. 4 after entering Baylough Daychopan. No details of their intended mission are given in the statement.

Two of the 17 were wounded during the initial action and were evacuated, the statement said. That left 15 men to face repeated attacks over the next four days by an overwhelming force that controlled the mountains around the town, according to Farrell’s account.

The besieged group was re-supplied the second day by Chinook helicopter. During that time, enemy gunners unsuccessfully tried to bring the single aircraft down with mortar fire, Farrell stated.

Overall, he said, the fighting that took place at Baylough Daychopan was the heaviest he had seen in the past two years. The enemy, Farrell recounted, attacked daily using heavy machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and mortars. Concern for the beleaguered Soldiers grew among the staff of Task Force Diamond Head, he stated, and then a decision was made pull them out.

On Oct. 9, it agreed that, if the group tried to leave the city by vehicle, they would be destroyed. Thereby a request to extract the Soldiers by helicopter was submitted to and approved by the Diamond tactical operations center, Farrell said.

This meant someone had to fly in, and despite the enemy’s ability to quickly adjust its fire and besiege the landing zone, bring out the Soldiers and their vehicles. That task was taken on, he said by Det. 1. Volunteering for the mission were Chief Warrant Officer 2 William Johnson, Capt. Mark Eaton, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Charles Woodward, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lance Brennon, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Duane Sandbothe, Capt. Scott Maciver Chief Warrant Officer 4 Valerie Lee 1st Lt. John Schmidt. Lee and Schmidt are with the detachment’s parent company headquartered in Birmingham, Ala.

So, with several Apache helicopters providing covering fire, in visibility of less than 2 kilometers and under heavy enemy fire, the crews and their aircraft safely extracted five sling loads and every person on the LZ in less than 15 seconds, Farrell stated.

“There were no ‘go-arounds,’ no missed hook ups, and despite all that was going on around them, they managed to get our people off the ground and back home,” he said.