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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:08,542 --> 00:00:12,113 [ automatic gunfire ] 2 00:00:13,514 --> 00:00:15,383 It was about a 24-hour battle, 3 00:00:15,416 --> 00:00:17,618 stretching from one day into the next. 4 00:00:17,651 --> 00:00:20,154 [ indistinct shouting ] 5 00:00:20,188 --> 00:00:24,458 We'd been training for years, and this is our four minutes. 6 00:00:27,228 --> 00:00:28,929 Every one of them, they gave their life 7 00:00:28,962 --> 00:00:30,464 in that rescue attempt. 8 00:00:30,498 --> 00:00:32,966 And they did it because one of their own was down. 9 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:36,204 Widely viewed as the world's combat elite, 10 00:00:36,237 --> 00:00:38,739 the clandestine U.S. Navy SEALs 11 00:00:38,772 --> 00:00:41,642 have found themselves in the media spotlight 12 00:00:41,675 --> 00:00:45,546 as recent operations have brought these quiet warriors 13 00:00:45,579 --> 00:00:47,981 unaccustomed fame. 14 00:00:48,015 --> 00:00:49,550 NEWS ANNOUNCER: U.S. Navy SEALs rescued 15 00:00:49,583 --> 00:00:52,120 American cargo ship captain Richard Phillips. 16 00:00:52,153 --> 00:00:54,054 They're the superheroes, they're the titans, 17 00:00:54,088 --> 00:00:56,857 they're impossible men doing an impossible job. 18 00:00:56,890 --> 00:00:59,160 Much of their history is as secretive 19 00:00:59,193 --> 00:01:02,363 as their missions. 20 00:01:02,396 --> 00:01:06,300 But over the decades, the roles of SEALs 21 00:01:06,334 --> 00:01:09,470 and their frogmen forefathers have transformed 22 00:01:09,503 --> 00:01:12,005 along with evolving threats... 23 00:01:12,039 --> 00:01:14,775 [ explosion ] 24 00:01:14,808 --> 00:01:17,044 [ overlapping indistinct dialogue ] 25 00:01:17,077 --> 00:01:19,513 and a 24-hour news cycle. 26 00:01:19,547 --> 00:01:22,883 From Hitler to bin Laden, 27 00:01:22,916 --> 00:01:25,453 from countering massive armies... 28 00:01:25,486 --> 00:01:27,388 [ indistinct shouting ] 29 00:01:30,090 --> 00:01:33,161 to countering terror, 30 00:01:33,194 --> 00:01:37,398 from frogmen to high-tech commandos, 31 00:01:37,431 --> 00:01:41,101 how have the covert SEALs become 32 00:01:41,135 --> 00:01:44,004 the renowned warriors of today? 33 00:01:44,037 --> 00:01:46,840 Who are the men behind the face masks, 34 00:01:46,874 --> 00:01:51,579 behind the green paint, behind the history? 35 00:01:51,612 --> 00:01:54,848 Move, move! Go! Go! 36 00:01:54,882 --> 00:01:57,985 [ ** ] 37 00:02:00,888 --> 00:02:03,857 [ shouting ] 38 00:02:16,370 --> 00:02:20,674 [ ** ] 39 00:02:20,708 --> 00:02:23,777 There are just 2,000 men today 40 00:02:23,811 --> 00:02:27,014 who are active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs. 41 00:02:27,047 --> 00:02:30,117 They are all volunteers who endure 42 00:02:30,150 --> 00:02:35,723 what is perhaps the hardest military training in the world. 43 00:02:36,924 --> 00:02:39,627 MAN: I think my hell week was just like 44 00:02:39,660 --> 00:02:43,431 everybody else's hell week in the 92 classes before me. 45 00:02:43,464 --> 00:02:45,533 And that's why we do hell week. 46 00:02:45,566 --> 00:02:48,969 First and foremost, so that you have confidence in yourself. 47 00:02:49,002 --> 00:02:51,639 You stay up for 120 hours during the week, 48 00:02:51,672 --> 00:02:54,942 and you get about three or four hours of sleep. 49 00:02:54,975 --> 00:02:56,944 And the reason why you get three or four hours 50 00:02:56,977 --> 00:02:58,479 is because we've done studies, 51 00:02:58,512 --> 00:03:01,349 and if you don't get that minimum amount of sleep, 52 00:03:01,382 --> 00:03:04,418 you'll die after staying up for 120 hours. 53 00:03:04,452 --> 00:03:08,356 Until you go through it, you don't understand 54 00:03:08,389 --> 00:03:12,092 what it can do -- it grabs your inner soul. 55 00:03:12,125 --> 00:03:13,894 If you don't think you're the best SEAL, 56 00:03:13,927 --> 00:03:15,929 you don't need to be in the SEAL Team. 57 00:03:15,963 --> 00:03:19,900 It's a real job, and it hurts, and it breaks people: 58 00:03:19,933 --> 00:03:22,002 mentally, physically, it does all of that. 59 00:03:22,035 --> 00:03:24,004 MAN: In the movies, they make it look like 60 00:03:24,037 --> 00:03:25,573 everything goes as planned, 61 00:03:25,606 --> 00:03:28,108 but no mission ever goes exactly the way you plan it, 62 00:03:28,141 --> 00:03:30,878 so you have to be able to adapt. 63 00:03:30,911 --> 00:03:33,547 That's the million-dollar question: 64 00:03:33,581 --> 00:03:35,483 why do you want to be a frogman? 65 00:03:35,516 --> 00:03:37,851 Because they're going to pay me and let me skydive 66 00:03:37,885 --> 00:03:40,754 and blow [bleep] up? 67 00:03:40,788 --> 00:03:42,756 Well, if you could be part of a team, 68 00:03:42,790 --> 00:03:44,692 wouldn't you want to be a part of the very best 69 00:03:44,725 --> 00:03:46,460 in the entire world? 70 00:03:50,030 --> 00:03:54,368 While fewer than 10,000 men have ever been Navy SEALs... 71 00:03:54,402 --> 00:03:58,872 [ men shouting and gunfire ] 72 00:03:58,906 --> 00:04:02,443 they greatly define the modern battlespace. 73 00:04:09,917 --> 00:04:13,987 Small groups of highly trained, well-equipped commandos 74 00:04:14,021 --> 00:04:17,691 facing off against terrorist enemies: 75 00:04:17,725 --> 00:04:24,465 the Taliban, Iraqi insurgents, al-Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden. 76 00:04:24,498 --> 00:04:26,266 OSMAN: The reputation the community has 77 00:04:26,300 --> 00:04:28,268 isn't because of anything I've ever done. 78 00:04:28,302 --> 00:04:30,871 It's because of what everybody came before me, 79 00:04:30,904 --> 00:04:32,606 everybody who's gone after me, 80 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,776 and that collective talent is now pooled 81 00:04:35,809 --> 00:04:38,446 onto an emblem that's on your chest. 82 00:04:41,248 --> 00:04:45,252 The SEALs' forerunners have always been state-of-the-art... 83 00:04:45,285 --> 00:04:47,788 for their day. 84 00:04:47,821 --> 00:04:51,158 The generic term for all naval Special Warfare swimmers 85 00:04:51,191 --> 00:04:54,061 is "frogmen," allegedly because 86 00:04:54,094 --> 00:04:56,229 of how their British colleagues looked 87 00:04:56,263 --> 00:04:59,600 in their newly fashioned green wetsuits. 88 00:04:59,633 --> 00:05:02,202 Others recall it's how the divers appeared 89 00:05:02,235 --> 00:05:06,073 once they were issued some exciting new high-tech gear: 90 00:05:06,106 --> 00:05:08,241 swim fins. 91 00:05:08,275 --> 00:05:10,544 KAISER: What do I think about my frogman forefathers? 92 00:05:10,578 --> 00:05:13,947 It's just unbelievable what they did with what they had. 93 00:05:13,981 --> 00:05:16,884 [ ** ] 94 00:05:16,917 --> 00:05:19,853 When I think about guys fighting the Japanese 95 00:05:19,887 --> 00:05:22,923 with a KA-BAR and a bag of explosives, 96 00:05:22,956 --> 00:05:26,360 it's unbelievable when I think about the things they did. 97 00:05:27,628 --> 00:05:29,663 SPARKS: The older generation of frogmen 98 00:05:29,697 --> 00:05:31,732 did so much with so little. 99 00:05:31,765 --> 00:05:33,967 They had to rely on their ingenuity and kind of 100 00:05:34,001 --> 00:05:36,770 their working-class-hero kind of person. 101 00:05:36,804 --> 00:05:39,840 That's who they were: tough guys. 102 00:05:39,873 --> 00:05:41,975 MAN: The guys who were the forefathers, 103 00:05:42,009 --> 00:05:44,011 they're going out to go ahead and clear a beach. 104 00:05:44,044 --> 00:05:46,380 And the guys who went out before them didn't come back. 105 00:05:46,414 --> 00:05:48,382 And so now these guys are putting their hand up 106 00:05:48,416 --> 00:05:50,017 and saying, "I'll still go." 107 00:05:50,050 --> 00:05:52,486 That's the kind of people that are still coming in 108 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:54,221 to the SEAL community. 109 00:05:54,254 --> 00:05:57,124 [ explosion ] 110 00:05:57,157 --> 00:05:59,359 SEAL is an acronym 111 00:05:59,393 --> 00:06:02,663 meaning sea, air, and land. 112 00:06:02,696 --> 00:06:05,433 It's how and where they operate. 113 00:06:05,466 --> 00:06:08,235 So how did Naval Special Operations teams 114 00:06:08,268 --> 00:06:12,406 also become land-based commandos? 115 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,542 MAN: It's a Cinderella story. 116 00:06:14,575 --> 00:06:17,177 It doesn't make sense that a Navy unit would be doing 117 00:06:17,210 --> 00:06:18,912 the types of things that we're doing. 118 00:06:18,946 --> 00:06:21,649 It doesn't make sense that a Navy unit would be 119 00:06:21,682 --> 00:06:23,717 in Afghanistan or in the middle of Iraq, 120 00:06:23,751 --> 00:06:25,819 completely separated from a body of water. 121 00:06:25,853 --> 00:06:27,488 It just doesn't make sense. 122 00:06:27,521 --> 00:06:28,989 The fact that we are there, 123 00:06:29,022 --> 00:06:30,791 the fact that we're doing those types of missions, 124 00:06:30,824 --> 00:06:33,494 it's all related to how we evolved. 125 00:06:33,527 --> 00:06:36,697 The SEALs were born in World War II, 126 00:06:36,730 --> 00:06:41,234 of two oceans, for two kinds of demolition work. 127 00:06:41,268 --> 00:06:44,805 In the Pacific, their predecessors swam in 128 00:06:44,838 --> 00:06:48,208 in advance of U.S. Marines and Army troops, 129 00:06:48,241 --> 00:06:50,478 removing underwater obstacles 130 00:06:50,511 --> 00:06:53,514 to make amphibious landings possible. 131 00:06:53,547 --> 00:06:57,785 And in the Atlantic, teams were needed on the beaches of France 132 00:06:57,818 --> 00:07:02,656 to blow open the gateway to Europe for D-Day. 133 00:07:02,690 --> 00:07:05,158 Everybody knows that the invasion 134 00:07:05,192 --> 00:07:06,927 is going to happen in France. 135 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,963 They know that they're going to have to put 136 00:07:09,997 --> 00:07:14,001 millions of men onto the coast to unseat Hitler, 137 00:07:14,034 --> 00:07:18,138 to defeat the German armies in France. 138 00:07:18,171 --> 00:07:20,674 The Allies would have to land somewhere 139 00:07:20,708 --> 00:07:22,943 along the coast of France. 140 00:07:22,976 --> 00:07:26,580 They knew that Hitler had built a massive Atlantic wall 141 00:07:26,614 --> 00:07:28,882 to prevent the invasion 142 00:07:28,916 --> 00:07:31,652 and that they would have to find a way to breach it. 143 00:07:31,685 --> 00:07:35,022 But on the eve of its entry into World War II, 144 00:07:35,055 --> 00:07:38,626 the U.S. military had no one with expertise 145 00:07:38,659 --> 00:07:43,363 in this kind of complex demolition work. 146 00:07:43,396 --> 00:07:47,367 The U.S. Navy would recruit a 31-year-old expatriate, 147 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:49,537 Draper Kauffman. 148 00:07:49,570 --> 00:07:51,805 He would help create one of the forefather teams 149 00:07:51,839 --> 00:07:54,207 of today's Navy SEALs. 150 00:07:54,241 --> 00:07:56,476 When the nearsighted Kauffman graduated 151 00:07:56,510 --> 00:07:58,411 from the Naval Academy, 152 00:07:58,445 --> 00:08:01,782 he failed to get a commission in the U.S. Navy. 153 00:08:01,815 --> 00:08:04,885 But by the late 1930s, 154 00:08:04,918 --> 00:08:07,955 France and England were at war with Germany, 155 00:08:07,988 --> 00:08:11,258 years before America entered the fray. 156 00:08:11,291 --> 00:08:16,597 So he went overseas to serve, becoming an ambulance driver. 157 00:08:16,630 --> 00:08:19,900 After a brief stint as a German prisoner of war, 158 00:08:19,933 --> 00:08:23,971 he went to London to join the fight there. 159 00:08:24,004 --> 00:08:26,774 The Blitz is going on this entire time. 160 00:08:26,807 --> 00:08:28,776 Hundreds of people are getting killed in London, 161 00:08:28,809 --> 00:08:30,510 you know, every other day. 162 00:08:30,544 --> 00:08:32,179 Bombs are falling. 163 00:08:32,212 --> 00:08:34,481 Some bombs are not exploding. 164 00:08:34,514 --> 00:08:36,984 They asked for volunteers for bomb disposal, 165 00:08:37,017 --> 00:08:39,252 and true to form, Draper volunteers. 166 00:08:39,286 --> 00:08:40,921 Yeah, he's a character. 167 00:08:40,954 --> 00:08:42,656 For whatever reason, he wants to be 168 00:08:42,690 --> 00:08:45,759 as close to the center of action as he possibly can. 169 00:08:45,793 --> 00:08:48,896 Kauffman's experience with ordnance 170 00:08:48,929 --> 00:08:51,031 got him a transfer from the British navy 171 00:08:51,064 --> 00:08:53,166 to the American one. 172 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,503 His orders to start the U.S. Navy's bomb disposal unit 173 00:08:56,536 --> 00:08:59,139 came just in the nick of time. 174 00:08:59,172 --> 00:09:01,775 [ blades whirring ] 175 00:09:08,849 --> 00:09:10,884 [ bombs whistling ] 176 00:09:15,088 --> 00:09:19,159 Days after Draper Kauffman returns to the U.S. Navy, 177 00:09:19,192 --> 00:09:21,595 the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. 178 00:09:21,629 --> 00:09:25,065 [ siren blares ] 179 00:09:27,835 --> 00:09:30,804 Shortly after the Japanese attack on Hawaii, 180 00:09:30,838 --> 00:09:33,173 Kauffman was ordered to dismantle 181 00:09:33,206 --> 00:09:37,811 an unexploded 500-pound bomb in Pearl Harbor. 182 00:09:37,845 --> 00:09:41,882 For his valor, he was awarded the Navy Cross. 183 00:09:41,915 --> 00:09:43,851 He returned to Washington, D.C., 184 00:09:43,884 --> 00:09:46,486 to run the Navy's bomb disposal school. 185 00:09:46,519 --> 00:09:50,357 Then, in 1943, while on his honeymoon, 186 00:09:50,390 --> 00:09:53,360 Lt. Commander Kauffman received orders 187 00:09:53,393 --> 00:09:55,996 to report back to D.C. 188 00:09:56,029 --> 00:10:01,234 After four days of honeymoon, we were at the Hotel New Yorker. 189 00:10:01,268 --> 00:10:06,573 And I got a telegram telling me to report immediately, 190 00:10:06,606 --> 00:10:09,910 and I did what I guess anybody else would've done. 191 00:10:09,943 --> 00:10:12,646 I gave the young bellboy five bucks and said, 192 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:17,217 "Son, you can't find me. Come back tomorrow." 193 00:10:17,250 --> 00:10:19,286 When he arrived in Washington, 194 00:10:19,319 --> 00:10:22,422 Draper Kauffman was given his new assignment: 195 00:10:22,455 --> 00:10:24,958 clear Hitler's beaches. 196 00:10:24,992 --> 00:10:27,294 "Have you ever seen intelligence pictures 197 00:10:27,327 --> 00:10:29,229 of the obstacles the Germans are building 198 00:10:29,262 --> 00:10:31,665 on their beaches in France?" 199 00:10:31,699 --> 00:10:33,233 And I said, "No, sir." 200 00:10:33,266 --> 00:10:34,868 He said, "Well, they're putting obstacles 201 00:10:34,902 --> 00:10:38,405 out in 6 feet of water to stop the landing craft there, 202 00:10:38,438 --> 00:10:42,676 and the soldiers would have to get out in 6 feet of water. 203 00:10:42,710 --> 00:10:45,913 Do you know how much an infantryman's pack weighs?" 204 00:10:45,946 --> 00:10:47,815 And I said, "No, sir." 205 00:10:47,848 --> 00:10:51,852 He said, "Well, neither do I, but they'll all drown." 206 00:10:51,885 --> 00:10:56,156 He said, "Now, I want you to put a stop to that." 207 00:10:56,189 --> 00:10:58,391 Kauffman's new mission took him 208 00:10:58,425 --> 00:11:01,895 from running a school on disposing unexploded bombs 209 00:11:01,929 --> 00:11:04,031 to exploding ones. 210 00:11:04,064 --> 00:11:07,935 He was ordered to create the Naval Combat Demolition Units, 211 00:11:07,968 --> 00:11:10,738 or NCDUs. 212 00:11:10,771 --> 00:11:12,272 MAN: By his own accounting, 213 00:11:12,305 --> 00:11:14,307 he didn't have a clue what he was doing. 214 00:11:14,341 --> 00:11:16,944 But he took some of his officers with him, 215 00:11:16,977 --> 00:11:19,179 and those officers are actually the ones 216 00:11:19,212 --> 00:11:20,948 that set everything up and made it work. 217 00:11:20,981 --> 00:11:23,683 For their training camp, the men went 218 00:11:23,717 --> 00:11:27,220 to a swampy outpost in Fort Pierce, Florida. 219 00:11:27,254 --> 00:11:29,923 There was no air conditioning out there, 220 00:11:29,957 --> 00:11:32,726 there was no OFF! mosquito repellent. 221 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:34,928 They said they would rather face the Germans 222 00:11:34,962 --> 00:11:38,431 than the mosquitoes and the no-see-ums out there. 223 00:11:38,465 --> 00:11:41,534 The training that still happens at BUDS, 224 00:11:41,568 --> 00:11:44,037 which is Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL training, 225 00:11:44,071 --> 00:11:46,039 started right here in Fort Pierce. 226 00:11:46,073 --> 00:11:48,408 So every time you see guys lifting up a log, 227 00:11:48,441 --> 00:11:50,643 that started right here at Fort Pierce. 228 00:11:50,677 --> 00:11:52,980 Boat teams going out through the waves, 229 00:11:53,013 --> 00:11:55,082 that started right here in Fort Pierce. 230 00:11:55,115 --> 00:11:57,717 The term "hell week" started right here in Fort Pierce 231 00:11:57,751 --> 00:12:00,687 because Draper Kauffman wanted to condense the training 232 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,090 because he was getting ready for war. 233 00:12:03,123 --> 00:12:05,525 So he said, "Let's get this all done in a week," 234 00:12:05,558 --> 00:12:08,061 and they called it introduction week. 235 00:12:08,095 --> 00:12:10,764 The guys called it hell week. 236 00:12:10,798 --> 00:12:13,100 MILLIGAN: Kauffman's trying to create 237 00:12:13,133 --> 00:12:17,637 as close a representation of actual war as possible. 238 00:12:17,670 --> 00:12:20,740 [ ** ] 239 00:12:24,511 --> 00:12:26,847 When the Second World War starts, 240 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:30,117 Draper Kauffman is probably the one American 241 00:12:30,150 --> 00:12:32,052 that has seen the most of it. 242 00:12:32,085 --> 00:12:34,054 He's seen how horrible war is. 243 00:12:34,087 --> 00:12:36,356 He's seen the emotional and physical toll 244 00:12:36,389 --> 00:12:37,724 that it takes on you. 245 00:12:37,757 --> 00:12:40,360 So when he creates this NCDU training, 246 00:12:40,393 --> 00:12:43,630 he's trying to get as close to that experience as possible. 247 00:12:43,663 --> 00:12:45,999 He's trying to show they can go without sleep 248 00:12:46,033 --> 00:12:47,600 for a long period of time. 249 00:12:47,634 --> 00:12:51,004 They can be cold and miserable and hungry and everything else. 250 00:12:51,038 --> 00:12:55,642 Kauffman used instructors from his bomb disposal unit 251 00:12:55,675 --> 00:12:58,979 to help transform Navy construction battalions, 252 00:12:59,012 --> 00:13:04,084 or Seabees, into Naval Combat Demolition Units. 253 00:13:05,819 --> 00:13:08,388 Men from the Scouts and Raiders, 254 00:13:08,421 --> 00:13:11,825 a joint Army/Navy maritime reconnaissance unit, 255 00:13:11,859 --> 00:13:14,227 were in charge of the physical training 256 00:13:14,261 --> 00:13:16,529 that created hell week. 257 00:13:16,563 --> 00:13:20,200 According to one of the original NCDU officers, 258 00:13:20,233 --> 00:13:24,037 hell week separated the men from the boys: 259 00:13:24,071 --> 00:13:28,842 "The men took off and left us with the boys. 260 00:13:28,876 --> 00:13:31,078 But the boys who stayed turned out to have 261 00:13:31,111 --> 00:13:35,648 the intrepid spirit for this kind of work." 262 00:13:35,682 --> 00:13:39,519 Our first class started, I think it was about 200, 263 00:13:39,552 --> 00:13:42,655 and we graduated about 70. 264 00:13:42,689 --> 00:13:48,261 NCDU training began on June 6, 1943. 265 00:13:48,295 --> 00:13:51,965 The trainees didn't know it at the time, 266 00:13:51,999 --> 00:13:55,235 but exactly one year later, these men would be 267 00:13:55,268 --> 00:13:59,339 on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. 268 00:13:59,372 --> 00:14:03,610 HAWKINS: Naval Combat Demolition men were put together 269 00:14:03,643 --> 00:14:07,614 to get rid of the obstacles on beach approaches in Europe, 270 00:14:07,647 --> 00:14:09,917 specifically Normandy. 271 00:14:09,950 --> 00:14:13,020 There's a very high tidal shift at Normandy. 272 00:14:13,053 --> 00:14:16,023 So sometimes the obstacles are underwater, 273 00:14:16,056 --> 00:14:18,691 sometimes they're not underwater. 274 00:14:18,725 --> 00:14:20,994 And if you're going to eliminate the obstacles, 275 00:14:21,028 --> 00:14:23,730 you really have to get in there and get them at low tide. 276 00:14:23,763 --> 00:14:27,567 [ explosions ] 277 00:14:34,074 --> 00:14:37,610 Much has been told of the D-Day invasion 278 00:14:37,644 --> 00:14:42,916 and the sacrifices made on these bloodstained beaches. 279 00:14:42,950 --> 00:14:46,286 But the story of the Naval Combat Demolition men, 280 00:14:46,319 --> 00:14:48,855 forefathers of today's SEALs 281 00:14:48,888 --> 00:14:51,424 who helped make the invasion possible, 282 00:14:51,458 --> 00:14:55,695 has lived mostly in the shadows of history. 283 00:14:58,065 --> 00:15:00,133 Eighteen-year-old Ken Reynolds 284 00:15:00,167 --> 00:15:04,771 was one of the men who volunteered for the NCDUs. 285 00:15:04,804 --> 00:15:07,007 I thought, and other people thought, it meant 286 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,309 non-combat demolition. 287 00:15:09,342 --> 00:15:13,113 And my mother was elated, because it was non-combat. 288 00:15:13,146 --> 00:15:16,483 But I soon found out that that's not what it meant. 289 00:15:16,516 --> 00:15:20,487 The seaman second class went to England 290 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,890 to join about 100 Naval Combat Demolition volunteers 291 00:15:23,923 --> 00:15:26,459 who were already training. 292 00:15:26,493 --> 00:15:29,262 Allied engineers in England 293 00:15:29,296 --> 00:15:32,532 had reproduced the German beach obstacles 294 00:15:32,565 --> 00:15:37,104 so the NCDU men could practice exploding them. 295 00:15:37,137 --> 00:15:38,972 [ explosion ] 296 00:15:41,641 --> 00:15:45,478 One of the obstacles that the NCDUs would have to defeat 297 00:15:45,512 --> 00:15:49,649 was called a Belgian Gate. 298 00:15:49,682 --> 00:15:52,185 An officer named Carl Hagensen 299 00:15:52,219 --> 00:15:55,622 pre-packaged 2-pound charges of C2 explosives 300 00:15:55,655 --> 00:15:59,059 that could be quickly wrapped around the beach obstacles. 301 00:15:59,092 --> 00:16:02,395 Engineers determined that these Hagensen Packs 302 00:16:02,429 --> 00:16:06,133 had to be placed in 16 strategic spots 303 00:16:06,166 --> 00:16:08,435 in order to flatten the metal tank trap 304 00:16:08,468 --> 00:16:13,173 in a way that would allow Allied vehicles... 305 00:16:13,206 --> 00:16:15,775 to drive over the former obstacles. 306 00:16:15,808 --> 00:16:19,046 The NCDU men, along with Army engineers, 307 00:16:19,079 --> 00:16:21,314 were assigned to Gap Assault Teams, 308 00:16:21,348 --> 00:16:25,252 each one responsible for blowing 50-yard breaks 309 00:16:25,285 --> 00:16:27,820 in the beach defenses at Normandy. 310 00:16:27,854 --> 00:16:30,090 If they failed, it would jeopardize 311 00:16:30,123 --> 00:16:33,493 the largest invasion in history. 312 00:16:36,596 --> 00:16:40,333 Early on the morning of June 6, 1944, 313 00:16:40,367 --> 00:16:44,171 the NCDUs pulled their explosive-laden rubber boats 314 00:16:44,204 --> 00:16:47,640 as close to the obstacles as possible. 315 00:16:47,674 --> 00:16:49,642 REYNOLDS: You knew what was in back of you. 316 00:16:49,676 --> 00:16:51,944 There was thousands and thousands of ships 317 00:16:51,978 --> 00:16:54,013 coming across the channel, 318 00:16:54,047 --> 00:16:55,682 and if we didn't open up the beach, 319 00:16:55,715 --> 00:16:57,517 there was nowhere to go. 320 00:16:57,550 --> 00:17:00,587 Some of the Army soldiers advancing towards Normandy 321 00:17:00,620 --> 00:17:02,789 looked at the hell in front of them -- 322 00:17:02,822 --> 00:17:04,791 their fellow troops being massacred 323 00:17:04,824 --> 00:17:08,095 by German defenses on Omaha Beach -- 324 00:17:08,128 --> 00:17:10,163 and they clung to the obstacles 325 00:17:10,197 --> 00:17:12,232 that Ken and the other demolitioneers 326 00:17:12,265 --> 00:17:14,467 had already wired. 327 00:17:14,501 --> 00:17:17,036 Ken tried, sometimes in vain, 328 00:17:17,070 --> 00:17:20,173 to get the soldiers to loosen their suicide grips 329 00:17:20,207 --> 00:17:22,642 on the German defenses. 330 00:17:22,675 --> 00:17:25,812 We got about half of all the obstacles charged, 331 00:17:25,845 --> 00:17:29,582 and the Army decided that they were going to come in. 332 00:17:29,616 --> 00:17:32,285 You'd take a fuse lighter and you'd pull it 333 00:17:32,319 --> 00:17:35,088 and so you've got two minutes to get out of here. 334 00:17:35,122 --> 00:17:37,290 But some of them didn't move. 335 00:17:37,324 --> 00:17:40,627 They were so scared that they didn't know what to do. 336 00:17:42,695 --> 00:17:46,633 Despite suffering a 52% casualty rate, 337 00:17:46,666 --> 00:17:50,703 the NCDU men, alongside the Army combat engineers, 338 00:17:50,737 --> 00:17:53,273 were able to blast completely open 339 00:17:53,306 --> 00:17:56,343 five of the sixteen corridors assigned to them 340 00:17:56,376 --> 00:17:58,978 and three more partial gaps. 341 00:17:59,011 --> 00:18:02,415 But that was enough to allow the landings at Omaha Beach 342 00:18:02,449 --> 00:18:07,154 and the Allied forces to pursue Hitler's army. 343 00:18:08,921 --> 00:18:11,090 We were an expendable unit. 344 00:18:11,124 --> 00:18:14,227 If you survived, "Oh, well and good. Boy, you survived." 345 00:18:14,261 --> 00:18:17,197 If you died, "Well, that's, that's -- we're sorry." 346 00:18:17,230 --> 00:18:19,399 Nobody knew who we were. 347 00:18:19,432 --> 00:18:22,869 The only identification we carried was on our helmet, 348 00:18:22,902 --> 00:18:25,037 which says USN on the helmet. 349 00:18:25,071 --> 00:18:28,408 So consequently we were there by ourselves. 350 00:18:28,441 --> 00:18:30,109 But we were there. 351 00:18:30,143 --> 00:18:32,812 Very much so, we were there. 352 00:18:32,845 --> 00:18:35,682 One of the reasons that the NCDU remained 353 00:18:35,715 --> 00:18:39,018 invisible to history is that they would only serve 354 00:18:39,051 --> 00:18:41,921 in two significant operations in Europe: 355 00:18:41,954 --> 00:18:45,258 D-Day and the invasion of Southern France. 356 00:18:45,292 --> 00:18:47,960 And once U.S. troops were on the ground in Europe, 357 00:18:47,994 --> 00:18:50,497 demolition work shifted completely 358 00:18:50,530 --> 00:18:53,800 to the war in the Pacific. 359 00:18:53,833 --> 00:18:57,537 Battles in the Pacific Ocean posed very different challenges 360 00:18:57,570 --> 00:19:00,307 than the land war now raging in Europe. 361 00:19:00,340 --> 00:19:02,275 The fight against Japan 362 00:19:02,309 --> 00:19:05,978 was all about U.S. amphibious island landings. 363 00:19:06,012 --> 00:19:08,448 American military leaders decided 364 00:19:08,481 --> 00:19:10,983 the best way to advance towards Tokyo 365 00:19:11,017 --> 00:19:14,654 was to implement an island-hopping campaign, 366 00:19:14,687 --> 00:19:18,090 skipping the enemy's largest strongholds 367 00:19:18,124 --> 00:19:19,892 while capturing other islands 368 00:19:19,926 --> 00:19:24,464 that would allow them to hopscotch across the Pacific. 369 00:19:24,497 --> 00:19:29,802 It began in the fall of 1943 at a place called Tarawa. 370 00:19:29,836 --> 00:19:32,939 This would be the first major test 371 00:19:32,972 --> 00:19:35,508 of the combined Navy/Marine Corps ability 372 00:19:35,542 --> 00:19:37,677 to capture an island fortress 373 00:19:37,710 --> 00:19:40,380 in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. 374 00:19:40,413 --> 00:19:42,549 It would also be the place 375 00:19:42,582 --> 00:19:45,017 where the need for underwater demolition men 376 00:19:45,051 --> 00:19:47,920 became tragically apparent. 377 00:19:47,954 --> 00:19:52,058 [ guns firing ] 378 00:19:54,093 --> 00:19:56,763 HAWKINS: Tarawa was the first major amphibious assault 379 00:19:56,796 --> 00:19:59,366 in the Pacific, and they were using 380 00:19:59,399 --> 00:20:01,067 photographic interpretation 381 00:20:01,100 --> 00:20:03,002 of what the coral reefs looked like 382 00:20:03,035 --> 00:20:07,106 or what beaches they were going to land on. 383 00:20:08,675 --> 00:20:11,978 What they discovered was that the boats 384 00:20:12,011 --> 00:20:14,781 hit these coral reefs far from the beach, 385 00:20:14,814 --> 00:20:18,251 and many of the Marines had jumped out. 386 00:20:18,285 --> 00:20:22,255 Hundreds of Marines drowned. 387 00:20:22,289 --> 00:20:25,692 So they knew that they had to have 388 00:20:25,725 --> 00:20:28,328 some sort of pre-assault reconnaissance. 389 00:20:28,361 --> 00:20:31,698 That's when they established the two provisional UDTs. 390 00:20:31,731 --> 00:20:35,702 UDT stands for Underwater Demolition Team. 391 00:20:35,735 --> 00:20:40,039 [ ** ] 392 00:20:40,072 --> 00:20:42,108 [ gunshots ] 393 00:20:44,444 --> 00:20:48,214 After the Marines suffered more than 3,000 casualties 394 00:20:48,247 --> 00:20:52,051 in the 76-hour battle to take Tarawa, 395 00:20:52,084 --> 00:20:54,954 UDTs would subsequently be used 396 00:20:54,987 --> 00:20:57,724 in advance of every major amphibious landing 397 00:20:57,757 --> 00:21:00,026 in the Pacific. 398 00:21:00,059 --> 00:21:01,361 [ explosion ] 399 00:21:01,394 --> 00:21:04,864 Unlike their NCDU brothers at D-Day, 400 00:21:04,897 --> 00:21:08,100 these men worked underwater. 401 00:21:08,134 --> 00:21:13,540 History has dubbed them "The Naked Warriors." 402 00:21:13,573 --> 00:21:16,976 The Naked Warrior was the UDT operator in the Pacific 403 00:21:17,009 --> 00:21:21,681 who went to the beach just in swim trunks, a KA-BAR knife, 404 00:21:21,714 --> 00:21:25,051 a slate around his neck, and a stubby pencil 405 00:21:25,084 --> 00:21:29,155 to take a string line reconnaissance of the beach, 406 00:21:29,188 --> 00:21:33,092 taking depth soundings and then recording it on their slates. 407 00:21:33,125 --> 00:21:36,195 They were the naked warrior. 408 00:21:36,228 --> 00:21:39,999 These barely-armed men made a critical difference 409 00:21:40,032 --> 00:21:48,475 in the victories at places like Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. 410 00:21:48,508 --> 00:21:51,310 Other maritime commandos operated 411 00:21:51,344 --> 00:21:54,414 for the Office of Strategic Services, 412 00:21:54,447 --> 00:21:57,717 precursor of the CIA. 413 00:21:57,750 --> 00:22:01,153 Their missions included infiltration behind enemy lines 414 00:22:01,187 --> 00:22:04,056 and sabotage. 415 00:22:04,090 --> 00:22:08,027 Of all the forefathers of the SEAL Teams, 416 00:22:08,060 --> 00:22:10,763 the covert OSS Maritime Unit 417 00:22:10,797 --> 00:22:14,501 pushed the limits of technology. 418 00:22:14,534 --> 00:22:18,505 The Lambertsen Lung that was used by OSS Maritime 419 00:22:18,538 --> 00:22:21,040 was very innovative in its time. 420 00:22:21,073 --> 00:22:26,278 It was a closed-circuit pure oxygen breathing apparatus 421 00:22:26,312 --> 00:22:29,549 that essentially took exhaled air 422 00:22:29,582 --> 00:22:32,819 and spread it over a bed of chemicals 423 00:22:32,852 --> 00:22:35,822 that re-circulated it back to the diver, 424 00:22:35,855 --> 00:22:40,359 and this in essence created a bubble-free diving apparatus. 425 00:22:41,894 --> 00:22:47,099 They adopted the first usable submersible from the British, 426 00:22:47,133 --> 00:22:49,001 which was called Sleeping Beauty. 427 00:22:49,035 --> 00:22:50,870 It was called a submersible canoe. 428 00:22:50,903 --> 00:22:52,872 It was a one-man vessel 429 00:22:52,905 --> 00:22:54,674 that could be propelled on the surface 430 00:22:54,707 --> 00:22:57,744 and then submerged for the attack. 431 00:22:57,777 --> 00:23:01,280 They developed a floating mattress that was propelled. 432 00:23:01,313 --> 00:23:05,351 And they used an electric drill with a 12-volt battery 433 00:23:05,384 --> 00:23:09,489 to propel two guys through the water with it. 434 00:23:09,522 --> 00:23:11,824 As the Underwater Demolition Teams 435 00:23:11,858 --> 00:23:14,761 prepared for an invasion of mainland Japan, 436 00:23:14,794 --> 00:23:19,466 President Harry Truman changed the course of history. 437 00:23:19,499 --> 00:23:22,969 [ explosion ] 438 00:23:25,572 --> 00:23:31,310 Two atomic weapons ended the war in the Pacific. 439 00:23:31,343 --> 00:23:37,316 [ brass band playing and crowd cheering ] 440 00:23:37,349 --> 00:23:39,118 NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: Tens of thousands 441 00:23:39,151 --> 00:23:41,253 of proud American flags dotted the square. 442 00:23:41,287 --> 00:23:44,423 And as the day wore on, hilarity reached a high peak. 443 00:23:45,558 --> 00:23:47,827 As happens after war, 444 00:23:47,860 --> 00:23:51,498 the military immediately began downsizing. 445 00:23:51,531 --> 00:23:56,335 The OSS Maritime Unit would not survive. 446 00:23:56,368 --> 00:23:59,772 Nor would the Scouts and Raiders. 447 00:23:59,806 --> 00:24:02,975 Nor the Naval Combat Demolition Units. 448 00:24:03,009 --> 00:24:07,346 All but a handful of UDTs were disbanded. 449 00:24:07,379 --> 00:24:13,419 Still, young men were drawn to becoming Navy frogmen. 450 00:24:13,452 --> 00:24:16,255 [ ** ] 451 00:24:16,288 --> 00:24:19,826 MAN: I saw the movie The Frogmen with Richard Widmark. 452 00:24:19,859 --> 00:24:22,394 I was a very good athlete at the time, 453 00:24:22,428 --> 00:24:24,463 and I was a good swimmer. 454 00:24:24,497 --> 00:24:26,866 MAN: The movie was Frogmen. 455 00:24:26,899 --> 00:24:29,135 I had said at the end of that movie, 456 00:24:29,168 --> 00:24:33,405 "That's what I'm going to do when I get a little bit older." 457 00:24:33,439 --> 00:24:35,174 MAN: The movie came out, 458 00:24:35,207 --> 00:24:37,644 The Frogmen movie with Richard Widmark, 459 00:24:37,677 --> 00:24:41,881 and I thought, "Well, I'll just go down and become a frogman." 460 00:24:41,914 --> 00:24:44,817 That's when I went down and joined the Navy. 461 00:24:44,851 --> 00:24:47,920 Despite young men's ambitions, 462 00:24:47,954 --> 00:24:50,957 the Underwater Demolition Teams shrank 463 00:24:50,990 --> 00:24:56,596 from 3,100 men at the end of the World War to 200. 464 00:24:56,629 --> 00:25:00,366 The nature of warfare in the late 1940s 465 00:25:00,399 --> 00:25:02,234 chilled from hot battles 466 00:25:02,268 --> 00:25:05,137 against the axis of Germany, Japan, and Italy 467 00:25:05,171 --> 00:25:07,874 to the Cold War between the democratic West 468 00:25:07,907 --> 00:25:11,343 and the communist East. 469 00:25:11,377 --> 00:25:14,280 [ ** ] 470 00:25:14,313 --> 00:25:16,916 What some have described as "hysteria" 471 00:25:16,949 --> 00:25:19,485 gripped much of the United States 472 00:25:19,518 --> 00:25:22,555 over fear of Communist infiltrators. 473 00:25:22,589 --> 00:25:24,657 Called the Red Scare 474 00:25:24,691 --> 00:25:28,795 because of adherents' devotion to the flag of the USSR, 475 00:25:28,828 --> 00:25:33,566 it prompted President Truman to issue a "Loyalty Order" 476 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,136 requiring government employees to be investigated 477 00:25:37,169 --> 00:25:42,174 for adequate allegiance to the United States of America. 478 00:25:42,208 --> 00:25:46,813 [ explosion ] 479 00:25:46,846 --> 00:25:50,617 In 1949, the Soviets successfully tested 480 00:25:50,650 --> 00:25:53,019 a nuclear weapon 481 00:25:53,052 --> 00:25:59,491 and Communist forces led by Mao Zedong overtook China. 482 00:25:59,525 --> 00:26:04,964 Then, in 1950, the Cold War boiled over. 483 00:26:04,997 --> 00:26:08,100 [ ** ] 484 00:26:08,134 --> 00:26:11,971 On Sunday, June 25th, Communist forces attacked 485 00:26:12,004 --> 00:26:14,006 the Republic of Korea. 486 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:19,812 It was the first major combat of the Cold War. 487 00:26:19,846 --> 00:26:23,015 When 75,000 Soviet-backed North Korean troops 488 00:26:23,049 --> 00:26:27,219 poured south into the Republic of Korea, an American ally, 489 00:26:27,253 --> 00:26:31,257 President Truman responded by sending U.S. forces 490 00:26:31,290 --> 00:26:34,426 to stop the advance of the Communists. 491 00:26:34,460 --> 00:26:38,597 The American military started arriving in Korea within weeks, 492 00:26:38,631 --> 00:26:41,233 and the Underwater Demolition Teams 493 00:26:41,267 --> 00:26:44,103 were in the fight once again. 494 00:26:44,136 --> 00:26:48,274 Korea marked a transformation for the UDTs. 495 00:26:48,307 --> 00:26:51,177 This would be the first time they moved inland 496 00:26:51,210 --> 00:26:55,014 beyond their traditional Navy maritime habitat. 497 00:26:55,047 --> 00:26:58,350 But their missions were still mostly nautical, 498 00:26:58,384 --> 00:27:04,123 often keeping passageways for American ships open. 499 00:27:04,156 --> 00:27:07,660 Wonsan Harbor in North Korea had been heavily mined 500 00:27:07,694 --> 00:27:12,364 before U.S. and United Nations navies enforced a blockade. 501 00:27:12,398 --> 00:27:14,967 But it required constant vigilance 502 00:27:15,001 --> 00:27:17,036 from the Underwater Demolition Teams 503 00:27:17,069 --> 00:27:21,540 to keep it from being further mined by the North Koreans. 504 00:27:24,110 --> 00:27:29,381 A former WWII Scout and Raider turned UDT man, 505 00:27:29,415 --> 00:27:32,484 Dick Lyon, was assigned a dangerous new mission 506 00:27:32,518 --> 00:27:34,987 in Wonsan Harbor. 507 00:27:35,021 --> 00:27:38,024 His commanding officer called the 28-year-old lieutenant 508 00:27:38,057 --> 00:27:40,359 into his office. 509 00:27:40,392 --> 00:27:43,930 He said, "I have to have the strongest swimmer. 510 00:27:43,963 --> 00:27:50,636 I've just received an indication that a new shallow-water mine 511 00:27:50,669 --> 00:27:57,043 has been dispensed inside of Wonsan Harbor. 512 00:27:57,076 --> 00:27:59,211 You're going to be heavily armed 513 00:27:59,245 --> 00:28:02,081 with a pair of 24-inch bolt cutters, 514 00:28:02,114 --> 00:28:04,984 and your job is to dive down under the mine 515 00:28:05,017 --> 00:28:07,686 and cut the mooring cable." 516 00:28:09,055 --> 00:28:12,591 It was before we had any issued scuba gear, 517 00:28:12,624 --> 00:28:15,694 which is why I was freebie 518 00:28:15,728 --> 00:28:18,630 going down with bolt cutters -- kuh! -- 519 00:28:18,664 --> 00:28:21,367 and a KA-BAR. 520 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,636 So... [ chuckles ] that's it. 521 00:28:24,670 --> 00:28:28,040 Dick Lyon entered the 36-degree water 522 00:28:28,074 --> 00:28:31,878 with no experience or training in mine warfare. 523 00:28:31,911 --> 00:28:34,080 And no American had ever confronted 524 00:28:34,113 --> 00:28:37,083 this kind of mine before. 525 00:28:37,116 --> 00:28:41,287 I swam down under the mine with my bolt cutters, 526 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:45,724 making sure that I don't do something really cuckoo 527 00:28:45,758 --> 00:28:48,494 like break one of those horns, 528 00:28:48,527 --> 00:28:52,164 because that's the last thing I would ever remember. 529 00:28:52,198 --> 00:28:55,802 Inside one of the mines that Dick Lyon recovered 530 00:28:55,835 --> 00:28:59,105 was its packing slip -- in Russian. 531 00:28:59,138 --> 00:29:02,842 It's not clear why a receipt would be inside a mine, 532 00:29:02,875 --> 00:29:06,412 but it was clear: the Soviets were supplying these weapons 533 00:29:06,445 --> 00:29:08,347 to the North Koreans. 534 00:29:08,380 --> 00:29:11,884 The Cold War was in full swing. 535 00:29:11,918 --> 00:29:15,387 NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: It came on July 27, 1953. 536 00:29:15,421 --> 00:29:18,390 While the Communists signed at Panmunjom... 537 00:29:18,424 --> 00:29:21,360 After three years of fighting, 538 00:29:21,393 --> 00:29:25,731 the Korean Conflict ended in a stalemate in 1953. 539 00:29:25,764 --> 00:29:28,167 But once an armistice was signed, 540 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,602 the United States entered another period 541 00:29:30,636 --> 00:29:33,672 of military evolution. 542 00:29:33,705 --> 00:29:37,176 President Dwight Eisenhower, the former general, 543 00:29:37,209 --> 00:29:40,212 was careful not to dismantle the military 544 00:29:40,246 --> 00:29:43,082 as had happened after World War II. 545 00:29:43,115 --> 00:29:47,786 But he now based his strategies around nuclear capabilities. 546 00:29:47,820 --> 00:29:51,023 As the Strategic Air Command patrolled the skies 547 00:29:51,057 --> 00:29:52,925 24 hours a day 548 00:29:52,959 --> 00:29:56,662 while nuclear submarines plied the oceans, 549 00:29:56,695 --> 00:29:59,098 the tides of warfare were shifting 550 00:29:59,131 --> 00:30:04,403 to the concept of mutually assured destruction, or MAD. 551 00:30:04,436 --> 00:30:07,306 The theory was that if two opposing sides 552 00:30:07,339 --> 00:30:09,441 each had enough nuclear firepower 553 00:30:09,475 --> 00:30:11,577 to destroy the other, 554 00:30:11,610 --> 00:30:13,479 then neither would fire their weapons 555 00:30:13,512 --> 00:30:16,682 because there could be no victor in such a conflict, 556 00:30:16,715 --> 00:30:21,187 only equal, shared destruction. 557 00:30:22,321 --> 00:30:24,490 The massive nuclear build-up 558 00:30:24,523 --> 00:30:27,826 was designed to contain both the Soviet Union and China, 559 00:30:27,860 --> 00:30:30,429 but those adversaries were now using 560 00:30:30,462 --> 00:30:33,799 a very different strategy: spreading Communism 561 00:30:33,832 --> 00:30:37,603 through smaller guerrilla wars in countries like Laos. 562 00:30:37,636 --> 00:30:40,806 U.S. military and political leaders were concerned 563 00:30:40,839 --> 00:30:44,243 about what was known as the domino effect: 564 00:30:44,276 --> 00:30:46,578 one country falling to Communism 565 00:30:46,612 --> 00:30:49,315 triggering the next one to fall. 566 00:30:49,348 --> 00:30:52,818 So they were determined to draw a line in the sand 567 00:30:52,851 --> 00:30:55,687 without launching nuclear missiles. 568 00:30:55,721 --> 00:30:59,225 In 1958, an admiral named Arleigh Burke 569 00:30:59,258 --> 00:31:02,528 came up with a plan for special warfare teams 570 00:31:02,561 --> 00:31:04,430 that would be the blueprint 571 00:31:04,463 --> 00:31:08,000 for what the U.S. Navy SEALs would one day become. 572 00:31:08,034 --> 00:31:11,103 MAN: Arleigh Burke was the Chief of Naval Operations. 573 00:31:11,137 --> 00:31:15,607 He felt that the services had to be alert to 574 00:31:15,641 --> 00:31:19,411 the changing national threat 575 00:31:19,445 --> 00:31:23,682 and be able to create operations 576 00:31:23,715 --> 00:31:27,386 that were something less than nuclear war. 577 00:31:27,419 --> 00:31:29,355 And so he was the one, 578 00:31:29,388 --> 00:31:32,558 if anyone would be considered the Papa SEAL, 579 00:31:32,591 --> 00:31:35,161 Arleigh Burke would be Papa SEAL. 580 00:31:35,194 --> 00:31:37,863 Although Admiral Burke conceived the plans 581 00:31:37,896 --> 00:31:40,066 for unconventional naval warfare 582 00:31:40,099 --> 00:31:42,601 under the Eisenhower administration, 583 00:31:42,634 --> 00:31:46,038 it would be a new president who would champion them. 584 00:31:46,072 --> 00:31:50,109 [ ** ] 585 00:31:50,142 --> 00:31:52,678 NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER: John F. Kennedy settles into office 586 00:31:52,711 --> 00:31:55,414 as the 35th president of the United States. 587 00:31:55,447 --> 00:31:58,650 Fourteen days before Kennedy's inauguration, 588 00:31:58,684 --> 00:32:01,487 the Soviets had announced they would be advancing 589 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:05,891 "wars of liberation" to spread Communism. 590 00:32:05,924 --> 00:32:07,893 It was in this tense climate 591 00:32:07,926 --> 00:32:11,130 that John Kennedy was about to take Arleigh Burke's vision 592 00:32:11,163 --> 00:32:14,633 of SEAL Teams and make it a reality. 593 00:32:14,666 --> 00:32:17,303 In the same speech that Kennedy announced the plan 594 00:32:17,336 --> 00:32:20,506 to have an American on the moon by the end of the decade, 595 00:32:20,539 --> 00:32:22,608 he also declared the need 596 00:32:22,641 --> 00:32:26,145 for enhanced special warfare capabilities, 597 00:32:26,178 --> 00:32:29,681 laying out his vision for the decade to come. 598 00:32:29,715 --> 00:32:32,151 To expand rapidly and substantially, 599 00:32:32,184 --> 00:32:34,620 in cooperation with our allies, 600 00:32:34,653 --> 00:32:37,556 the orientation of existing forces 601 00:32:37,589 --> 00:32:40,559 for the conduct of non-nuclear war, 602 00:32:40,592 --> 00:32:42,861 paramilitary operations, 603 00:32:42,894 --> 00:32:46,832 and sub-limited or unconventional wars. 604 00:32:46,865 --> 00:32:50,036 A little more than seven months after this speech, 605 00:32:50,069 --> 00:32:55,041 the U.S. Navy established SEAL Teams One and Two. 606 00:32:55,074 --> 00:32:56,875 As is still the case, 607 00:32:56,908 --> 00:32:59,178 odd-number teams are on the West Coast 608 00:32:59,211 --> 00:33:02,548 and even-number teams on the East Coast. 609 00:33:02,581 --> 00:33:04,950 Although the Underwater Demolition Teams 610 00:33:04,983 --> 00:33:07,686 would continue on with their strictly maritime mission 611 00:33:07,719 --> 00:33:10,722 of clearing beaches for amphibious landings, 612 00:33:10,756 --> 00:33:12,924 every man on the first SEAL Teams 613 00:33:12,958 --> 00:33:15,527 was pulled from the UDTs. 614 00:33:15,561 --> 00:33:17,363 MAN: We had heard rumors, 615 00:33:17,396 --> 00:33:20,499 because they'd been working on putting something together, 616 00:33:20,532 --> 00:33:22,901 but we had absolutely no knowledge 617 00:33:22,934 --> 00:33:26,072 that anything was imminent. 618 00:33:26,105 --> 00:33:30,542 And we didn't really know what SEAL Team was going to be. 619 00:33:30,576 --> 00:33:33,812 I'm not sure anybody did at that point. 620 00:33:33,845 --> 00:33:36,148 MAN: First of all, I've got to tell you 621 00:33:36,182 --> 00:33:38,917 I was like halfway through my training 622 00:33:38,950 --> 00:33:41,853 before I found out there were SEALs there. 623 00:33:41,887 --> 00:33:43,722 I had heard of them before, 624 00:33:43,755 --> 00:33:45,191 but I thought they was talking about 625 00:33:45,224 --> 00:33:48,627 a little furry creature that swam around in the harbor. 626 00:33:48,660 --> 00:33:51,830 So I didn't really pay that much attention to the SEALs. 627 00:33:51,863 --> 00:33:54,200 I just wanted to be a frogman. 628 00:33:54,233 --> 00:33:56,802 McCORMACK: The first time I heard the term SEAL used 629 00:33:56,835 --> 00:33:59,871 was in late 1961. 630 00:33:59,905 --> 00:34:02,608 And most of us thought that the SEALs 631 00:34:02,641 --> 00:34:05,010 stood for South East Asia Liaison. 632 00:34:05,043 --> 00:34:08,180 Seemed to fit, but we soon found out 633 00:34:08,214 --> 00:34:10,282 it stood for sea, air, land 634 00:34:10,316 --> 00:34:15,053 and would take us beyond the capabilities of UDT. 635 00:34:15,087 --> 00:34:19,024 A 29-year-old lieutenant named Dave Del Giudice was selected 636 00:34:19,057 --> 00:34:22,361 as the first commanding officer of SEAL Team One. 637 00:34:22,394 --> 00:34:24,996 Considering the sophisticated operations 638 00:34:25,030 --> 00:34:28,800 the teams have today, these were humble beginnings. 639 00:34:28,834 --> 00:34:30,602 DEL GIUDICE: We were only 10 officers 640 00:34:30,636 --> 00:34:32,371 and 50 enlisted at that time. 641 00:34:32,404 --> 00:34:35,374 We didn't even have a building to work out of. 642 00:34:35,407 --> 00:34:39,077 So we had to start from scratch and get everything organized -- 643 00:34:39,111 --> 00:34:42,714 not only equipment, but a place to call home. 644 00:34:42,748 --> 00:34:46,818 I had almost no guidance at the beginning of SEAL Team One. 645 00:34:46,852 --> 00:34:51,757 It was a question of trying to learn as we went along 646 00:34:51,790 --> 00:34:54,660 how best to fulfill the mission. 647 00:34:54,693 --> 00:34:57,095 [ camera focusing and beeping ] 648 00:34:57,129 --> 00:35:01,833 The mission would be Vietnam. 649 00:35:01,867 --> 00:35:06,605 [ ** ] 650 00:35:06,638 --> 00:35:09,908 Just 10 days after SEAL Team One was formed, 651 00:35:09,941 --> 00:35:13,645 Dave Del Giudice and one of his officers, John Stockholm, 652 00:35:13,679 --> 00:35:16,382 were on their way to Southeast Asia 653 00:35:16,415 --> 00:35:20,519 where guerrilla warfare was already widespread. 654 00:35:20,552 --> 00:35:25,191 Saigon's military was no match for the Communist Viet Cong, 655 00:35:25,224 --> 00:35:27,726 and the Kennedy administration was concerned 656 00:35:27,759 --> 00:35:29,995 that the V.C. would soon vanquish 657 00:35:30,028 --> 00:35:33,232 America's ally in the south. 658 00:35:33,265 --> 00:35:39,738 The first SEALs in Vietnam did not fight, they advised. 659 00:35:39,771 --> 00:35:43,175 Although the teams arrived in 1962, 660 00:35:43,209 --> 00:35:45,611 they would not operate in combat missions 661 00:35:45,644 --> 00:35:48,714 in Vietnam until 1966. 662 00:35:48,747 --> 00:35:52,251 Instead, they trained their South Vietnamese counterparts 663 00:35:52,284 --> 00:35:56,188 for CIA-planned missions into North Vietnam. 664 00:35:56,222 --> 00:36:00,025 The early '60s found the SEALs and CIA 665 00:36:00,058 --> 00:36:03,662 as partners in formulating covert operations 666 00:36:03,695 --> 00:36:05,631 against the Communist North. 667 00:36:05,664 --> 00:36:07,633 The CIA picked the targets, 668 00:36:07,666 --> 00:36:11,770 and the SEALs worked out the military tactics. 669 00:36:11,803 --> 00:36:16,007 [ ** ] 670 00:36:16,041 --> 00:36:19,645 In addition to working with the CIA on intelligence, 671 00:36:19,678 --> 00:36:24,716 the SEALs collaborated with technological experts. 672 00:36:24,750 --> 00:36:27,919 In 1964, American scientists 673 00:36:27,953 --> 00:36:31,390 began working on a secret weapon for the SEALS. 674 00:36:31,423 --> 00:36:33,725 The extraordinary new device? 675 00:36:33,759 --> 00:36:37,229 A miniature nuclear bomb. 676 00:36:37,263 --> 00:36:40,065 Known as "backpack nukes," 677 00:36:40,098 --> 00:36:42,701 these weapons were built as an alternative 678 00:36:42,734 --> 00:36:45,271 to the massively destructive nuclear weapons 679 00:36:45,304 --> 00:36:47,606 in the U.S. arsenal. 680 00:36:47,639 --> 00:36:49,608 These little nukes were called 681 00:36:49,641 --> 00:36:55,581 B-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munitions, or SADMs. 682 00:36:55,614 --> 00:36:58,884 A handful of SEALs trained to parachute in 683 00:36:58,917 --> 00:37:01,019 with the 58-pound device, 684 00:37:01,052 --> 00:37:04,222 infiltrate behind enemy lines, and have the capability 685 00:37:04,256 --> 00:37:07,659 of annihilating an entire battlefield. 686 00:37:07,693 --> 00:37:11,797 A pair of swimmers could also insert into an enemy-held area, 687 00:37:11,830 --> 00:37:15,233 plant the bomb, and swim back out. 688 00:37:15,267 --> 00:37:18,437 Despite their size, some of these nuclear weapons 689 00:37:18,470 --> 00:37:22,474 were more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima. 690 00:37:22,508 --> 00:37:26,111 Other than in testing, the SADM was never detonated 691 00:37:26,144 --> 00:37:30,782 during the 25 years it was in the military's arsenal. 692 00:37:30,816 --> 00:37:33,819 Some Team members interviewed to train with the device 693 00:37:33,852 --> 00:37:37,389 were uncomfortable working with its potential devastation, 694 00:37:37,423 --> 00:37:41,226 saying they'd rather go back to Vietnam. 695 00:37:41,259 --> 00:37:44,296 [ ** ] 696 00:37:51,036 --> 00:37:54,239 Vietnam, 1966. 697 00:37:54,272 --> 00:37:56,107 It would be here and now 698 00:37:56,141 --> 00:37:58,344 that the SEALs would establish their reputation 699 00:37:58,377 --> 00:38:01,212 as true combat warriors. 700 00:38:01,246 --> 00:38:04,383 The North Vietnamese were successfully building 701 00:38:04,416 --> 00:38:06,918 an insurgency in the South. 702 00:38:06,952 --> 00:38:10,522 At the same time, the CIA realized there was little hope 703 00:38:10,556 --> 00:38:14,125 of creating meaningful resistance in the North. 704 00:38:14,159 --> 00:38:16,662 A detachment of SEALs were sent in 705 00:38:16,695 --> 00:38:19,865 to take direct action against Viet Cong guerrillas 706 00:38:19,898 --> 00:38:23,201 who had infiltrated the South. 707 00:38:23,234 --> 00:38:27,939 Operationally, the SEALs worked almost autonomously. 708 00:38:27,973 --> 00:38:29,975 They would gather their own intel 709 00:38:30,008 --> 00:38:33,379 and plan their own counterinsurgency missions. 710 00:38:33,412 --> 00:38:37,015 They also chose their own equipment. 711 00:38:37,048 --> 00:38:40,519 MAN: It changed from being this guy in the water with fins on 712 00:38:40,552 --> 00:38:43,955 and a face mask and a life jacket and a KA-BAR 713 00:38:43,989 --> 00:38:48,827 to a guy with an AR-15, M-16 machine guns 714 00:38:48,860 --> 00:38:52,864 going in and going directly against the enemy. 715 00:38:52,898 --> 00:38:54,633 HAWKINS: The first SEALs in combat 716 00:38:54,666 --> 00:39:00,238 wore Marine Corps green uniforms and camouflage uniforms 717 00:39:00,271 --> 00:39:02,841 when they could get them. 718 00:39:02,874 --> 00:39:07,212 And a lot of the later SEALs wore camouflage tops and Levi's. 719 00:39:07,245 --> 00:39:09,014 More comfortable. 720 00:39:09,047 --> 00:39:11,216 They also wore pantyhose, by the way, 721 00:39:11,249 --> 00:39:13,385 to keep the leeches off of you 722 00:39:13,419 --> 00:39:15,987 when you're going through the canals. 723 00:39:16,021 --> 00:39:17,989 NEWS ANNOUNCER: These men are members of 724 00:39:18,023 --> 00:39:21,359 one of the most unique military organizations in history. 725 00:39:21,393 --> 00:39:23,495 Behind these green faces 726 00:39:23,529 --> 00:39:25,296 are men who have accepted the challenge 727 00:39:25,330 --> 00:39:27,232 of some of the most daring assignments 728 00:39:27,265 --> 00:39:29,735 given to American fighting men. 729 00:39:29,768 --> 00:39:33,238 These are the Navy SEALs. 730 00:39:33,271 --> 00:39:36,408 BRUHMULLER: The "men with the green faces" was a term 731 00:39:36,442 --> 00:39:39,878 that came out at the start of Vietnam 732 00:39:39,911 --> 00:39:42,080 because we used to use this camouflage makeup 733 00:39:42,113 --> 00:39:43,549 on our faces and everything, 734 00:39:43,582 --> 00:39:45,584 and a lot of it was green and black. 735 00:39:45,617 --> 00:39:48,720 And it used to scare the living daylights out of the Vietnamese 736 00:39:48,754 --> 00:39:51,723 to have you pop up and wake some guy up in his hooch 737 00:39:51,757 --> 00:39:53,825 and be looking at him. 738 00:39:53,859 --> 00:39:55,661 It almost put him in shock. 739 00:39:55,694 --> 00:39:57,463 THORNTON: Of course back then, 740 00:39:57,496 --> 00:39:59,931 everybody knew that stuff didn't work worth a damn, 741 00:39:59,965 --> 00:40:02,768 and it'd wash off after you'd sweated so much in the jungles, 742 00:40:02,801 --> 00:40:05,471 it would be gone, and you'd be the guys with the white faces 743 00:40:05,504 --> 00:40:08,173 or the dark brown tan faces, you know? 744 00:40:08,206 --> 00:40:10,842 MARTIN: We started out with the simple missions 745 00:40:10,876 --> 00:40:14,345 just to kind of get used to the terrain and acclimate. 746 00:40:14,379 --> 00:40:16,682 You know, the weather there and the bugs 747 00:40:16,715 --> 00:40:20,719 and the creepy-crawlies and the caimans. 748 00:40:20,752 --> 00:40:22,554 God, those caimans. 749 00:40:22,588 --> 00:40:25,156 You know, saltwater alligators, they come out of nowhere. 750 00:40:25,190 --> 00:40:27,859 MAN: I was put in charge of a 14-man SEAL platoon 751 00:40:27,893 --> 00:40:30,128 on the edge of the Rung Sat Special Zone, 752 00:40:30,161 --> 00:40:33,932 which controlled the seaborne approaches to Saigon 753 00:40:33,965 --> 00:40:36,167 from the South China Sea. 754 00:40:36,201 --> 00:40:38,770 We had rules of engagement, but there was nothing -- 755 00:40:38,804 --> 00:40:41,106 I recall no restriction whatsoever. 756 00:40:41,139 --> 00:40:43,609 In fact, it was a playground. 757 00:40:43,642 --> 00:40:46,211 My SEAL platoon, we had the weapons we needed, 758 00:40:46,244 --> 00:40:48,680 we had helicopters to insert us, 759 00:40:48,714 --> 00:40:50,749 boats to insert us and extract us, 760 00:40:50,782 --> 00:40:53,552 helicopters to shoot for us if we got in trouble, 761 00:40:53,585 --> 00:40:55,754 intelligence assets. 762 00:40:55,787 --> 00:40:58,289 And basically it was, "Okay, Lt. Woolard, 763 00:40:58,323 --> 00:40:59,858 here's the Rung Sat. 764 00:40:59,891 --> 00:41:03,562 Stop these guys from mining it. Just go out and do it." 765 00:41:03,595 --> 00:41:08,199 The name "Rung Sat" translates as "Killer Swamp." 766 00:41:08,233 --> 00:41:12,671 And in 1966, it was a dangerous V.C. stronghold 767 00:41:12,704 --> 00:41:15,406 located deep in South Vietnam. 768 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:17,643 Yet the enemy's strength was hidden 769 00:41:17,676 --> 00:41:19,845 in the shadows of the jungle, 770 00:41:19,878 --> 00:41:22,914 in their ability to ambush. 771 00:41:22,948 --> 00:41:26,217 Lt. Maynard Weyers led a SEAL platoon 772 00:41:26,251 --> 00:41:28,453 that was supposed to keep the Viet Cong 773 00:41:28,486 --> 00:41:31,422 from using this area as a supply route. 774 00:41:31,456 --> 00:41:34,993 Saigon thought that there was a lot of stuff coming from there 775 00:41:35,026 --> 00:41:37,763 and there weren't any U.S. troops down there, 776 00:41:37,796 --> 00:41:40,065 or there weren't many, and so it was up to us 777 00:41:40,098 --> 00:41:43,468 to go in there and find them and destroy them. 778 00:41:43,501 --> 00:41:47,072 Twenty-eight-year-old Billy Machen was one of the men 779 00:41:47,105 --> 00:41:49,507 in Lt. Weyer's platoon. 780 00:41:49,541 --> 00:41:51,710 They had been through hand-to-hand combat school 781 00:41:51,743 --> 00:41:54,512 together and were close friends. 782 00:41:54,546 --> 00:41:58,416 Billy Machen was with a platoon, 783 00:41:58,449 --> 00:42:01,753 and we were spending a lot of time in this particular area. 784 00:42:01,787 --> 00:42:06,692 We found several caches of rice in buildings, 785 00:42:06,725 --> 00:42:09,227 and so we destroyed them. 786 00:42:09,260 --> 00:42:11,897 The helicopters were flying above us. 787 00:42:11,930 --> 00:42:15,701 They indicated they saw a V.C. camp 788 00:42:15,734 --> 00:42:17,869 and some boats and stuff. 789 00:42:17,903 --> 00:42:21,139 They said that it would probably be good to check it out, 790 00:42:21,172 --> 00:42:25,644 and so I talked to the platoon that Machen was in. 791 00:42:25,677 --> 00:42:29,681 I said, "Hey, we need to go in and check this out." 792 00:42:29,715 --> 00:42:32,250 And Billy said to me, he said, "Well, do you think we should? 793 00:42:32,283 --> 00:42:35,320 They know we're around, and this may not be too smart." 794 00:42:35,353 --> 00:42:37,322 And I said, "Yeah, I understand that," I said, 795 00:42:37,355 --> 00:42:40,325 "but we'll have the helicopters above us for support, 796 00:42:40,358 --> 00:42:42,327 so it'll be okay." 797 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:45,296 They got about halfway to the site, 798 00:42:45,330 --> 00:42:48,433 and the helicopters called us on the radio and said that, 799 00:42:48,466 --> 00:42:51,469 "We're running out of gas, we gotta go home." 800 00:42:51,502 --> 00:42:54,806 And so they took off, and we were halfway to the target. 801 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:59,510 And they kept going and they got ambushed on the way in there, 802 00:42:59,544 --> 00:43:02,013 and Machen got killed. 803 00:43:02,047 --> 00:43:04,616 It was tough to take because, first off, 804 00:43:04,650 --> 00:43:07,185 he got killed in there, 805 00:43:07,218 --> 00:43:14,059 and then, you know, we always bring our people back. 806 00:43:17,763 --> 00:43:21,700 One of the guys picked him up and carried him out, 807 00:43:21,733 --> 00:43:25,103 and it was touch-and-go, 808 00:43:25,136 --> 00:43:27,639 but they were able to get back to the boat 809 00:43:27,673 --> 00:43:31,176 with everybody intact except for Billy. 810 00:43:31,209 --> 00:43:33,979 It was a tough loss. 811 00:43:34,012 --> 00:43:36,815 Despite the SEALs' growing reputation 812 00:43:36,848 --> 00:43:39,117 as invincible commandos, 813 00:43:39,150 --> 00:43:42,553 Billy Machen proved they were quite mortal. 814 00:43:42,587 --> 00:43:45,523 He was the first Navy SEAL combat death 815 00:43:45,556 --> 00:43:48,193 of the Vietnam War. 816 00:43:48,226 --> 00:43:51,830 But as the teams expanded their direct action missions, 817 00:43:51,863 --> 00:43:54,599 he would not be the last. 818 00:43:54,632 --> 00:43:58,336 A CIA-backed ongoing operation 819 00:43:58,369 --> 00:44:01,139 would cost five SEALs their lives 820 00:44:01,172 --> 00:44:04,375 as they led local forces and mercenaries on missions 821 00:44:04,409 --> 00:44:07,746 to capture or kill Viet Cong leadership. 822 00:44:07,779 --> 00:44:11,883 Provincial Reconnaissance Units, known as PRUs, 823 00:44:11,917 --> 00:44:15,687 were run under the CIA's infamous Phoenix Program, 824 00:44:15,721 --> 00:44:21,092 an initiative to destroy the Viet Cong Infrastructure. 825 00:44:21,126 --> 00:44:24,595 When the North and South separated, 826 00:44:24,629 --> 00:44:29,634 the North kept a parallel government in South Vietnam. 827 00:44:29,667 --> 00:44:34,505 And the idea was to go kill off this parallel government, 828 00:44:34,539 --> 00:44:39,410 the province chief, the governors, the tax collectors. 829 00:44:39,444 --> 00:44:45,817 It kind of got a bad name of being an assassination outfit. 830 00:44:45,851 --> 00:44:48,720 WEYERS: We were trying to gather intel 831 00:44:48,754 --> 00:44:51,089 is one of the main things you want to do. 832 00:44:51,122 --> 00:44:53,624 If you can capture them without killing them, 833 00:44:53,658 --> 00:44:55,827 you're ahead of the game. 834 00:44:55,861 --> 00:44:59,597 For most cases we were trying to capture them. 835 00:44:59,630 --> 00:45:05,103 I think there were 60 SEALs totally that were involved. 836 00:45:05,136 --> 00:45:08,239 And no one knew we were SEALs. 837 00:45:08,273 --> 00:45:12,343 We had special ID cards and were kept quiet, 838 00:45:12,377 --> 00:45:14,179 and some of the reason is, 839 00:45:14,212 --> 00:45:17,148 I was telling Army majors what to do, 840 00:45:17,182 --> 00:45:20,518 and little do they know that it was an E-6 enlisted SEAL 841 00:45:20,551 --> 00:45:22,287 that was telling them what to do. 842 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:24,355 We had a lot of power, 843 00:45:24,389 --> 00:45:28,526 and it was very effective and also very dangerous. 844 00:45:28,559 --> 00:45:31,029 According to the CIA, 845 00:45:31,062 --> 00:45:33,198 the Provincial Reconnaissance Units became 846 00:45:33,231 --> 00:45:37,568 probably the most controversial element of Phoenix. 847 00:45:37,602 --> 00:45:42,140 The CIA used their existing network of over 100 848 00:45:42,173 --> 00:45:45,743 South Vietnamese district intelligence committees 849 00:45:45,777 --> 00:45:49,180 to compile lists of known Viet Cong Infrastructure, 850 00:45:49,214 --> 00:45:52,250 or VCI, operatives. 851 00:45:52,283 --> 00:45:54,920 These targets' identities were sent 852 00:45:54,953 --> 00:45:59,190 to special forces, police, and the PRUs. 853 00:45:59,224 --> 00:46:04,129 The stated preferred goal was to "neutralize" the VCI 854 00:46:04,162 --> 00:46:08,333 on the list by capturing and interrogating them. 855 00:46:08,366 --> 00:46:11,736 But if they resisted, which apparently thousands did, 856 00:46:11,769 --> 00:46:14,039 they were killed. 857 00:46:14,072 --> 00:46:16,341 There's a degree of it that's uncomfortable 858 00:46:16,374 --> 00:46:19,310 because I was told to not talk about it for a long time. 859 00:46:19,344 --> 00:46:22,347 At one point, I was an assistant principal in a high school 860 00:46:22,380 --> 00:46:25,851 and I didn't really want the kids to know what my past was. 861 00:46:25,884 --> 00:46:27,953 They knew I had been in SEAL Team, 862 00:46:27,986 --> 00:46:30,188 but I never really talked about what I did. 863 00:46:30,221 --> 00:46:33,191 There are parts that I'm uncomfortable with. 864 00:46:33,224 --> 00:46:37,628 I think any time that a warrior starts talking about combat, 865 00:46:37,662 --> 00:46:42,333 there's a part of that person will go back into that, 866 00:46:42,367 --> 00:46:46,071 and I don't want to go there. 867 00:46:46,104 --> 00:46:50,641 SEAL contact with the enemy was close and personal, 868 00:46:50,675 --> 00:46:55,780 often operating just inches from their targets. 869 00:46:55,813 --> 00:46:57,883 Their direct actions were considered 870 00:46:57,916 --> 00:47:00,251 the most effective anti-guerrilla operations 871 00:47:00,285 --> 00:47:02,720 in the war. 872 00:47:02,753 --> 00:47:08,393 The last SEAL platoon left Vietnam on December 7, 1971. 873 00:47:08,426 --> 00:47:11,029 By then, two-thirds of America's troops 874 00:47:11,062 --> 00:47:12,998 had been pulled out. 875 00:47:13,031 --> 00:47:15,800 By early 1972, 876 00:47:15,833 --> 00:47:18,970 the ground war was now mostly the responsibility 877 00:47:19,004 --> 00:47:23,208 of the South Vietnamese. 878 00:47:23,241 --> 00:47:26,077 But a handful of SEAL advisors did remain, 879 00:47:26,111 --> 00:47:29,380 and men like Lt. Tom Norris were still operating 880 00:47:29,414 --> 00:47:32,183 on critical, dangerous missions. 881 00:47:32,217 --> 00:47:34,452 [ jet engine squeals ] 882 00:47:34,485 --> 00:47:39,090 On April 2nd, 1972, a U.S. electronics jamming plane 883 00:47:39,124 --> 00:47:41,759 was shot down in an area that was occupied 884 00:47:41,792 --> 00:47:45,030 by thousands of North Vietnamese troops. 885 00:47:45,063 --> 00:47:50,001 Only the navigator, 53-year-old Lt. Colonel Iceal Hambleton, 886 00:47:50,035 --> 00:47:52,037 survived the crash. 887 00:47:52,070 --> 00:47:56,007 Also, a crewman from another plane, Lieutenant Mark Clark, 888 00:47:56,041 --> 00:47:59,477 was alive on the ground after being shot down. 889 00:47:59,510 --> 00:48:02,113 Clark had been trying to rescue Hambleton, 890 00:48:02,147 --> 00:48:04,950 who possessed U.S. nuclear weapons information -- 891 00:48:04,983 --> 00:48:08,019 secrets that would be of great value to the enemy 892 00:48:08,053 --> 00:48:10,055 if he were captured. 893 00:48:10,088 --> 00:48:14,392 The mission to save Hambleton, whose call sign was "Bat-21," 894 00:48:14,425 --> 00:48:18,163 was memorialized in a book and movie. 895 00:48:18,196 --> 00:48:21,066 When Tom Norris undertook the rescue mission, 896 00:48:21,099 --> 00:48:25,703 12 airmen had already died trying to save Hambleton. 897 00:48:25,736 --> 00:48:28,039 Rescue helicopters kept being shot down 898 00:48:28,073 --> 00:48:31,509 in the North Vietnamese controlled area. 899 00:48:31,542 --> 00:48:34,045 But Norris was able to walk in 900 00:48:34,079 --> 00:48:36,414 and snatch Lieutenant Clark 901 00:48:36,447 --> 00:48:38,950 from the riverbed where he was hiding. 902 00:48:38,984 --> 00:48:41,119 Then Tom Norris headed back 903 00:48:41,152 --> 00:48:43,554 into the heavily patrolled enemy area 904 00:48:43,588 --> 00:48:46,958 to save Lt. Colonel Hambleton. 905 00:48:46,992 --> 00:48:49,060 I was talking to the forward air controllers, 906 00:48:49,094 --> 00:48:50,861 and they were telling me that Hambleton's not making 907 00:48:50,895 --> 00:48:53,031 his scheduled calls to them. 908 00:48:53,064 --> 00:48:56,101 And when he is, he's not very coherent 909 00:48:56,134 --> 00:48:59,637 and they think he's losing -- he's not going to make it. 910 00:48:59,670 --> 00:49:02,073 So I went, "Okay, we're gonna go after him." 911 00:49:02,107 --> 00:49:05,510 Tom Norris and his South Vietnamese partner, Kiet, 912 00:49:05,543 --> 00:49:10,148 traveled by sampan to blend in with the local river traffic. 913 00:49:10,181 --> 00:49:14,752 And we came out of the fog just below the Cam Lo Bridge, 914 00:49:14,785 --> 00:49:17,622 which was supposed to have been disabled. 915 00:49:17,655 --> 00:49:19,357 It was not. 916 00:49:19,390 --> 00:49:21,459 But it told me exactly where I was. 917 00:49:21,492 --> 00:49:23,928 Tom didn't know it at the time, 918 00:49:23,961 --> 00:49:27,165 but there were 30,000 North Vietnamese troops 919 00:49:27,198 --> 00:49:29,334 crossing the Cam Lo Bridge. 920 00:49:29,367 --> 00:49:31,136 From that, I had a pretty good idea 921 00:49:31,169 --> 00:49:32,770 where to start looking for Hambleton 922 00:49:32,803 --> 00:49:35,306 because the forward air controllers had seen him 923 00:49:35,340 --> 00:49:38,676 and they had been able to get a location on him from that. 924 00:49:38,709 --> 00:49:41,412 We got to an area where I thought looked pretty good, 925 00:49:41,446 --> 00:49:44,615 beached the sampan, climbed up on the bank and started looking, 926 00:49:44,649 --> 00:49:47,485 and the guy was 25 yards off the bank, 927 00:49:47,518 --> 00:49:51,189 sitting there in a bunch of shrubbery, you know? 928 00:49:51,222 --> 00:49:54,259 He saw me, and of course, he lit up 929 00:49:54,292 --> 00:49:58,763 and he started smiling and waving. 930 00:49:58,796 --> 00:50:00,965 So we loaded him on the sampan, put a couple life vests on him, 931 00:50:00,998 --> 00:50:02,667 put him at the bottom of the sampan, 932 00:50:02,700 --> 00:50:04,269 put a bunch of vegetation on him. 933 00:50:04,302 --> 00:50:05,970 Kiet got in the front, I got in the back, 934 00:50:06,003 --> 00:50:07,905 and we headed off downstream. 935 00:50:07,938 --> 00:50:10,241 Racing towards their base, 936 00:50:10,275 --> 00:50:12,977 the men were spotted by the North Vietnamese, 937 00:50:13,010 --> 00:50:15,913 but Norris and Kiet kept paddling furiously 938 00:50:15,946 --> 00:50:18,015 along the far side of the river, 939 00:50:18,049 --> 00:50:20,351 trying to outdistance the enemy, 940 00:50:20,385 --> 00:50:23,321 when they came under withering machine-gun fire. 941 00:50:23,354 --> 00:50:27,024 Norris called in air support. 942 00:50:27,058 --> 00:50:31,028 The men finally reached the safety of their camp. 943 00:50:31,062 --> 00:50:33,564 Doctors later reported that Hambleton, 944 00:50:33,598 --> 00:50:38,236 who had lost 45 pounds over his 11.5-day ordeal, 945 00:50:38,269 --> 00:50:42,006 could not have lasted much longer. 946 00:50:42,039 --> 00:50:46,777 And, as it had for over 10 years, 947 00:50:46,811 --> 00:50:50,381 the Vietnam War bled on. 948 00:50:50,415 --> 00:50:53,618 In Paris, President Richard Nixon's 949 00:50:53,651 --> 00:50:56,821 National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, 950 00:50:56,854 --> 00:50:59,724 was in peace talks with the North Vietnamese. 951 00:50:59,757 --> 00:51:01,559 To give him more leverage, 952 00:51:01,592 --> 00:51:04,028 all military options were on the table, 953 00:51:04,061 --> 00:51:06,597 including a massive amphibious landing 954 00:51:06,631 --> 00:51:08,999 near the North Vietnamese border. 955 00:51:09,033 --> 00:51:11,702 Two of the few SEALs left in country 956 00:51:11,736 --> 00:51:14,305 undertook a reconnaissance mission: 957 00:51:14,339 --> 00:51:16,241 Lieutenant Tom Norris, 958 00:51:16,274 --> 00:51:19,944 who six months earlier made the Bat-21 rescue, 959 00:51:19,977 --> 00:51:21,979 and Petty Officer Mike Thornton 960 00:51:22,012 --> 00:51:25,850 were joined by three South Vietnamese special operators. 961 00:51:25,883 --> 00:51:29,620 Norris, who was scheduled to go home in about a week, 962 00:51:29,654 --> 00:51:33,224 hand-picked Mike Thornton for the operation. 963 00:51:33,258 --> 00:51:36,127 NORRIS: Mike's the kind of guy that you think a SEAL should be. 964 00:51:36,161 --> 00:51:40,030 He's the big, muscular, you know, "I'm a SEAL." 965 00:51:40,064 --> 00:51:43,701 The rest of us, in actuality, most of them are my size. 966 00:51:43,734 --> 00:51:45,636 They're not big guys at all. 967 00:51:45,670 --> 00:51:47,938 They're tough average-sized folks. 968 00:51:47,972 --> 00:51:50,675 Tom and Mike's mission called for them to reconnoiter 969 00:51:50,708 --> 00:51:53,944 an enemy-held naval base on the Cua Viet River 970 00:51:53,978 --> 00:51:56,681 and see how heavily defended it was. 971 00:51:56,714 --> 00:51:59,016 Was it vulnerable to being captured 972 00:51:59,049 --> 00:52:02,086 for a possible amphibious landing site? 973 00:52:02,119 --> 00:52:03,988 Planned to go up with the Vietnamese. 974 00:52:04,021 --> 00:52:06,557 They were gonna drop us off into small little rubber rafts 975 00:52:06,591 --> 00:52:09,627 called Inflatable Boat, Small -- IBSs. 976 00:52:09,660 --> 00:52:11,562 And we were gonna paddle into an area 977 00:52:11,596 --> 00:52:14,532 and then offload from the IBSs and swim into the beach 978 00:52:14,565 --> 00:52:17,067 and do our patrol and then come back out again. 979 00:52:17,101 --> 00:52:19,637 The SEALs did not know it at the time, 980 00:52:19,670 --> 00:52:22,240 but their Vietnamese boat driver inserted them 981 00:52:22,273 --> 00:52:25,510 far north of their intended drop point. 982 00:52:25,543 --> 00:52:27,812 We slipped in the water and swam to the beach. 983 00:52:27,845 --> 00:52:30,915 Tommy sent me up over -- I had a Starlight scope 984 00:52:30,948 --> 00:52:33,117 and went up over the beach, looked both ways 985 00:52:33,150 --> 00:52:35,085 to make sure the areas were clear. 986 00:52:35,119 --> 00:52:36,721 Couldn't see the Cua Viet, 987 00:52:36,754 --> 00:52:39,590 but we brought everybody up over the beach one at a time. 988 00:52:39,624 --> 00:52:42,893 The men did not find the river where they were supposed to be, 989 00:52:42,927 --> 00:52:47,632 but as dawn was about to break, they spotted something ominous. 990 00:52:47,665 --> 00:52:50,335 We're looking around and Mike says -- he called me Nasty. 991 00:52:50,368 --> 00:52:52,102 He says, "Hey, Nasty, is that what I think it is 992 00:52:52,136 --> 00:52:53,638 up there on the hill?" 993 00:52:53,671 --> 00:52:56,073 And I said, "If you're talking about that tank, absolutely." 994 00:52:56,106 --> 00:52:58,843 He said, "Okay. Just thought I'd check." You know? 995 00:52:58,876 --> 00:53:00,978 [ laughs ] 996 00:53:01,011 --> 00:53:03,781 "We're fine where we are, but you know? 997 00:53:03,814 --> 00:53:06,684 They're up there, we're down here. It's okay." 998 00:53:06,717 --> 00:53:09,420 And it didn't end up that way. 999 00:53:09,454 --> 00:53:11,422 There was a patrol that came down the beach. 1000 00:53:11,456 --> 00:53:13,224 The officer that was with us 1001 00:53:13,258 --> 00:53:15,159 decided that they thought it would be a good idea 1002 00:53:15,192 --> 00:53:17,061 to see if we could do a body snatch. 1003 00:53:17,094 --> 00:53:19,230 He stood up behind the sand dunes and yelled, 1004 00:53:19,264 --> 00:53:20,765 [ speaks in Vietnamese ] 1005 00:53:20,798 --> 00:53:22,267 It means, "Come here." 1006 00:53:22,300 --> 00:53:24,469 - Tried to call the guy over. - Tried to call the guy over. 1007 00:53:24,502 --> 00:53:26,404 The guy's got an AK-47. 1008 00:53:26,437 --> 00:53:27,972 He's got this little... 1009 00:53:28,005 --> 00:53:31,676 And this guy's 100, probably 100 yards away from him and... 1010 00:53:31,709 --> 00:53:33,811 Things went from bad to worse. 1011 00:53:33,844 --> 00:53:37,715 You know, we got in a tremendous firefight. 1012 00:53:37,748 --> 00:53:40,485 The South Vietnamese officer's decision 1013 00:53:40,518 --> 00:53:43,921 to attempt to capture an enemy soldier by shouting at him 1014 00:53:43,954 --> 00:53:45,956 ended up alerting the North Vietnamese 1015 00:53:45,990 --> 00:53:48,025 to the Americans' presence. 1016 00:53:48,058 --> 00:53:50,728 The two SEALs and the three South Vietnamese operators 1017 00:53:50,761 --> 00:53:55,966 found themselves overwhelmed by a force of roughly 300. 1018 00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:57,535 They had dunes all up here. 1019 00:53:57,568 --> 00:53:59,370 So I would move up here and shoot. 1020 00:53:59,404 --> 00:54:01,105 And then I'd fall back and shoot. 1021 00:54:01,138 --> 00:54:02,840 And I'd roll over here and throw a grenade over there, 1022 00:54:02,873 --> 00:54:04,241 and then I'd shoot. 1023 00:54:04,275 --> 00:54:05,976 But by me moving around, 1024 00:54:06,010 --> 00:54:07,712 it gave them a false pretense as to how many people we had. 1025 00:54:07,745 --> 00:54:09,414 Thought we had a lot more people. 1026 00:54:09,447 --> 00:54:11,916 And we did that a lot, a lot of shooting and maneuvering. 1027 00:54:11,949 --> 00:54:14,352 After a three-hour firefight, 1028 00:54:14,385 --> 00:54:17,655 the North Vietnamese troops began to pull back. 1029 00:54:17,688 --> 00:54:21,659 But the SEALs realized that their enemy was not retreating, 1030 00:54:21,692 --> 00:54:24,862 merely repositioning to surround them. 1031 00:54:24,895 --> 00:54:29,166 Tom Norris used his radio to call in an American destroyer 1032 00:54:29,199 --> 00:54:31,902 to bombard their position. 1033 00:54:31,936 --> 00:54:34,204 "We're gonna be overrun. 1034 00:54:34,238 --> 00:54:36,607 This is what I need, and I want you to fire for effect." 1035 00:54:36,641 --> 00:54:38,142 And of course to them, 1036 00:54:38,175 --> 00:54:40,010 that means you're throwing rounds right on top of us. 1037 00:54:40,044 --> 00:54:41,879 And the guy comes back and he says, 1038 00:54:41,912 --> 00:54:43,514 "Understand fire for effect?" 1039 00:54:43,548 --> 00:54:45,716 And I said, "Absolutely. Put it on us." 1040 00:54:45,750 --> 00:54:48,185 And he said, "Are you sure?" 1041 00:54:48,218 --> 00:54:50,421 And I said, "Get it in here!" 1042 00:54:50,455 --> 00:54:52,156 And they did. I mean, they brought it in. 1043 00:54:52,189 --> 00:54:53,724 Thank goodness. 1044 00:54:53,758 --> 00:54:57,662 But, I mean, it was a long time coming. 1045 00:54:57,695 --> 00:54:59,730 As soon as I said, "Mike, we're extracting," 1046 00:54:59,764 --> 00:55:01,499 we started leapfrogging out of there, 1047 00:55:01,532 --> 00:55:03,100 and I'm the last guy up there. 1048 00:55:03,133 --> 00:55:07,171 So I'm covering those guys until it's my turn to leapfrog out. 1049 00:55:07,204 --> 00:55:09,173 And that never happened, because I got shot. 1050 00:55:09,206 --> 00:55:10,808 I mean, I knew I'd been hit. 1051 00:55:10,841 --> 00:55:13,444 But I didn't -- I didn't know how bad. 1052 00:55:13,478 --> 00:55:16,914 So I'm scrounging around to find my rifle 1053 00:55:16,947 --> 00:55:19,149 to try and, you know, shoot back. 1054 00:55:19,183 --> 00:55:21,118 And I'm seeing tunnel vision come in, 1055 00:55:21,151 --> 00:55:23,320 and I'm fighting, going, "No, no, no, no, no, no!" 1056 00:55:23,354 --> 00:55:26,290 Because I need to shoot. I mean, I need to cover my guys. 1057 00:55:26,323 --> 00:55:28,459 And, boom, I went out. 1058 00:55:28,493 --> 00:55:30,728 Later on, I see Dang coming back by himself, 1059 00:55:30,761 --> 00:55:31,996 and I said, "Where's Tom?" 1060 00:55:32,029 --> 00:55:34,999 He said, "He's dead." And I said, "Stay here." 1061 00:55:35,032 --> 00:55:37,768 They both grabbed me and I said, "Stay here. I'll go get Tommy." 1062 00:55:37,802 --> 00:55:39,136 I thought he was dead, 1063 00:55:39,169 --> 00:55:40,705 but I wasn't going to leave him behind. 1064 00:55:40,738 --> 00:55:43,374 That was the thing, that we never leave anybody behind. 1065 00:55:43,408 --> 00:55:45,643 So I sure wasn't going to be the first one. 1066 00:55:45,676 --> 00:55:47,678 When Mike got to Tom's position, 1067 00:55:47,712 --> 00:55:50,247 it was being overrun by the enemy. 1068 00:55:50,280 --> 00:55:52,750 I eliminated several other guys coming over the top. 1069 00:55:52,783 --> 00:55:54,819 Then I picked him up and started running, 1070 00:55:54,852 --> 00:55:56,887 and that's when the first round hit. 1071 00:55:56,921 --> 00:55:59,256 And we got blown into the sky. 1072 00:55:59,289 --> 00:56:02,493 And I fell and I saw him flying off my shoulders. 1073 00:56:02,527 --> 00:56:04,862 When I picked up Tommy, he said, "Mike, buddy." 1074 00:56:04,895 --> 00:56:06,363 And that's when I knew he was back alive. 1075 00:56:06,397 --> 00:56:08,198 I had blood all over my face. 1076 00:56:08,232 --> 00:56:10,601 I mean, my brain was hanging out and I don't know what all. 1077 00:56:10,635 --> 00:56:12,503 Bad guys just shooting at us, 1078 00:56:12,537 --> 00:56:14,639 and I could see rounds hitting the water going, 1079 00:56:14,672 --> 00:56:16,507 "Cha-cha-ching! Cha-cha-ching! Cha-cha-ching!" 1080 00:56:16,541 --> 00:56:19,376 And pretty soon, I'm kind of losing consciousness again, 1081 00:56:19,410 --> 00:56:22,179 and Mike's trying to pull me out to sea. 1082 00:56:22,212 --> 00:56:25,683 Shot through his leg and hit with shrapnel in his back, 1083 00:56:25,716 --> 00:56:27,785 Mike Thornton was now swimming 1084 00:56:27,818 --> 00:56:30,354 two injured comrades out to sea: 1085 00:56:30,387 --> 00:56:32,990 Tom Norris, who was barely alive, 1086 00:56:33,023 --> 00:56:35,359 and one of the South Vietnamese operators 1087 00:56:35,392 --> 00:56:38,362 who'd also been shot and couldn't swim. 1088 00:56:38,395 --> 00:56:40,998 Mike carried them both for several hours 1089 00:56:41,031 --> 00:56:43,634 before they were finally picked up. 1090 00:56:43,668 --> 00:56:46,003 The doctor gave him no chance at all to live. 1091 00:56:46,036 --> 00:56:49,373 His first operation was almost 19 and a half hours long. 1092 00:56:49,406 --> 00:56:53,077 Nearly a year after saving Tom Norris's life, 1093 00:56:53,110 --> 00:56:56,146 Mike Thornton would be awarded the Medal of Honor, 1094 00:56:56,180 --> 00:56:59,183 America's highest military honor. 1095 00:56:59,216 --> 00:57:02,119 But Norris was still in the hospital. 1096 00:57:02,152 --> 00:57:04,455 When Mike was to receive his medal, of course, 1097 00:57:04,489 --> 00:57:06,290 he wanted me to be there. 1098 00:57:06,323 --> 00:57:08,225 We went to the hospital and said, 1099 00:57:08,258 --> 00:57:11,195 "You know, I'd like to be able to be at this ceremony." 1100 00:57:11,228 --> 00:57:12,963 And they felt that was -- 1101 00:57:12,997 --> 00:57:15,466 I mean, medically, I wasn't supposed to be doing that. 1102 00:57:15,500 --> 00:57:17,968 So they said, "No, you can't do that." 1103 00:57:18,002 --> 00:57:20,738 Of course, that's not the thing to tell... 1104 00:57:20,771 --> 00:57:23,641 you just don't tell a SEAL he can't. 1105 00:57:23,674 --> 00:57:26,443 You know, it's not a word in our vocabulary. 1106 00:57:26,477 --> 00:57:29,279 And so we... 1107 00:57:29,313 --> 00:57:30,881 [ laughs ] 1108 00:57:30,915 --> 00:57:32,750 I just went up there in the middle of the night. 1109 00:57:32,783 --> 00:57:34,552 [ laughs ] 1110 00:57:34,585 --> 00:57:36,521 Yeah. Well, he did. 1111 00:57:36,554 --> 00:57:38,923 Mike kind of kidnapped me out of the hospital. 1112 00:57:38,956 --> 00:57:41,158 THORNTON: The Navy got so angry at me 1113 00:57:41,191 --> 00:57:43,160 because I ended up keeping Tommy for four days 1114 00:57:43,193 --> 00:57:44,729 instead of one day. 1115 00:57:44,762 --> 00:57:47,331 I told Admiral Zumwalt, I didn't leave him in North Vietnam, 1116 00:57:47,364 --> 00:57:48,999 and I sure as hell wasn't going to leave him in the hospital 1117 00:57:49,033 --> 00:57:50,367 on that great day. 1118 00:57:50,400 --> 00:57:52,469 I'll never forget President Nixon said, 1119 00:57:52,503 --> 00:57:54,505 "Mike, what can I do for you?" 1120 00:57:54,539 --> 00:57:56,774 And I said, "Well, if you could break this medal in half 1121 00:57:56,807 --> 00:57:59,143 and give the other half to the young man standing behind me, 1122 00:57:59,176 --> 00:58:02,379 because he saved my life, too." 1123 00:58:02,412 --> 00:58:05,750 Four years later, President Gerald Ford 1124 00:58:05,783 --> 00:58:09,319 awarded Tom Norris his own Medal of Honor 1125 00:58:09,353 --> 00:58:12,557 for the rescue of the two downed airmen. 1126 00:58:12,590 --> 00:58:15,526 Once he and Mike Thornton both had received the medal, 1127 00:58:15,560 --> 00:58:18,295 it would be the only time in modern history 1128 00:58:18,328 --> 00:58:22,667 that one recipient had saved the life of another. 1129 00:58:22,700 --> 00:58:25,335 Neither one of us feel that we deserve our medals. 1130 00:58:25,369 --> 00:58:26,671 He may think I deserve mine 1131 00:58:26,704 --> 00:58:28,372 because he's sitting next to me now. 1132 00:58:28,405 --> 00:58:30,407 But did I ever think about it twice 1133 00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:32,042 about going back to get Tommy? 1134 00:58:32,076 --> 00:58:33,711 No, because I knew that he would've done 1135 00:58:33,744 --> 00:58:35,379 the same thing for me. 1136 00:58:35,412 --> 00:58:37,247 And that's what type of trust that you have to have 1137 00:58:37,281 --> 00:58:40,384 within each other to do missions like that. 1138 00:58:40,417 --> 00:58:46,924 The last SEAL advisor left Vietnam in March of 1973. 1139 00:58:48,092 --> 00:58:50,160 With another war ending, 1140 00:58:50,194 --> 00:58:53,764 the special warfare units were once again imperiled 1141 00:58:53,798 --> 00:58:56,500 by budgets and bureaucracy. 1142 00:58:56,533 --> 00:58:59,604 MAN: The worst time I can remember is post-Vietnam. 1143 00:58:59,637 --> 00:59:03,107 We actually took United States Navy SEALs out of the teams 1144 00:59:03,140 --> 00:59:04,609 and put them back in the fleet. 1145 00:59:04,642 --> 00:59:07,011 At that time the brain power said, 1146 00:59:07,044 --> 00:59:09,546 "Well, we probably don't need that much special operations." 1147 00:59:09,580 --> 00:59:11,849 That was a terrible mistake, 1148 00:59:11,882 --> 00:59:13,884 and a lot of guys suffered for it. 1149 00:59:13,918 --> 00:59:16,987 So I think the darkest time in the 45 years 1150 00:59:17,021 --> 00:59:19,123 I've been associated with this community 1151 00:59:19,156 --> 00:59:22,526 was post-Vietnam just because the SEALs weren't valued. 1152 00:59:22,559 --> 00:59:26,864 Funding for the military, including the SEALs 1153 00:59:26,897 --> 00:59:30,000 and Underwater Demolition Teams, dropped off quite a bit. 1154 00:59:30,034 --> 00:59:33,570 And there was a very low period where it was difficult 1155 00:59:33,604 --> 00:59:38,075 to get the supplies you needed to even train properly. 1156 00:59:38,108 --> 00:59:40,678 We got a lot of training done, 1157 00:59:40,711 --> 00:59:42,546 but we didn't get a lot of shooting done 1158 00:59:42,579 --> 00:59:46,483 because we didn't have the money for bullets at the time. 1159 00:59:46,516 --> 00:59:50,120 Skills atrophied or were not developed with the times. 1160 00:59:50,154 --> 00:59:54,524 That went on for a number of years after Vietnam. 1161 00:59:57,461 --> 01:00:02,900 But special operators would still be needed. 1162 01:00:02,933 --> 01:00:07,137 [ crowd chanting in foreign language ] 1163 01:00:07,171 --> 01:00:10,140 In 1980, President Jimmy Carter 1164 01:00:10,174 --> 01:00:14,011 approved an Army Special Forces rescue of 53 Americans 1165 01:00:14,044 --> 01:00:18,582 being held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran. 1166 01:00:18,615 --> 01:00:23,620 The rescue mission, however, met with disaster 1167 01:00:23,654 --> 01:00:27,992 when a helicopter collided with a C-130 troop carrier 1168 01:00:28,025 --> 01:00:30,494 that was refueling. 1169 01:00:30,527 --> 01:00:35,866 Eight servicemen were killed and several others injured. 1170 01:00:35,900 --> 01:00:39,870 In order to avoid another catastrophe like Desert One, 1171 01:00:39,904 --> 01:00:44,474 the military created two new organizations: 1172 01:00:44,508 --> 01:00:47,011 a Joint Special Operations Command 1173 01:00:47,044 --> 01:00:50,014 to coordinate all special warfare missions 1174 01:00:50,047 --> 01:00:52,649 and SEAL Team Six, the Navy's 1175 01:00:52,683 --> 01:00:56,987 dedicated counter-terror and hostage rescue unit. 1176 01:00:57,021 --> 01:01:00,257 They chose the number six to make the Soviets believe 1177 01:01:00,290 --> 01:01:03,293 there were five other teams working against them. 1178 01:01:03,327 --> 01:01:05,129 [ shouts indistinctly ] 1179 01:01:05,162 --> 01:01:07,564 [ automatic gunfire ] 1180 01:01:12,336 --> 01:01:15,272 While now considered the elite of the elite, 1181 01:01:15,305 --> 01:01:20,677 SEAL Team Six's first combat mission met with tragedy. 1182 01:01:23,180 --> 01:01:26,050 [ explosion ] 1183 01:01:26,083 --> 01:01:29,954 Early this morning, forces from six Caribbean democracies 1184 01:01:29,987 --> 01:01:34,324 and the United States began a landing or landings 1185 01:01:34,358 --> 01:01:38,228 on the island of Grenada in the Eastern Caribbean. 1186 01:01:38,262 --> 01:01:42,232 When President Ronald Reagan gave the go-ahead 1187 01:01:42,266 --> 01:01:46,070 for Operation Urgent Fury, he expressed concern 1188 01:01:46,103 --> 01:01:52,009 for the safety of 600 U.S. medical students on Grenada. 1189 01:01:52,042 --> 01:01:54,912 But the underlying concerns were, once again, 1190 01:01:54,945 --> 01:01:57,948 about the spread of Communism. 1191 01:01:57,982 --> 01:02:01,085 The country's Marxist prime minister had been gunned down 1192 01:02:01,118 --> 01:02:03,120 by even more radical members 1193 01:02:03,153 --> 01:02:06,356 of his Cuban-influenced administration. 1194 01:02:06,390 --> 01:02:09,226 Grenadian military forces had been augmented 1195 01:02:09,259 --> 01:02:14,731 by Cubans and other Soviet Bloc troops. 1196 01:02:14,765 --> 01:02:19,136 Reagan saw the prospect of another Communist toehold 1197 01:02:19,169 --> 01:02:21,839 in the Americas as unacceptable 1198 01:02:21,872 --> 01:02:25,209 and ordered the American military to capture the island 1199 01:02:25,242 --> 01:02:28,946 and restore constitutional democracy. 1200 01:02:28,979 --> 01:02:33,083 While this was America's first major combat operation 1201 01:02:33,117 --> 01:02:37,922 since leaving Vietnam, it was planned in just three days. 1202 01:02:41,591 --> 01:02:46,363 SEAL Team Six was part of the rushed operation. 1203 01:02:46,396 --> 01:02:50,234 Twelve teammates undertook an ill-planned parachute insertion 1204 01:02:50,267 --> 01:02:52,536 in heavy winds. 1205 01:02:52,569 --> 01:02:56,140 Intelligence failed to consider daylight savings time, 1206 01:02:56,173 --> 01:03:00,110 and a daytime mission faded into night. 1207 01:03:00,144 --> 01:03:03,213 The men were dropped in the wrong place. 1208 01:03:03,247 --> 01:03:06,016 Ten-foot swells and a driving rain 1209 01:03:06,050 --> 01:03:09,386 dragged the men and their parachutes. 1210 01:03:09,419 --> 01:03:13,590 Four SEALs perished that night. 1211 01:03:16,226 --> 01:03:20,164 Other SEALs were able to save the Commonwealth governor, 1212 01:03:20,197 --> 01:03:24,401 who went on to stabilize the country. 1213 01:03:24,434 --> 01:03:27,437 And the mission in Grenada was hailed by President Reagan 1214 01:03:27,471 --> 01:03:32,376 as a triumph over Communism. 1215 01:03:32,409 --> 01:03:34,378 But the operation exposed the need 1216 01:03:34,411 --> 01:03:36,981 for better Joint Special Ops communications 1217 01:03:37,014 --> 01:03:39,449 and cross-service training. 1218 01:03:39,483 --> 01:03:43,120 The SEAL community did some soul-searching. 1219 01:03:43,153 --> 01:03:45,923 If it was a training exercise, we would've cancelled this. 1220 01:03:45,956 --> 01:03:48,525 But we can't. This is real world; in you go. 1221 01:03:48,558 --> 01:03:50,194 And so you look at those things, 1222 01:03:50,227 --> 01:03:54,131 and you talk about it in very gloves-off terms 1223 01:03:54,164 --> 01:03:57,434 not to assign blame, but how do we train ourselves 1224 01:03:57,467 --> 01:03:59,436 or how do we prevent this from happening again? 1225 01:03:59,469 --> 01:04:01,138 Because had we made the better decision, 1226 01:04:01,171 --> 01:04:02,907 this would not have taken place. 1227 01:04:02,940 --> 01:04:06,610 We wouldn't have lost those people. 1228 01:04:06,643 --> 01:04:09,113 [ automatic gunfire ] 1229 01:04:09,146 --> 01:04:11,815 The SEALs had been fighting Communism 1230 01:04:11,848 --> 01:04:14,018 since their inception. 1231 01:04:14,051 --> 01:04:17,754 But the threats were shifting in the 1980s. 1232 01:04:17,787 --> 01:04:20,024 There were Islamist militants 1233 01:04:20,057 --> 01:04:22,859 who held Americans hostage in Iran. 1234 01:04:22,893 --> 01:04:25,029 Then the war on drugs flared 1235 01:04:25,062 --> 01:04:30,000 and President George H.W. Bush sent the U.S. military, 1236 01:04:30,034 --> 01:04:32,336 including the Navy SEALs, 1237 01:04:32,369 --> 01:04:35,973 to capture Panamanian drug lord Manuel Noriega 1238 01:04:36,006 --> 01:04:39,043 in December 1989. 1239 01:04:43,347 --> 01:04:45,682 Six weeks before that, however... 1240 01:04:45,715 --> 01:04:47,417 [ jackhammer pounding ] 1241 01:04:47,451 --> 01:04:50,988 the Cold War took a turn. 1242 01:04:51,021 --> 01:04:54,558 The Berlin Wall came shattering down. 1243 01:04:54,591 --> 01:05:00,630 [ cheering and applause ] 1244 01:05:00,664 --> 01:05:03,233 Much of the history of the 20th century 1245 01:05:03,267 --> 01:05:05,869 is written in the struggle for dominion 1246 01:05:05,902 --> 01:05:09,206 between communism and democracy. 1247 01:05:09,239 --> 01:05:12,842 There is no more enduring symbol of the Cold War 1248 01:05:12,876 --> 01:05:15,445 than of the Berlin Wall... 1249 01:05:15,479 --> 01:05:17,547 [ people shouting and singing ] 1250 01:05:17,581 --> 01:05:20,817 even in pieces. 1251 01:05:20,850 --> 01:05:24,621 Erected in 1961 as a permanent border 1252 01:05:24,654 --> 01:05:26,823 between East and West Berlin, 1253 01:05:26,856 --> 01:05:29,726 it was designed to keep East German defectors 1254 01:05:29,759 --> 01:05:33,063 from leaving the Communist Bloc and heading West. 1255 01:05:33,097 --> 01:05:36,800 [ trumpet blaring and people cheering ] 1256 01:05:36,833 --> 01:05:39,336 Although the wall was down... 1257 01:05:39,369 --> 01:05:42,339 [ bomb squeals and explodes ] 1258 01:05:42,372 --> 01:05:45,209 the U.S. military continued preparing 1259 01:05:45,242 --> 01:05:48,145 against its traditional enemy, 1260 01:05:48,178 --> 01:05:51,948 not knowing the extent of an ongoing Soviet threat. 1261 01:05:51,982 --> 01:05:53,483 [ ** ] 1262 01:05:53,517 --> 01:05:58,555 So the men just kept training -- Cold War training. 1263 01:05:58,588 --> 01:06:00,790 Foxtrot Bravo, this is Alpha Charlie. 1264 01:06:00,824 --> 01:06:03,193 We worked with the Norwegians and the Germans, 1265 01:06:03,227 --> 01:06:06,463 and we did crazy stuff like 1266 01:06:06,496 --> 01:06:10,867 the border of the Soviet Union on skis. 1267 01:06:10,900 --> 01:06:13,970 And we would go out and patrol for days and days, 1268 01:06:14,004 --> 01:06:17,374 living in the Arctic, below zero, 1269 01:06:17,407 --> 01:06:19,709 thinking we were going to stop the Soviet invasion? 1270 01:06:19,743 --> 01:06:22,579 I don't know. 1271 01:06:22,612 --> 01:06:24,514 But as the threat of war 1272 01:06:24,548 --> 01:06:27,517 between the Soviet Union and the United States declined, 1273 01:06:27,551 --> 01:06:33,423 a new enemy was on the rise: al-Qaeda. 1274 01:06:33,457 --> 01:06:39,396 In its first attack on America, the terrorist organization 1275 01:06:39,429 --> 01:06:43,767 bombed New York's World Trade Center in February, 1993, 1276 01:06:43,800 --> 01:06:47,137 killing 6 and wounding 1,000. 1277 01:06:49,306 --> 01:06:53,977 This was the same year that Osama bin Laden issued a fatwa, 1278 01:06:54,010 --> 01:06:55,479 urging his followers 1279 01:06:55,512 --> 01:06:58,848 to kill American soldiers stationed in Somalia 1280 01:06:58,882 --> 01:07:03,153 as part of a United Nations humanitarian mission. 1281 01:07:03,187 --> 01:07:06,790 bin Laden provided military training to Somali tribes 1282 01:07:06,823 --> 01:07:10,160 opposed to the UN's intervention. 1283 01:07:10,194 --> 01:07:16,100 My first actual combat mission was in Somalia in 1993. 1284 01:07:16,133 --> 01:07:18,935 I was a member of Task Force Ranger, 1285 01:07:18,968 --> 01:07:22,306 which was a Joint Special Operations task force 1286 01:07:22,339 --> 01:07:27,911 that went overseas to Somalia to capture Mohamed Farrah Aidid, 1287 01:07:27,944 --> 01:07:29,746 who happened to be one of the warlords 1288 01:07:29,779 --> 01:07:32,349 in control of the area at the time. 1289 01:07:32,382 --> 01:07:35,252 [ men chanting and clapping ] 1290 01:07:35,285 --> 01:07:37,654 They were taking control of the food, 1291 01:07:37,687 --> 01:07:40,090 which was causing famine for a lot of people. 1292 01:07:40,124 --> 01:07:42,326 Innocent civilians were dying. 1293 01:07:42,359 --> 01:07:45,662 [ ** ] 1294 01:07:48,098 --> 01:07:51,335 And before we had actually deployed over there, 1295 01:07:51,368 --> 01:07:53,837 they had actually killed a group of Pakistani soldiers 1296 01:07:53,870 --> 01:07:55,472 and massacred them. 1297 01:07:55,505 --> 01:07:58,408 So our job was to go in there and try and capture him. 1298 01:08:04,514 --> 01:08:09,286 I was part of a small SEAL sniper team of four guys, 1299 01:08:09,319 --> 01:08:12,222 very close-knit, and our specialty 1300 01:08:12,256 --> 01:08:17,494 was sniping off of helicopters. 1301 01:08:17,527 --> 01:08:21,565 We thought that that's the skill set they needed in Somalia. 1302 01:08:21,598 --> 01:08:23,133 When we got on the ground, though, 1303 01:08:23,167 --> 01:08:25,935 it was a different story. 1304 01:08:25,969 --> 01:08:27,637 The Army was in charge, 1305 01:08:27,671 --> 01:08:29,973 rightfully so -- we were only four SEALs -- 1306 01:08:30,006 --> 01:08:32,976 and they decided to use their guys in those roles. 1307 01:08:33,009 --> 01:08:36,045 So we just took it upon ourselves to find a job. 1308 01:08:36,079 --> 01:08:38,548 You know, that's what SEALs do. 1309 01:08:38,582 --> 01:08:42,286 We weren't just going to sit on the cots at the airport. 1310 01:08:42,319 --> 01:08:45,054 Rick Kaiser and his teammates from SEAL Team Six 1311 01:08:45,088 --> 01:08:47,023 successfully carried out 1312 01:08:47,056 --> 01:08:49,859 several "snatch and grab" missions in Mogadishu, 1313 01:08:49,893 --> 01:08:52,862 intent on capturing Aidid's top lieutenants 1314 01:08:52,896 --> 01:08:56,900 on their way to the warlord himself. 1315 01:08:56,933 --> 01:08:59,969 The SEAL utility vehicle, right, was our transportation, 1316 01:09:00,003 --> 01:09:02,071 even though it was not armored at all. 1317 01:09:02,105 --> 01:09:03,807 It was very dangerous. 1318 01:09:03,840 --> 01:09:06,410 So anyway, we went in to reload our magazines, get some water, 1319 01:09:06,443 --> 01:09:08,912 and get ready to go out, and I went to the bathroom. 1320 01:09:08,945 --> 01:09:12,015 And when I came back, all the guys were in the Humvee already, 1321 01:09:12,048 --> 01:09:15,219 ready to go, except for one place: the driving seat. 1322 01:09:15,252 --> 01:09:18,755 And I looked at them and I go, "You bastards," you know? 1323 01:09:18,788 --> 01:09:20,624 Because that is the worst place to be 1324 01:09:20,657 --> 01:09:22,459 is in the driver's seat, because you can't shoot. 1325 01:09:22,492 --> 01:09:24,228 You gotta just drive. 1326 01:09:24,261 --> 01:09:25,862 You're just like, wide open, 1327 01:09:25,895 --> 01:09:28,665 especially with no door and no armor or nothing. 1328 01:09:28,698 --> 01:09:31,301 But they all looked at me, and I could just see them, 1329 01:09:31,335 --> 01:09:33,437 a couple of guys were behind the sandbags going like this... 1330 01:09:33,470 --> 01:09:35,272 laughing at me. 1331 01:09:35,305 --> 01:09:38,208 I was like, man, it didn't pay to go to the bathroom. 1332 01:09:38,242 --> 01:09:41,978 So before the big battle on October the 3rd, 1333 01:09:42,011 --> 01:09:45,882 we had already conducted, I think, six other missions. 1334 01:09:45,915 --> 01:09:49,719 All of which gave us, I think, overconfidence 1335 01:09:49,753 --> 01:09:53,490 that we could do whatever we wanted in the city, 1336 01:09:53,523 --> 01:09:56,760 that the enemy was not that fierce. 1337 01:09:56,793 --> 01:10:01,331 But unfortunately, you know, as events unfolded on October 3rd, 1338 01:10:01,365 --> 01:10:03,667 when we were doing another typical mission 1339 01:10:03,700 --> 01:10:05,502 to go into a city, 1340 01:10:05,535 --> 01:10:08,238 to a hotel in the heart of the bad-guy territory, 1341 01:10:08,272 --> 01:10:11,140 one of our helicopters got shot down. 1342 01:10:11,174 --> 01:10:16,880 Then Islamist militants shot down a second U.S. helicopter. 1343 01:10:16,913 --> 01:10:20,183 But the men trying to rescue the embattled Americans 1344 01:10:20,216 --> 01:10:22,051 also got trapped. 1345 01:10:22,085 --> 01:10:24,220 Ninety-nine U.S. servicemen 1346 01:10:24,254 --> 01:10:26,856 were now stranded in the middle of the city, 1347 01:10:26,890 --> 01:10:30,360 surrounded by thousands of armed fighters. 1348 01:10:30,394 --> 01:10:33,463 This operation was memorialized in the book and movie 1349 01:10:33,497 --> 01:10:37,033 called Black Hawk Down. 1350 01:10:37,066 --> 01:10:38,968 It was not widely reported 1351 01:10:39,002 --> 01:10:42,071 that four Navy SEALs worked with Army Rangers 1352 01:10:42,105 --> 01:10:44,908 to rescue their downed soldiers. 1353 01:10:44,941 --> 01:10:48,111 So we were in a gun battle from about noon that day 1354 01:10:48,144 --> 01:10:50,046 until noon the next. 1355 01:10:50,079 --> 01:10:53,049 [ gunfire and shouting ] 1356 01:11:09,466 --> 01:11:11,301 We took wounded guys in 1357 01:11:11,335 --> 01:11:13,236 and we went back out and fought some more, 1358 01:11:13,269 --> 01:11:15,839 took some more back in, and then we went out a third time 1359 01:11:15,872 --> 01:11:18,475 to rescue the guys in the helicopter. 1360 01:11:18,508 --> 01:11:22,145 And we did. We finally got them out. 1361 01:11:23,913 --> 01:11:26,249 Although 18 Americans died 1362 01:11:26,282 --> 01:11:29,719 in perhaps the fiercest firefight since Vietnam, 1363 01:11:29,753 --> 01:11:33,256 every SEAL who was in Mogadishu earned a Silver Star 1364 01:11:33,289 --> 01:11:35,525 for valor in combat. 1365 01:11:35,559 --> 01:11:38,695 But the brutality of the battle was broadcast 1366 01:11:38,728 --> 01:11:40,897 and the U.S. withdrew. 1367 01:11:40,930 --> 01:11:45,168 Known as the Mogadishu Effect, fear of public humiliation 1368 01:11:45,201 --> 01:11:49,906 underscored many future U.S. foreign policy decisions. 1369 01:11:49,939 --> 01:11:54,511 But a loss for America was taken as a victory by al-Qaeda. 1370 01:11:54,544 --> 01:11:56,713 What we found out later is that 1371 01:11:56,746 --> 01:11:59,483 that was really a test bed for al-Qaeda 1372 01:11:59,516 --> 01:12:02,619 and other Islamic militants for the future, 1373 01:12:02,652 --> 01:12:04,654 because what they saw us do 1374 01:12:04,688 --> 01:12:08,324 was when the going got tough and Americans got killed, we left. 1375 01:12:08,358 --> 01:12:10,560 So it really gave them the courage 1376 01:12:10,594 --> 01:12:15,164 to carry on and fight us, you know, all the way up to 9/11. 1377 01:12:16,766 --> 01:12:19,636 [ explosion ] 1378 01:12:23,407 --> 01:12:28,945 September 11, 2001, was a new generation's Pearl Harbor. 1379 01:12:28,978 --> 01:12:32,382 [ engines humming ] 1380 01:12:32,416 --> 01:12:35,084 [ explosion ] 1381 01:12:39,088 --> 01:12:43,026 But after that deadly attack on America in 1941, 1382 01:12:43,059 --> 01:12:49,365 there was an obvious enemy and a nation to hold responsible. 1383 01:12:49,399 --> 01:12:52,569 [ sirens blaring ] 1384 01:12:54,738 --> 01:12:58,808 Sixty years later, 9/11 was different. 1385 01:12:58,842 --> 01:13:01,811 Terror had no government. 1386 01:13:09,753 --> 01:13:13,623 [ siren blaring and fire truck horn honking ] 1387 01:13:17,360 --> 01:13:20,464 I was in the Operations Department at Dev Group 1388 01:13:20,497 --> 01:13:22,566 when 9/11 happened. 1389 01:13:22,599 --> 01:13:24,934 We were standing in our operations center, 1390 01:13:24,968 --> 01:13:28,672 watching it happen on the news. 1391 01:13:28,705 --> 01:13:33,276 MAN: I was in the Pentagon when the airplanes flew into it. 1392 01:13:33,309 --> 01:13:36,212 I was where every good team guy needs to be 1393 01:13:36,245 --> 01:13:40,016 when the caca hits the fan -- I was in the gym working out. 1394 01:13:40,049 --> 01:13:43,186 And I heard the fire alarm go off. 1395 01:13:43,219 --> 01:13:45,354 But we'd had numerous such drills, 1396 01:13:45,388 --> 01:13:48,357 and I thought it was a drill, so I casually got dressed. 1397 01:13:48,391 --> 01:13:50,159 And I went out, and as I stepped out I saw 1398 01:13:50,193 --> 01:13:52,729 25,000 of my closest friends leaving the building, 1399 01:13:52,762 --> 01:13:54,998 going down to the river. "What the hell happened?" 1400 01:13:55,031 --> 01:13:58,835 They said, "We think an airplane hit the building." 1401 01:14:00,770 --> 01:14:04,007 [ sirens blaring ] 1402 01:14:04,040 --> 01:14:09,212 My response was I gotta find my boss, he needs me now. 1403 01:14:09,245 --> 01:14:11,347 So I fought my way back into the Pentagon, 1404 01:14:11,380 --> 01:14:14,183 and was inside the Pentagon and actually sitting right there 1405 01:14:14,217 --> 01:14:17,420 with the Secretary of Defense and my boss 1406 01:14:17,453 --> 01:14:20,957 while they were trying to figure out what the heck was going on 1407 01:14:20,990 --> 01:14:23,026 and how many more airplanes were going to come in 1408 01:14:23,059 --> 01:14:25,629 and were going to hit what. 1409 01:14:25,662 --> 01:14:27,531 OSMAN: I didn't even believe it. 1410 01:14:27,564 --> 01:14:29,065 "What do you mean they're hijacking planes?" 1411 01:14:29,098 --> 01:14:30,867 He goes, "There's terrorists that have hijacked planes, 1412 01:14:30,900 --> 01:14:32,669 and they're crashing them into buildings." 1413 01:14:32,702 --> 01:14:34,437 And I'm like, "What?!" 1414 01:14:34,470 --> 01:14:37,473 [ sirens blaring ] 1415 01:14:39,743 --> 01:14:41,778 Our intelligence agency, 1416 01:14:41,811 --> 01:14:44,147 we're tracking terrorist organizations, 1417 01:14:44,180 --> 01:14:49,418 and it just felt like it was just a matter of time. 1418 01:14:49,452 --> 01:14:52,388 You had already had some of these attacks overseas: 1419 01:14:52,421 --> 01:14:55,859 the barracks in Saudi Arabia, 1420 01:14:55,892 --> 01:14:59,529 the bombings at the embassies in northern Africa. 1421 01:15:03,366 --> 01:15:06,069 Then you had the USS Cole. 1422 01:15:06,102 --> 01:15:08,572 It was like, these things are coming more quickly. 1423 01:15:08,605 --> 01:15:10,974 It changed the course. 1424 01:15:11,007 --> 01:15:12,909 OSMAN: So I was a sniper at that time. 1425 01:15:12,942 --> 01:15:14,644 I was the ordnance rep, 1426 01:15:14,678 --> 01:15:16,913 so I was in charge of all of the platoon's firearms, 1427 01:15:16,946 --> 01:15:18,748 all of its weapon systems. 1428 01:15:18,782 --> 01:15:21,017 So I said, "Sir, what do you need from me?" 1429 01:15:21,050 --> 01:15:22,451 And he goes, "Obviously you've heard. 1430 01:15:22,485 --> 01:15:24,020 You've seen what's going on downstairs. 1431 01:15:24,053 --> 01:15:26,222 We're packing, so load up everything." 1432 01:15:26,255 --> 01:15:27,957 And I just turned to him and I said, 1433 01:15:27,991 --> 01:15:29,492 "What are we -- packing for what?" 1434 01:15:29,525 --> 01:15:31,060 And he looked right back and goes, 1435 01:15:31,094 --> 01:15:32,729 "We're going to war. Take everything." 1436 01:15:32,762 --> 01:15:34,598 (chanting) USA! USA! 1437 01:15:34,631 --> 01:15:36,800 I can hear you! 1438 01:15:36,833 --> 01:15:39,636 [ crowd cheers and whistles ] 1439 01:15:39,669 --> 01:15:42,105 The rest of the world hears you. 1440 01:15:42,138 --> 01:15:43,539 And the people -- 1441 01:15:43,573 --> 01:15:46,810 [ loud cheers and whooping ] 1442 01:15:46,843 --> 01:15:49,813 And the people who knocked these buildings down 1443 01:15:49,846 --> 01:15:52,348 will hear all of us soon. 1444 01:15:52,381 --> 01:15:54,283 [ loud exclaiming and cheers ] 1445 01:15:54,317 --> 01:15:56,485 What changed on 9/11 for us? 1446 01:15:56,519 --> 01:15:58,221 I don't think we realized it 1447 01:15:58,254 --> 01:16:00,223 until probably two years into it, 1448 01:16:00,256 --> 01:16:02,692 that it changed us from a reactive force 1449 01:16:02,726 --> 01:16:08,231 into a long-term, long-range fighting force. 1450 01:16:08,264 --> 01:16:13,102 Whereas before, we would go for quick missions, a week or two, 1451 01:16:13,136 --> 01:16:14,938 go rescue some hostages, 1452 01:16:14,971 --> 01:16:17,707 go take down a ship that's been taken over, 1453 01:16:17,741 --> 01:16:19,475 that kind of thing, 1454 01:16:19,508 --> 01:16:22,245 and we'd be home and happy and everybody'd be, you know... 1455 01:16:22,278 --> 01:16:25,514 But now, we were like, this is the long haul. 1456 01:16:25,548 --> 01:16:29,886 [ ** ] 1457 01:16:31,320 --> 01:16:33,589 OSMAN: Fourth or fifth day after 9/11, 1458 01:16:33,623 --> 01:16:35,659 got a brief from the commanding officer 1459 01:16:35,692 --> 01:16:39,763 telling us that we had been selected to go overseas. 1460 01:16:39,796 --> 01:16:41,564 He'd been given National Command Authority 1461 01:16:41,597 --> 01:16:44,968 to send one SEAL platoon, and he was going to send our platoon. 1462 01:16:45,001 --> 01:16:47,704 And, like, you are happy that you're going, 1463 01:16:47,737 --> 01:16:49,873 but you feel bad for the guys in the other platoon. 1464 01:16:49,906 --> 01:16:51,374 And I remember leaving, and I was like, 1465 01:16:51,407 --> 01:16:53,076 "Oh, man, sorry you didn't get picked." 1466 01:16:53,109 --> 01:16:55,979 And one guy looked at me, he's like, "[bleep] you, dude." 1467 01:16:56,012 --> 01:16:59,783 We were allowed to go home for one night. 1468 01:16:59,816 --> 01:17:02,285 We basically got about seven or eight hours off to go home 1469 01:17:02,318 --> 01:17:04,153 and say bye to our families. 1470 01:17:04,187 --> 01:17:05,855 And we filled out last will and testaments. 1471 01:17:05,889 --> 01:17:07,991 We filled out life insurance paperwork. 1472 01:17:08,024 --> 01:17:10,559 We filled out power of attorneys for all of our families. 1473 01:17:10,593 --> 01:17:13,429 So it was the real deal. 1474 01:17:13,462 --> 01:17:16,966 KAISER: It took about four weeks after 9/11 1475 01:17:17,000 --> 01:17:19,936 before we knew what the government wanted to do. 1476 01:17:19,969 --> 01:17:23,506 We just kept training like we normally trained and got ready. 1477 01:17:23,539 --> 01:17:25,842 The general consensus of the population 1478 01:17:25,875 --> 01:17:28,511 is that SEALs hide in a cave somewhere. 1479 01:17:28,544 --> 01:17:31,314 When the bat signal goes up, they show up -- doo-do-do! -- 1480 01:17:31,347 --> 01:17:32,816 and they save the day! 1481 01:17:32,849 --> 01:17:34,450 And then when they get done, they go back 1482 01:17:34,483 --> 01:17:35,852 and they attach their feet to the ceiling 1483 01:17:35,885 --> 01:17:37,353 and they go back to hanging upside down. 1484 01:17:37,386 --> 01:17:39,388 Not really the case. 1485 01:17:39,422 --> 01:17:42,859 What they're doing is they're going back to training. 1486 01:17:42,892 --> 01:17:45,829 Training is as close to realistic combat conditions 1487 01:17:45,862 --> 01:17:48,397 as is allowable. 1488 01:17:48,431 --> 01:17:51,134 [ gunfire ] 1489 01:17:51,167 --> 01:17:53,803 You always shoot live rounds in the SEAL teams. 1490 01:17:53,837 --> 01:17:56,940 There's very little blank training. 1491 01:17:56,973 --> 01:17:59,575 If there is, it's only just 1492 01:17:59,608 --> 01:18:01,644 to kind of get some of the basic moves down 1493 01:18:01,677 --> 01:18:03,880 before everything turns into live fire. 1494 01:18:03,913 --> 01:18:07,083 And so all the rockets are real, all the rounds are real. 1495 01:18:10,053 --> 01:18:14,257 What it's fostering in you is your ability to react 1496 01:18:14,290 --> 01:18:17,894 under extreme adversity and to be able to clearly think 1497 01:18:17,927 --> 01:18:20,964 under a lot of stress. 1498 01:18:20,997 --> 01:18:24,500 So, you know, when bombs are going off and rounds are flying 1499 01:18:24,533 --> 01:18:26,669 and, you know, you hear "man down," 1500 01:18:26,702 --> 01:18:28,537 and next thing you know, you gotta do buddy drags, 1501 01:18:28,571 --> 01:18:30,239 and you're doing all of these things, 1502 01:18:30,273 --> 01:18:32,608 what that is doing is allowing you to remember 1503 01:18:32,641 --> 01:18:34,811 that you have to stay focused 1504 01:18:34,844 --> 01:18:37,914 and the last thing you're supposed to do is panic. 1505 01:18:37,947 --> 01:18:42,418 [ gunfire ] 1506 01:18:42,451 --> 01:18:47,290 The Taliban must act, and act immediately. 1507 01:18:47,323 --> 01:18:50,827 They will hand over the terrorists... 1508 01:18:50,860 --> 01:18:53,596 or they will share in their fate. 1509 01:18:53,629 --> 01:18:58,234 Shortly after 9/11, SEAL Team 3's Echo Platoon 1510 01:18:58,267 --> 01:19:02,238 headed to an unknown destination in the Middle East. 1511 01:19:02,271 --> 01:19:04,908 We were the first SEAL platoon 1512 01:19:04,941 --> 01:19:08,644 to deploy from the United States that I'm aware of. 1513 01:19:08,677 --> 01:19:11,314 Well, we didn't know where we were even going. 1514 01:19:11,347 --> 01:19:14,517 It wasn't until we had gotten to altitude 1515 01:19:14,550 --> 01:19:16,953 that our Officer In Charge asked one of the air crew, 1516 01:19:16,986 --> 01:19:18,521 "Hey, where's this plane even going?" 1517 01:19:18,554 --> 01:19:20,023 And he was like, "We were told 1518 01:19:20,056 --> 01:19:21,524 we're flying you guys to Kuwait." 1519 01:19:21,557 --> 01:19:23,292 We're like, "All right, Kuwait it is," you know? 1520 01:19:23,326 --> 01:19:24,527 What are you gonna do? 1521 01:19:24,560 --> 01:19:26,195 You're not gonna leave, you know what I mean? 1522 01:19:26,229 --> 01:19:27,396 [ laughs ] 1523 01:19:27,430 --> 01:19:29,198 The men had hoped they were going 1524 01:19:29,232 --> 01:19:31,567 to the heart of the fight in Afghanistan, 1525 01:19:31,600 --> 01:19:36,305 but their disappointment would soon diminish. 1526 01:19:36,339 --> 01:19:40,509 Chris and his teammates were assigned a maritime mission 1527 01:19:40,543 --> 01:19:44,647 called VBSS -- Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure -- 1528 01:19:44,680 --> 01:19:48,017 of smuggling vessels. 1529 01:19:48,051 --> 01:19:51,187 A couple of weeks into their deployment, 1530 01:19:51,220 --> 01:19:54,723 a drone in their area identified a tier one target 1531 01:19:54,757 --> 01:19:59,395 related to Osama bin Laden's earlier terrorist attacks. 1532 01:19:59,428 --> 01:20:01,797 It was the ship that al-Qaeda used 1533 01:20:01,831 --> 01:20:03,933 to smuggle the explosives into Africa 1534 01:20:03,967 --> 01:20:06,069 for the two U.S. embassy bombings 1535 01:20:06,102 --> 01:20:08,271 that killed over 200 people. 1536 01:20:08,304 --> 01:20:11,307 And so they wanted that ship taken down, 1537 01:20:11,340 --> 01:20:15,244 and our platoon was given the green light to do it, 1538 01:20:15,278 --> 01:20:18,948 and we were just like, "Wow!" 1539 01:20:18,982 --> 01:20:20,984 No one says anything, right? 1540 01:20:21,017 --> 01:20:23,052 And all of a sudden, the joking, the grab-assing goes away 1541 01:20:23,086 --> 01:20:24,921 and it's game time. 1542 01:20:24,954 --> 01:20:27,456 So, you know, unzip the bags, put all the gear on, 1543 01:20:27,490 --> 01:20:28,992 press check the weapons. 1544 01:20:29,025 --> 01:20:31,460 Make sure there's a round in the chamber. 1545 01:20:31,494 --> 01:20:36,365 And we raced up at 40 miles an hour in the middle of the night, 1546 01:20:36,399 --> 01:20:39,335 hooked and climbed up the side of the ship, 1547 01:20:39,368 --> 01:20:42,771 jumped over the railing. 1548 01:20:42,805 --> 01:20:44,673 We probably had about four or five people 1549 01:20:44,707 --> 01:20:46,509 that had already made it over the railing 1550 01:20:46,542 --> 01:20:48,477 and we were setting a security perimeter 1551 01:20:48,511 --> 01:20:50,446 when the doors opened and people started coming out. 1552 01:20:50,479 --> 01:20:52,848 At that moment, really, we couldn't even wait 1553 01:20:52,882 --> 01:20:54,650 for the rest of the platoon, 1554 01:20:54,683 --> 01:20:58,787 so we started the assault on the ship with four or five people. 1555 01:20:58,821 --> 01:21:01,657 There was a -- a seriousness about what we were doing 1556 01:21:01,690 --> 01:21:03,692 that I hadn't experienced before. 1557 01:21:03,726 --> 01:21:06,429 The professionalism rose to the challenge, 1558 01:21:06,462 --> 01:21:09,765 and all of us just never really said anything, 1559 01:21:09,798 --> 01:21:12,835 never talked, nothing; we just operated. 1560 01:21:12,868 --> 01:21:17,140 So that ship takedown took about three minutes. 1561 01:21:17,173 --> 01:21:20,043 [ ** ] 1562 01:21:28,051 --> 01:21:29,953 In October 2001, 1563 01:21:29,986 --> 01:21:32,488 SEALs were among the first U.S. forces 1564 01:21:32,521 --> 01:21:34,723 to set foot in Afghanistan 1565 01:21:34,757 --> 01:21:38,894 as part of a true Joint Special Forces Operation. 1566 01:21:38,928 --> 01:21:43,399 There were a lot of folks who initially asked the question: 1567 01:21:43,432 --> 01:21:45,534 what are SEALs doing in Afghanistan? 1568 01:21:45,568 --> 01:21:48,771 Well, SEAL is an acronym for sea, air, land. 1569 01:21:48,804 --> 01:21:51,040 That's just how you get to work. 1570 01:21:51,074 --> 01:21:52,708 SPARKS: I can tell you the first time 1571 01:21:52,741 --> 01:21:54,743 that I ever touched down in Afghanistan, 1572 01:21:54,777 --> 01:21:59,315 it was a very surreal feeling and experience. 1573 01:21:59,348 --> 01:22:02,685 You know, you feel like you've trained 1574 01:22:02,718 --> 01:22:06,155 and worked so hard and so long for something, 1575 01:22:06,189 --> 01:22:07,923 and now you're -- the time is here. 1576 01:22:07,957 --> 01:22:09,392 You know, everything you -- 1577 01:22:09,425 --> 01:22:12,495 all your blood, sweat, and tears that you gave in training, 1578 01:22:12,528 --> 01:22:14,630 you're gonna get ready to test that overseas 1579 01:22:14,663 --> 01:22:18,267 somewhere for real. 1580 01:22:18,301 --> 01:22:20,636 But it was, you know, exciting 1581 01:22:20,669 --> 01:22:22,505 and a little bit scary all at once. 1582 01:22:22,538 --> 01:22:25,208 You know, I landed at night shortly after September 11th, 1583 01:22:25,241 --> 01:22:27,943 and it was... the time had come. 1584 01:22:27,977 --> 01:22:29,712 [ ** ] 1585 01:22:29,745 --> 01:22:33,349 Although Osama bin Laden would not claim responsibility 1586 01:22:33,382 --> 01:22:37,720 for the 2001 attacks on America until 2004, 1587 01:22:37,753 --> 01:22:43,259 U.S. intelligence quickly assigned blame to al-Qaeda. 1588 01:22:43,292 --> 01:22:45,561 They had also known that the Taliban, 1589 01:22:45,594 --> 01:22:48,831 fundamentalist Islamists based in Afghanistan, 1590 01:22:48,864 --> 01:22:52,168 had been harboring al-Qaeda agents for years. 1591 01:22:52,201 --> 01:22:57,406 [ gunfire and indistinct shouting ] 1592 01:22:59,208 --> 01:23:03,079 Early in 2002, the U.S. and coalition partners 1593 01:23:03,112 --> 01:23:06,982 launched Operation Anaconda, the first major initiative 1594 01:23:07,016 --> 01:23:09,785 to capture or kill al-Qaeda fighters 1595 01:23:09,818 --> 01:23:13,456 and their Taliban supporters in Afghanistan. 1596 01:23:17,026 --> 01:23:19,595 Before the operation began, 1597 01:23:19,628 --> 01:23:23,066 U.S. intelligence agencies concentrated satellites 1598 01:23:23,099 --> 01:23:25,768 and other spy technologies on the valley 1599 01:23:25,801 --> 01:23:29,438 where the initial attacks would be staged. 1600 01:23:29,472 --> 01:23:33,776 Despite focusing what one officer at the time called 1601 01:23:33,809 --> 01:23:38,481 "every national asset" on the Shah-i-Kot Valley, 1602 01:23:38,514 --> 01:23:41,517 the intelligence estimates turned out to be 1603 01:23:41,550 --> 01:23:43,786 wildly off the mark. 1604 01:23:43,819 --> 01:23:47,690 Rather than 1- or 200 al-Qaeda fighters 1605 01:23:47,723 --> 01:23:51,360 concentrated mostly in the villages on the valley floor, 1606 01:23:51,394 --> 01:23:54,597 there were probably several times that, 1607 01:23:54,630 --> 01:23:57,433 and a lot of the positions they occupied 1608 01:23:57,466 --> 01:23:59,835 were in the high ground overlooking the valley 1609 01:23:59,868 --> 01:24:02,405 and therefore overlooking the landing zones 1610 01:24:02,438 --> 01:24:04,940 that the helicopters carrying the U.S. infantry 1611 01:24:04,973 --> 01:24:07,410 were going to land on. 1612 01:24:07,443 --> 01:24:10,313 A Delta Force Lt. Colonel, Pete Blaber, 1613 01:24:10,346 --> 01:24:13,649 was in charge of Advanced Force Operations. 1614 01:24:13,682 --> 01:24:17,153 Blaber's gut told him that it was important to get 1615 01:24:17,186 --> 01:24:22,291 U.S. eyes on the ground before the main assault force went in. 1616 01:24:22,325 --> 01:24:25,494 Blaber had two of his own reconnaissance teams 1617 01:24:25,528 --> 01:24:28,731 and requested a third from SEAL Team Six. 1618 01:24:28,764 --> 01:24:32,868 The five-man unit was code-named Mako 31. 1619 01:24:32,901 --> 01:24:35,771 It was led by a SEAL reconnaissance expert 1620 01:24:35,804 --> 01:24:37,640 named Goody. 1621 01:24:37,673 --> 01:24:41,377 Blaber pulled Goody aside and told him, 1622 01:24:41,410 --> 01:24:45,614 "The success or failure of your mission 1623 01:24:45,648 --> 01:24:50,419 will predicate the success or failure of the entire operation. 1624 01:24:50,453 --> 01:24:54,390 You have to get to your observation post by H-Hour," 1625 01:24:54,423 --> 01:24:57,560 the time that the operation officially starts. 1626 01:24:57,593 --> 01:25:00,463 Goody was determined not to let Blaber down, 1627 01:25:00,496 --> 01:25:03,832 so he told them that if they were falling behind schedule, 1628 01:25:03,866 --> 01:25:07,970 they would just keep dropping gear if necessary 1629 01:25:08,003 --> 01:25:11,440 until there were five naked guys with guns 1630 01:25:11,474 --> 01:25:14,643 standing on the O.P. at H-Hour. 1631 01:25:14,677 --> 01:25:19,014 Shortly after dawn on March 1, 2002, 1632 01:25:19,047 --> 01:25:22,185 Goody sent the other two SEAL snipers on his team 1633 01:25:22,218 --> 01:25:26,189 to scout their pre-determined observation post. 1634 01:25:26,222 --> 01:25:29,325 When they finally poked their heads over the rocks 1635 01:25:29,358 --> 01:25:32,328 to take a look, they got the shock of their lives. 1636 01:25:32,361 --> 01:25:36,865 Right there was a tent occupied by al-Qaeda fighters 1637 01:25:36,899 --> 01:25:39,101 on the very spot 1638 01:25:39,134 --> 01:25:41,837 that they had wanted to put their observation post. 1639 01:25:41,870 --> 01:25:45,641 Everything changed when Mako 31 moved into position. 1640 01:25:45,674 --> 01:25:48,677 In addition to discovering enemy fighters, 1641 01:25:48,711 --> 01:25:52,080 the SEALs also identified a DShK heavy machine gun 1642 01:25:52,114 --> 01:25:53,982 on the ridgeline, 1643 01:25:54,016 --> 01:25:58,153 an anti-aircraft weapon with a range of about 1,000 meters. 1644 01:25:58,187 --> 01:26:03,592 That was the exact path that the infantry assault helicopters 1645 01:26:03,626 --> 01:26:06,929 were going to fly in just a day or so 1646 01:26:06,962 --> 01:26:10,233 to start Operation Anaconda. 1647 01:26:12,000 --> 01:26:14,670 Airborne surveillance had completely missed 1648 01:26:14,703 --> 01:26:18,006 both the men and their equipment. 1649 01:26:18,040 --> 01:26:21,143 FITZGERALD: Until you're on the ground 1650 01:26:21,176 --> 01:26:24,413 and until you see it from your own eyes 1651 01:26:24,447 --> 01:26:26,982 and choreograph everything in your mind, 1652 01:26:27,015 --> 01:26:29,051 you have to have operators on the ground 1653 01:26:29,084 --> 01:26:32,154 to pull the sensitive things off that we need to do. 1654 01:26:32,187 --> 01:26:35,991 Goody's plan was to wait until just before Operation Anaconda 1655 01:26:36,024 --> 01:26:39,595 was to begin before assaulting the al-Qaeda tent. 1656 01:26:39,628 --> 01:26:41,430 This would diminish the risk 1657 01:26:41,464 --> 01:26:43,566 of other enemy fighters in the area 1658 01:26:43,599 --> 01:26:46,369 being alerted to their presence. 1659 01:26:46,402 --> 01:26:49,238 The SEALs took up a position behind some rocks 1660 01:26:49,272 --> 01:26:54,610 only about 20 meters from the al-Qaeda tent and watched. 1661 01:26:54,643 --> 01:26:56,712 NAYLOR: As the SEALs waited, 1662 01:26:56,745 --> 01:26:59,515 an al-Qaeda fighter emerged from the tent 1663 01:26:59,548 --> 01:27:03,286 and wandered over towards their position. 1664 01:27:03,319 --> 01:27:06,889 The fighter let out a shout to raise the alarm, 1665 01:27:06,922 --> 01:27:10,058 and at that point, Goody gave the order to attack. 1666 01:27:10,092 --> 01:27:12,328 [ gunfire ] 1667 01:27:12,361 --> 01:27:15,964 The SEALs came over the ridgeline firing. 1668 01:27:15,998 --> 01:27:20,903 Somebody inside the tent fired off an entire clip. 1669 01:27:20,936 --> 01:27:24,340 They took the tent under fire. 1670 01:27:27,510 --> 01:27:31,046 The SEALs killed two of the five al-Qaeda men 1671 01:27:31,079 --> 01:27:33,549 and wounded a third. 1672 01:27:33,582 --> 01:27:36,352 Goody's team called in an AC-130 1673 01:27:36,385 --> 01:27:38,321 circling above the firefight 1674 01:27:38,354 --> 01:27:42,090 to take out the remaining al-Qaeda fighters, 1675 01:27:42,124 --> 01:27:45,594 ending the threat to U.S. helicopters 1676 01:27:45,628 --> 01:27:50,933 which would enter the valley less than two hours later. 1677 01:27:50,966 --> 01:27:54,437 FITZGERALD: Our guys made the right decisions. 1678 01:27:54,470 --> 01:27:57,072 And they took care of the threat. 1679 01:27:57,105 --> 01:27:58,741 If they had not been there 1680 01:27:58,774 --> 01:28:00,509 at the right place at the right time, 1681 01:28:00,543 --> 01:28:02,778 the beginning of this event 1682 01:28:02,811 --> 01:28:04,580 would have been a lot different than it was. 1683 01:28:04,613 --> 01:28:07,650 Diverting a disaster? Yeah, probably. 1684 01:28:07,683 --> 01:28:11,520 [ ** ] 1685 01:28:11,554 --> 01:28:14,957 In the first phases of Operation Enduring Freedom, 1686 01:28:14,990 --> 01:28:17,025 SEALs carried out 75 1687 01:28:17,059 --> 01:28:21,597 of these special reconnaissance and direct action missions. 1688 01:28:26,335 --> 01:28:28,837 While Team members would fight in Afghanistan 1689 01:28:28,871 --> 01:28:33,241 for the duration... 1690 01:28:33,275 --> 01:28:36,178 early on, their commander in chief 1691 01:28:36,211 --> 01:28:39,882 opened a new battlefront against a familiar enemy. 1692 01:28:39,915 --> 01:28:42,651 [ rippling explosions ] 1693 01:28:44,387 --> 01:28:49,992 The SEALs would, once again, be amongst the first to operate. 1694 01:28:52,294 --> 01:28:56,432 March 2003: 1695 01:28:56,465 --> 01:29:00,135 the United States was poised to invade Iraq. 1696 01:29:00,168 --> 01:29:02,838 Congress had granted President George W. Bush 1697 01:29:02,871 --> 01:29:04,673 the power to wage war 1698 01:29:04,707 --> 01:29:06,809 after the Bush administration argued 1699 01:29:06,842 --> 01:29:10,413 that Saddam Hussein had failed to disclose his arsenal 1700 01:29:10,446 --> 01:29:14,950 of Weapons of Mass Destruction, or WMDs. 1701 01:29:17,553 --> 01:29:21,156 The administration also accused Hussein 1702 01:29:21,189 --> 01:29:25,828 of forming alliances with al-Qaeda. 1703 01:29:25,861 --> 01:29:29,264 Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld 1704 01:29:29,297 --> 01:29:31,567 later admitted that they eventually discovered 1705 01:29:31,600 --> 01:29:36,772 the intelligence underlying their WMD estimates was false. 1706 01:29:36,805 --> 01:29:40,242 No WMDs would be found in Iraq. 1707 01:29:40,275 --> 01:29:43,378 And confiscated Iraqi documents would later reveal 1708 01:29:43,412 --> 01:29:45,481 that there were no direct ties 1709 01:29:45,514 --> 01:29:50,085 between al-Qaeda and Hussein's government. 1710 01:29:50,118 --> 01:29:53,656 But in March of 2003, 1711 01:29:53,689 --> 01:29:56,725 all branches of the United States military 1712 01:29:56,759 --> 01:30:01,029 were preparing for the offensive. 1713 01:30:01,063 --> 01:30:04,099 [ ** ] 1714 01:30:05,701 --> 01:30:08,003 On the eve of the Iraq invasion, 1715 01:30:08,036 --> 01:30:10,473 the SEALs undertook what was, at the time, 1716 01:30:10,506 --> 01:30:15,010 the most complex operation in their history. 1717 01:30:15,043 --> 01:30:18,246 Their mission: to capture 1718 01:30:18,280 --> 01:30:21,517 Iraq's enormous southern oil supply 1719 01:30:21,550 --> 01:30:25,454 without allowing an economic or environmental disaster 1720 01:30:25,488 --> 01:30:29,825 as had happened in 1991. 1721 01:30:29,858 --> 01:30:32,595 It was considered essential 1722 01:30:32,628 --> 01:30:37,666 that the oil supply be taken over before the invasion began, 1723 01:30:37,700 --> 01:30:41,336 before the Iraqis could destroy it. 1724 01:30:41,369 --> 01:30:43,005 MAN: The first Gulf War, 1725 01:30:43,038 --> 01:30:44,540 the first thing that Saddam Hussein did 1726 01:30:44,573 --> 01:30:46,742 was blow up his southern oil infrastructure. 1727 01:30:46,775 --> 01:30:49,244 And what that did was dump millions of gallons of oil 1728 01:30:49,277 --> 01:30:51,179 into the northern Arabian Gulf, 1729 01:30:51,213 --> 01:30:55,083 which created massive environmental impact. 1730 01:30:55,117 --> 01:30:58,186 Over a decade later, it was the SEALs 1731 01:30:58,220 --> 01:31:00,556 who were tasked with keeping Saddam Hussein 1732 01:31:00,589 --> 01:31:03,258 from destroying the country's oil supply 1733 01:31:03,291 --> 01:31:09,064 as well as the entire region's environment and economy. 1734 01:31:09,097 --> 01:31:12,134 The way that oil flows off southern Iraq 1735 01:31:12,167 --> 01:31:15,303 is it gets pumped from this large pumping/metering station 1736 01:31:15,337 --> 01:31:18,306 to two nodes, which you can think of as almost faucets, 1737 01:31:18,340 --> 01:31:20,275 on the very end of the Al-Faw Peninsula. 1738 01:31:20,308 --> 01:31:22,545 And it's through those faucets that oil runs 1739 01:31:22,578 --> 01:31:25,581 to these two terminals, KAAOT and MABOT. 1740 01:31:25,614 --> 01:31:29,818 And these are massive -- each one is about a mile in length. 1741 01:31:29,852 --> 01:31:32,187 If the Iraqis had a chance to destroy 1742 01:31:32,220 --> 01:31:34,890 any one of five critical points, 1743 01:31:34,923 --> 01:31:39,094 it would coat the Northern Arabian Gulf with oil. 1744 01:31:39,127 --> 01:31:41,129 We had to have boots on the ground 1745 01:31:41,163 --> 01:31:43,331 in each one of those five locations 1746 01:31:43,365 --> 01:31:45,267 at exactly the same time. 1747 01:31:45,300 --> 01:31:48,671 And so we started our planning months in advance 1748 01:31:48,704 --> 01:31:53,375 of how we would put SEALs onboard these two terminals 1749 01:31:53,408 --> 01:31:57,345 in the event that there may be rigged explosive devices. 1750 01:31:57,379 --> 01:31:59,982 We were getting intelligence from different places 1751 01:32:00,015 --> 01:32:03,586 that suggested that there were arms and explosive devices 1752 01:32:03,619 --> 01:32:07,389 on at least one if not two of the terminals. 1753 01:32:07,422 --> 01:32:10,726 What started out as a much smaller isolated mission 1754 01:32:10,759 --> 01:32:14,029 expanded into what became a very large mission, 1755 01:32:14,062 --> 01:32:16,599 all the night before the war started. 1756 01:32:16,632 --> 01:32:21,069 The day before H-Hour, it had just oil workers on it, 1757 01:32:21,103 --> 01:32:23,138 so at that point it was just going to be 1758 01:32:23,171 --> 01:32:25,874 go and secure it and get those people off of it. 1759 01:32:25,908 --> 01:32:28,076 Kind of no big deal, and then we'd hold it and secure it 1760 01:32:28,110 --> 01:32:30,846 and turn it over to someone else so no one could get on it. 1761 01:32:30,879 --> 01:32:33,181 And the day before, we noticed all of a sudden 1762 01:32:33,215 --> 01:32:35,217 all those guys were getting off-loaded 1763 01:32:35,250 --> 01:32:37,252 and they were bringing Iraqi bad guys. 1764 01:32:37,285 --> 01:32:38,854 And they were bringing them on, 1765 01:32:38,887 --> 01:32:40,889 they had an anti-aircraft piece that they brought on. 1766 01:32:40,923 --> 01:32:42,357 It changed quickly. 1767 01:32:42,390 --> 01:32:44,960 The Teams' nightly reconnaissance had revealed 1768 01:32:44,993 --> 01:32:48,731 that tugboats would patrol the perimeter of the oil platforms, 1769 01:32:48,764 --> 01:32:52,668 cruising a long circuit around each of the terminals. 1770 01:32:52,701 --> 01:32:54,903 There were also large rings of light 1771 01:32:54,937 --> 01:32:57,940 from searchlights on the MABOT and KAAOT. 1772 01:32:57,973 --> 01:33:01,610 HELLER: The plan was we would get all of our assets 1773 01:33:01,644 --> 01:33:04,046 outside the light ring of the terminal 1774 01:33:04,079 --> 01:33:07,515 and we would wait for that tug to go around. 1775 01:33:09,317 --> 01:33:11,620 And as soon as the tug passed us, 1776 01:33:11,654 --> 01:33:14,022 we'd send three RHIBs carrying SEALs 1777 01:33:14,056 --> 01:33:15,691 and a Polish Special Forces team 1778 01:33:15,724 --> 01:33:18,927 very quickly through the light underneath the platform, 1779 01:33:18,961 --> 01:33:21,496 and from there, the guys would scale up. 1780 01:33:21,529 --> 01:33:26,368 The operation began at 10:00 p.m. on March 20, 2003. 1781 01:33:26,401 --> 01:33:29,404 More SEALs were deployed for this one mission 1782 01:33:29,437 --> 01:33:34,042 than ever operated together during the entire Vietnam War. 1783 01:33:34,076 --> 01:33:36,311 We had helicopters where I was overhead 1784 01:33:36,344 --> 01:33:38,881 looking at it with the FLIR, which, you know, 1785 01:33:38,914 --> 01:33:40,916 I can see what was going on at like 2,000 meters. 1786 01:33:40,949 --> 01:33:42,851 And then once we were up close, 1787 01:33:42,885 --> 01:33:45,287 circling the thing, providing security as snipers. 1788 01:33:45,320 --> 01:33:47,355 And then I was up there also working the radio, 1789 01:33:47,389 --> 01:33:51,259 pushing the timeline along and the execution checklist along. 1790 01:33:51,293 --> 01:33:52,895 HELLER: Clockwork was so important. 1791 01:33:52,928 --> 01:33:54,730 It was so important to get guys there. 1792 01:33:54,763 --> 01:33:56,699 Every part of the mission was so interlocked. 1793 01:33:56,732 --> 01:33:58,801 And if someone got there early, 1794 01:33:58,834 --> 01:34:02,204 there was the potential to put folks in danger. 1795 01:34:02,237 --> 01:34:04,239 Until those guys were feet on the deck on that thing, 1796 01:34:04,272 --> 01:34:06,308 anything that moved or acted stupid on it 1797 01:34:06,341 --> 01:34:07,976 was gonna get shot by myself 1798 01:34:08,010 --> 01:34:10,846 or my partner in the other helicopter. 1799 01:34:10,879 --> 01:34:14,216 The SEALs successfully got aboard the platforms, 1800 01:34:14,249 --> 01:34:16,618 safely secured their prisoners 1801 01:34:16,651 --> 01:34:19,788 as well as the weapons they discovered. 1802 01:34:19,822 --> 01:34:24,592 The entire operation took about 45 minutes. 1803 01:34:26,695 --> 01:34:30,966 One thing we know is that unlike in the first Gulf War, 1804 01:34:30,999 --> 01:34:32,935 we prevented the destruction 1805 01:34:32,968 --> 01:34:36,171 of millions and millions of gallons of oil. 1806 01:34:36,204 --> 01:34:39,708 We prevented that environmental disaster. 1807 01:34:39,742 --> 01:34:45,280 Within hours, the United States invaded Iraq. 1808 01:34:45,313 --> 01:34:50,118 [ explosions ] 1809 01:34:50,152 --> 01:34:53,421 The invasion immediately toppled the regime 1810 01:34:53,455 --> 01:34:57,860 of President Saddam Hussein, who quickly went into hiding. 1811 01:34:57,893 --> 01:35:01,429 Although he was the number one fugitive in the country, 1812 01:35:01,463 --> 01:35:03,799 there were over 50 top-tier targets 1813 01:35:03,832 --> 01:35:05,768 on the Most Wanted List. 1814 01:35:05,801 --> 01:35:08,403 So a group of soldiers came up with the idea 1815 01:35:08,436 --> 01:35:10,372 of a deck of cards, 1816 01:35:10,405 --> 01:35:14,910 ranking the missing outlaws by the face value of the cards. 1817 01:35:14,943 --> 01:35:17,946 The deck of cards, well, they started at the ace of spades, 1818 01:35:17,980 --> 01:35:21,049 which was Saddam Hussein, and then they went down, 1819 01:35:21,083 --> 01:35:23,451 you know, to the twos down on the bottom somewhere 1820 01:35:23,485 --> 01:35:25,453 before they started the rest of the blacklist. 1821 01:35:25,487 --> 01:35:27,555 And that's how we knew them, you know? 1822 01:35:27,589 --> 01:35:29,591 It was easier than pronouncing their name. 1823 01:35:29,624 --> 01:35:32,027 SEAL Teams and other special forces 1824 01:35:32,060 --> 01:35:36,231 started taking cards "out of play." 1825 01:35:36,264 --> 01:35:40,302 There was only one woman featured in the deck. 1826 01:35:40,335 --> 01:35:44,406 Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash was better known by her nickname: 1827 01:35:44,439 --> 01:35:46,942 Mrs. Anthrax. 1828 01:35:46,975 --> 01:35:51,413 The Five of Hearts was a female who was part of Saddam's -- 1829 01:35:51,446 --> 01:35:55,818 he was her main, like, chemical biological weapons gal. 1830 01:35:55,851 --> 01:35:57,752 She was moving around quite a bit 1831 01:35:57,786 --> 01:35:59,587 from safe house to safe house. 1832 01:35:59,621 --> 01:36:03,591 And the intel that we got on her, we needed to move fast. 1833 01:36:03,625 --> 01:36:07,462 And we figured that the best time to take her 1834 01:36:07,495 --> 01:36:09,664 would be while she was in a vehicle 1835 01:36:09,697 --> 01:36:13,235 when her security detail was smaller than it normally was. 1836 01:36:13,268 --> 01:36:15,337 [ ** ] 1837 01:36:15,370 --> 01:36:17,672 We had such a small amount of time 1838 01:36:17,705 --> 01:36:19,374 for mission planning on that one. 1839 01:36:19,407 --> 01:36:21,409 And that's the magic of the SEAL Teams, that's -- 1840 01:36:21,443 --> 01:36:23,879 that's just the way we do it, you know? 1841 01:36:23,912 --> 01:36:27,282 If it needs to be done, we'll do it. 1842 01:36:27,315 --> 01:36:30,285 In December of 2003, 1843 01:36:30,318 --> 01:36:34,689 U.S. troops and a Special Operations Joint Task Force 1844 01:36:34,722 --> 01:36:37,893 captured the Ace of Spades. 1845 01:36:37,926 --> 01:36:40,395 But the arrest of President Saddam Hussein 1846 01:36:40,428 --> 01:36:42,564 hardly ended the war in Iraq. 1847 01:36:42,597 --> 01:36:46,001 [ automatic gunfire ] 1848 01:36:46,034 --> 01:36:48,303 As it persisted, more SEALs 1849 01:36:48,336 --> 01:36:51,006 were engaged in Operation Iraqi Freedom 1850 01:36:51,039 --> 01:36:55,077 than in any other war in their history. 1851 01:36:55,110 --> 01:36:59,114 SEAL Teams adapted to being unconventional warriors 1852 01:36:59,147 --> 01:37:01,516 in a conventional war. 1853 01:37:01,549 --> 01:37:04,887 For the first time, they truly fought side by side 1854 01:37:04,920 --> 01:37:09,157 with their comrades in the Army and Marine Corps. 1855 01:37:09,191 --> 01:37:14,362 It started in a place called Ramadi, 1856 01:37:14,396 --> 01:37:17,299 center of the insurgency. 1857 01:37:20,068 --> 01:37:23,405 [ gunfire ] 1858 01:37:25,407 --> 01:37:30,478 Al-Qaeda in Iraq declared this city to be its capital. 1859 01:37:33,781 --> 01:37:35,450 When we got into town, 1860 01:37:35,483 --> 01:37:37,585 we began to interface with the conventional forces -- 1861 01:37:37,619 --> 01:37:39,087 the Army and the Marines. 1862 01:37:39,121 --> 01:37:41,223 They're the ones who own the battlespace, not us. 1863 01:37:41,256 --> 01:37:42,690 And so we very humbly said, 1864 01:37:42,724 --> 01:37:44,226 "Hey, look, you guys own this battlespace. 1865 01:37:44,259 --> 01:37:46,394 You tell us how we can help serve you. 1866 01:37:46,428 --> 01:37:49,064 What's going on here? Where are your bases? 1867 01:37:49,097 --> 01:37:51,566 Where are your outposts? What's this area over here?" 1868 01:37:51,599 --> 01:37:53,368 And there was an entire area -- 1869 01:37:53,401 --> 01:37:54,869 I mean, I remember this distinctly. 1870 01:37:54,903 --> 01:37:57,039 They said, "This whole area right here 1871 01:37:57,072 --> 01:38:00,442 is al-Qaeda controlled battlespace. 1872 01:38:00,475 --> 01:38:02,577 Don't go there. You can't go there -- 1873 01:38:02,610 --> 01:38:05,280 or go there, but nobody will come get you." 1874 01:38:09,284 --> 01:38:10,618 We got him over here. 1875 01:38:10,652 --> 01:38:13,655 In the past, the SEALs often did not work very well 1876 01:38:13,688 --> 01:38:15,523 with conventional forces. 1877 01:38:15,557 --> 01:38:18,493 SEALs had their mission, and it was like, "This is our mission. 1878 01:38:18,526 --> 01:38:20,963 We can't tell you what it is and we're gonna go do our thing." 1879 01:38:20,996 --> 01:38:22,931 And our task unit commander 1880 01:38:22,965 --> 01:38:25,033 had a much different philosophy on things. 1881 01:38:25,067 --> 01:38:27,069 We said, "What are you doing? What can we do to help?" 1882 01:38:27,102 --> 01:38:28,636 And guess what? 1883 01:38:28,670 --> 01:38:30,572 We integrated and interfaced with them, 1884 01:38:30,605 --> 01:38:34,242 and it was -- it was a mutually beneficial relationship, right? 1885 01:38:34,276 --> 01:38:36,678 Rather than us having to coordinate 1886 01:38:36,711 --> 01:38:38,613 how to drive all our guys into a mission, 1887 01:38:38,646 --> 01:38:41,649 well, the Army guys would give us a ride... in tanks! 1888 01:38:41,683 --> 01:38:45,053 I mean, that's a heck of a lot better than a dang Humvee. 1889 01:38:47,789 --> 01:38:49,791 Andrew Paul was a lieutenant 1890 01:38:49,824 --> 01:38:53,228 with a task force of 32 SEAL snipers. 1891 01:38:53,261 --> 01:38:56,031 [ ** ] 1892 01:38:56,064 --> 01:38:58,566 [ indistinct shouting ] 1893 01:39:01,536 --> 01:39:04,272 [ explosions ] 1894 01:39:04,306 --> 01:39:07,642 As something would happen, we would come in 1895 01:39:07,675 --> 01:39:11,779 and we would go grab these guys. 1896 01:39:11,813 --> 01:39:14,249 Or we'd go out and do an overwatch operation, 1897 01:39:14,282 --> 01:39:17,252 and these guys with masks and guns would come out 1898 01:39:17,285 --> 01:39:20,655 to attack an Army patrol, and, you know, our snipers 1899 01:39:20,688 --> 01:39:24,359 would whack all four or five of those guys all at once. 1900 01:39:24,392 --> 01:39:28,530 Over the course of six months, we had over 360 confirmed kills. 1901 01:39:28,563 --> 01:39:31,799 That's just our task unit. 1902 01:39:31,833 --> 01:39:34,502 That area that was al-Qaeda controlled battlespace, 1903 01:39:34,536 --> 01:39:36,838 we owned it by the time we left. 1904 01:39:40,008 --> 01:39:42,944 When you're interacting with the local populace, 1905 01:39:42,977 --> 01:39:45,513 you are an ambassador of America. 1906 01:39:45,547 --> 01:39:48,683 And, you know, not everybody feels that way. 1907 01:39:48,716 --> 01:39:51,953 But I felt that was important, so I would talk to them. 1908 01:39:51,986 --> 01:39:53,421 I'd ask them where they were from. 1909 01:39:53,455 --> 01:39:55,257 I'd tell them about my family and where I'm from 1910 01:39:55,290 --> 01:39:56,691 and why I was here. 1911 01:39:56,724 --> 01:39:58,826 They'd first probably see these guys come in 1912 01:39:58,860 --> 01:40:02,597 with all this gear on and, I mean, they would be very afraid. 1913 01:40:02,630 --> 01:40:05,133 And that's not what we're there to do. 1914 01:40:05,167 --> 01:40:08,370 My idea wasn't that we were there to go terrorize Iraqis. 1915 01:40:08,403 --> 01:40:12,807 My idea was that we're there to go relieve the country of Iraq. 1916 01:40:12,840 --> 01:40:15,477 You can only shoot so many guys. 1917 01:40:15,510 --> 01:40:18,480 You can only, you know, blow up so many things. 1918 01:40:18,513 --> 01:40:20,282 You can only do so many missions. 1919 01:40:20,315 --> 01:40:23,051 You know, sooner or later, our mission really 1920 01:40:23,085 --> 01:40:26,621 is to give this back to the people of Iraq. 1921 01:40:26,654 --> 01:40:30,192 [ ** ] 1922 01:40:30,225 --> 01:40:32,026 When people think of SEALs, 1923 01:40:32,060 --> 01:40:33,395 they think of them kicking in doors, 1924 01:40:33,428 --> 01:40:35,097 doing the very offensive things. 1925 01:40:35,130 --> 01:40:36,931 Yeah, that's true, but I think 1926 01:40:36,964 --> 01:40:39,801 where the nation gets the most bang for the buck 1927 01:40:39,834 --> 01:40:43,871 is in that diplomatic problem-solving type guy 1928 01:40:43,905 --> 01:40:46,741 who can work with partners to expand their capabilities 1929 01:40:46,774 --> 01:40:49,511 and their capacity and prevent wars. 1930 01:40:49,544 --> 01:40:51,579 There are a lot of guys who we can train 1931 01:40:51,613 --> 01:40:55,317 to go shoot people in the face, but what SEALs 1932 01:40:55,350 --> 01:40:58,520 and Green Berets and Special Forces do 1933 01:40:58,553 --> 01:41:01,189 are working that full spectrum of conflict 1934 01:41:01,223 --> 01:41:03,158 and being able to go from drinking tea 1935 01:41:03,191 --> 01:41:05,127 to step outside the tent and go do something 1936 01:41:05,160 --> 01:41:08,029 that a commando needs to do, 1937 01:41:08,062 --> 01:41:11,466 and then go back inside the tent and drink tea some more. 1938 01:41:11,499 --> 01:41:14,969 And that is a unique skill set. 1939 01:41:15,002 --> 01:41:16,904 But what's going to make them SEALs 1940 01:41:16,938 --> 01:41:20,342 is they've got to be able to do both. 1941 01:41:22,144 --> 01:41:25,847 At that moment in time, it's -- 1942 01:41:25,880 --> 01:41:30,685 to me anyway, it wasn't ever about God and country, you know? 1943 01:41:30,718 --> 01:41:32,387 It was about being with your brothers. 1944 01:41:32,420 --> 01:41:33,721 It's about operating. 1945 01:41:33,755 --> 01:41:36,124 It's about doing everything you could 1946 01:41:36,158 --> 01:41:39,026 to make sure they could come home to their family. 1947 01:41:39,060 --> 01:41:42,697 In September of 2006 in Ramadi, 1948 01:41:42,730 --> 01:41:46,934 a 25-year-old petty officer, 2nd class, Michael Monsoor, 1949 01:41:46,968 --> 01:41:50,905 was on his first combat deployment as a Navy SEAL. 1950 01:41:50,938 --> 01:41:54,542 Mike had failed his initial attempt at SEAL training 1951 01:41:54,576 --> 01:41:59,247 but persevered and ultimately made it to the Teams. 1952 01:41:59,281 --> 01:42:03,084 Mike Monsoor was one of our platoon mates 1953 01:42:03,117 --> 01:42:05,987 who lost his life in Iraq. 1954 01:42:06,020 --> 01:42:12,160 And he jumped on a grenade and saved two guys, 1955 01:42:12,194 --> 01:42:14,229 one on either side of him. 1956 01:42:14,262 --> 01:42:18,500 And he subsequently got the Medal of Honor. 1957 01:42:18,533 --> 01:42:21,903 Mike leaves behind a big hole in my heart. 1958 01:42:21,936 --> 01:42:23,838 But I'm proud of what he did 1959 01:42:23,871 --> 01:42:26,741 and I'm proud of what that stands for. 1960 01:42:26,774 --> 01:42:32,314 This idealistic warrior. 1961 01:42:32,347 --> 01:42:36,718 Mike had sent an email to his sister the night before, 1962 01:42:36,751 --> 01:42:40,755 saying, "Gear's packed. I'm on my way home." 1963 01:42:40,788 --> 01:42:43,057 Yeah, it's pretty rough. 1964 01:42:43,090 --> 01:42:46,060 Andrew Paul was already back in California 1965 01:42:46,093 --> 01:42:48,763 when Mike Monsoor was killed. 1966 01:42:48,796 --> 01:42:53,535 He was one of the men to notify the Monsoor family. 1967 01:42:53,568 --> 01:42:55,903 We got our blues together, we got our plan together 1968 01:42:55,937 --> 01:43:00,308 and drove up to find his parents' house. 1969 01:43:00,342 --> 01:43:02,777 And, man, that was the hardest thing 1970 01:43:02,810 --> 01:43:05,847 I've ever done in my life. 1971 01:43:05,880 --> 01:43:10,352 I remember the commander who came up with us said, you know, 1972 01:43:10,385 --> 01:43:12,554 "Sally Monsoor?" She said, "Yes." 1973 01:43:12,587 --> 01:43:14,889 He goes, "Well, we have some news about your son." 1974 01:43:14,922 --> 01:43:17,559 And, yeah, I mean, I just -- 1975 01:43:17,592 --> 01:43:21,296 her head just slumped against the door, 1976 01:43:21,329 --> 01:43:25,333 and, I mean, I just watched the life drain out of her. 1977 01:43:25,367 --> 01:43:27,302 [ trumpet playing "Taps" ] 1978 01:43:27,335 --> 01:43:31,306 MAGUIRE: Look at Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery. 1979 01:43:31,339 --> 01:43:35,577 MAN: Ready. Aim. Fire! 1980 01:43:35,610 --> 01:43:37,879 It's full of SEALs. 1981 01:43:37,912 --> 01:43:41,916 Men who've sacrificed and given their lives. 1982 01:43:46,888 --> 01:43:50,325 The enemy gets a vote, and nobody's immortal. 1983 01:44:01,303 --> 01:44:04,439 At SEAL funerals, there is a tradition 1984 01:44:04,472 --> 01:44:08,242 of teammates removing their insignia, called the Trident, 1985 01:44:08,276 --> 01:44:13,781 and embedding them into the coffin of their fallen comrade. 1986 01:44:18,252 --> 01:44:19,721 You're not just burying a warrior. 1987 01:44:19,754 --> 01:44:21,289 You're not just burying a teammate. 1988 01:44:21,323 --> 01:44:22,957 You're burying somebody that you love, 1989 01:44:22,990 --> 01:44:24,759 somebody that you know, 1990 01:44:24,792 --> 01:44:26,661 somebody that you trained with. 1991 01:44:26,694 --> 01:44:29,864 You know his family. You know his children. 1992 01:44:29,897 --> 01:44:31,866 For those of us who wear the Trident, 1993 01:44:31,899 --> 01:44:34,101 everybody refers to each other as brother. 1994 01:44:34,135 --> 01:44:35,937 And that is not just an expression. 1995 01:44:35,970 --> 01:44:38,039 That's how everybody feels about each other. 1996 01:44:38,072 --> 01:44:40,908 Because my teammate's more important than I am. 1997 01:44:40,942 --> 01:44:44,145 Poseidon, the god of the seas, 1998 01:44:44,178 --> 01:44:46,481 wielded a trident that gave him the power 1999 01:44:46,514 --> 01:44:50,485 to both create storms and calm the waters. 2000 01:44:50,518 --> 01:44:52,186 Being a SEAL and the Trident, 2001 01:44:52,219 --> 01:44:55,523 you come from a long line of people 2002 01:44:55,557 --> 01:44:59,361 who've sacrificed greatly to get you to where you are. 2003 01:44:59,394 --> 01:45:03,798 Nobody who wears the Trident today earned that reputation. 2004 01:45:03,831 --> 01:45:05,767 They inherited that reputation 2005 01:45:05,800 --> 01:45:09,303 from the men who came before them. 2006 01:45:09,337 --> 01:45:12,306 And while you have the opportunity to be a SEAL, 2007 01:45:12,340 --> 01:45:15,477 what you have to do is keep that reputation intact 2008 01:45:15,510 --> 01:45:17,278 and make it just a little bit better 2009 01:45:17,311 --> 01:45:20,181 than when they pinned a Trident on your chest. 2010 01:45:22,384 --> 01:45:25,219 I think we're flesh and blood, 2011 01:45:25,252 --> 01:45:28,823 but there is something extra inside us. 2012 01:45:28,856 --> 01:45:32,560 And the enemies of this country need to fear that, 2013 01:45:32,594 --> 01:45:35,463 because there is something different they don't know about. 2014 01:45:35,497 --> 01:45:38,666 And the bonds to our brothers is incredibly strong. 2015 01:45:38,700 --> 01:45:41,002 It'd be like a parent losing their son. 2016 01:45:41,035 --> 01:45:42,870 It hurts a lot. 2017 01:45:42,904 --> 01:45:44,839 But it doesn't stop us. 2018 01:45:44,872 --> 01:45:48,810 In fact, if anything, it just makes us stronger. 2019 01:45:48,843 --> 01:45:52,046 We'll obviously go to some pretty extreme measures 2020 01:45:52,079 --> 01:45:54,348 if we need to. 2021 01:45:54,382 --> 01:45:56,350 Like flying in helicopters 2022 01:45:56,384 --> 01:45:58,786 that you've never seen or heard of in your life 2023 01:45:58,820 --> 01:46:01,423 into a country that we swear we'll never go to 2024 01:46:01,456 --> 01:46:04,358 in the middle of the night, crash one of them 2025 01:46:04,392 --> 01:46:05,927 and still kill you. 2026 01:46:05,960 --> 01:46:07,595 I mean, you know, it's just... 2027 01:46:07,629 --> 01:46:10,465 [ chuckles ] 2028 01:46:10,498 --> 01:46:12,934 Yeah, that's the SEAL Teams. What can I tell you? 2029 01:46:12,967 --> 01:46:16,203 On the night of May 1, 2011, 2030 01:46:16,237 --> 01:46:21,142 23 SEALs crammed aboard two stealth prototype helicopters. 2031 01:46:21,175 --> 01:46:23,845 They lifted off for a 90-minute flight 2032 01:46:23,878 --> 01:46:27,949 deep into the forbidden airspace of Pakistan. 2033 01:46:27,982 --> 01:46:30,685 Despite the unusual location, 2034 01:46:30,718 --> 01:46:32,954 for the members of SEAL Team Six, 2035 01:46:32,987 --> 01:46:35,923 this kind of raid was a typical one... 2036 01:46:35,957 --> 01:46:41,696 except for the target: Osama bin Laden. 2037 01:46:41,729 --> 01:46:44,932 As SEAL Team Six descended on the compound, 2038 01:46:44,966 --> 01:46:46,901 one of the helicopters got caught 2039 01:46:46,934 --> 01:46:51,439 in its own rotor wash and crashed. 2040 01:46:51,473 --> 01:46:53,508 The SEALs scrambled from the wreckage 2041 01:46:53,541 --> 01:46:58,145 and began moving toward the house. 2042 01:46:58,179 --> 01:47:02,884 The second helicopter landed safely outside the walls. 2043 01:47:02,917 --> 01:47:05,987 Quietly, the SEALs advanced. 2044 01:47:06,020 --> 01:47:09,090 On the third floor, they found and killed 2045 01:47:09,123 --> 01:47:13,060 the world's most wanted terrorist. 2046 01:47:13,094 --> 01:47:15,930 [ gunshots ] 2047 01:47:18,566 --> 01:47:24,171 Over the radio, the SEALs reported bin Laden was dead. 2048 01:47:25,740 --> 01:47:28,242 The news of Bin Laden's death 2049 01:47:28,275 --> 01:47:32,446 brought celebrations to the streets of the United States. 2050 01:47:32,480 --> 01:47:35,416 But it also haunted the world with memories 2051 01:47:35,449 --> 01:47:38,820 of a clear September morning a decade before 2052 01:47:38,853 --> 01:47:43,858 when the streets of America were choked by terror. 2053 01:47:43,891 --> 01:47:47,995 This man's death was personal. 2054 01:47:48,029 --> 01:47:49,864 MAGUIRE: I grew up in New York City. 2055 01:47:49,897 --> 01:47:52,166 I watched the Twin Towers go up. 2056 01:47:52,199 --> 01:47:54,869 But I also know the traffic pattern of the Hudson River. 2057 01:47:54,902 --> 01:47:57,639 And I saw the second plane flying south. 2058 01:47:57,672 --> 01:47:59,641 And I just said, "Look at that guy. 2059 01:47:59,674 --> 01:48:01,475 He's not supposed to be flying south there. 2060 01:48:01,509 --> 01:48:05,713 He's just taking a look at -- at that first tower." 2061 01:48:05,747 --> 01:48:07,582 And then I saw him go into the second tower. 2062 01:48:07,615 --> 01:48:10,084 I saw it when it happened, and immediately I said, 2063 01:48:10,117 --> 01:48:13,354 "We're under attack." 2064 01:48:13,387 --> 01:48:15,356 I finally got home from work 2065 01:48:15,389 --> 01:48:20,962 around midnight on 9/11 and my phone rang. 2066 01:48:20,995 --> 01:48:23,565 And I picked up the phone and there was a voice 2067 01:48:23,598 --> 01:48:27,268 extremely emotional and crying, and said, 2068 01:48:27,301 --> 01:48:29,403 "Joseph, I know what you do. 2069 01:48:29,436 --> 01:48:31,539 Get them. Get them for what they did." 2070 01:48:31,573 --> 01:48:33,374 And it took me a couple of seconds 2071 01:48:33,407 --> 01:48:35,276 to realize it's my brother. 2072 01:48:35,309 --> 01:48:37,679 And on the 2nd of May, 2073 01:48:37,712 --> 01:48:39,814 I placed a phone call to my brother. 2074 01:48:39,847 --> 01:48:43,017 I said, "It took us a while, but we got him." 2075 01:48:43,050 --> 01:48:44,752 All across America, people gathered 2076 01:48:44,786 --> 01:48:46,420 in spontaneous celebrations -- 2077 01:48:46,453 --> 01:48:50,792 outside the White House, at Ground Zero, to Times Square. 2078 01:48:50,825 --> 01:48:54,161 SPARKS: I got numb. I felt chills. 2079 01:48:54,195 --> 01:48:55,997 He was the face of terrorism 2080 01:48:56,030 --> 01:48:57,832 and the driving force behind a lot of stuff, 2081 01:48:57,865 --> 01:49:00,034 but it felt like victory. 2082 01:49:00,067 --> 01:49:02,303 bin Laden was the embodiment 2083 01:49:02,336 --> 01:49:04,939 of the Western world's newest enemy. 2084 01:49:04,972 --> 01:49:09,076 The leader of an international network of splintered cells. 2085 01:49:09,110 --> 01:49:12,113 Nearly impossible to infiltrate. 2086 01:49:14,716 --> 01:49:19,220 His was a shadow leadership 2087 01:49:19,253 --> 01:49:23,057 that took shadow warriors to end. 2088 01:49:24,191 --> 01:49:26,327 No official state. 2089 01:49:26,360 --> 01:49:29,330 No traditional command and control centers. 2090 01:49:29,363 --> 01:49:34,001 No uniforms identifying an enemy combatant. 2091 01:49:34,035 --> 01:49:36,470 bin Laden's death symbolized the fact 2092 01:49:36,503 --> 01:49:38,039 that America had adapted 2093 01:49:38,072 --> 01:49:41,275 to fighting this new kind of adversary. 2094 01:49:43,577 --> 01:49:49,116 And the Navy SEALs became the embodiment of that change. 2095 01:49:49,150 --> 01:49:52,854 [ ** ] 2096 01:49:52,887 --> 01:49:54,856 We are what they're scared of. 2097 01:49:54,889 --> 01:49:57,992 We're they're -- that bump in the night. 2098 01:49:58,025 --> 01:50:02,029 That mystique and that legacy goes way, way back 2099 01:50:02,063 --> 01:50:04,632 to even Vietnam and before. 2100 01:50:04,666 --> 01:50:07,168 You know, the enemy knew the men in green faces, 2101 01:50:07,201 --> 01:50:10,638 if they were coming for you, you weren't coming back. 2102 01:50:10,672 --> 01:50:14,809 [ ** ] 2103 01:50:14,842 --> 01:50:18,045 BRAMSTEDT: When you're out there and you're in a conflict, 2104 01:50:18,079 --> 01:50:20,214 or a "tick" is what they call it, 2105 01:50:20,247 --> 01:50:22,483 you're fighting for the brotherhood. 2106 01:50:22,516 --> 01:50:25,119 It's the guys on your left and your right. 2107 01:50:25,152 --> 01:50:28,089 The real reason and the political reasons 2108 01:50:28,122 --> 01:50:30,692 why you're there and -- that's all gonna be argued 2109 01:50:30,725 --> 01:50:32,827 on the left and the right of the aisle 2110 01:50:32,860 --> 01:50:34,862 somewhere in Congress somewhere, 2111 01:50:34,896 --> 01:50:36,497 the guys in the barber shop, 2112 01:50:36,530 --> 01:50:38,299 people driving down the road, you know, 2113 01:50:38,332 --> 01:50:40,401 on their Bluetooth headsets. 2114 01:50:40,434 --> 01:50:45,539 But when you're in it and it's happening, it's about this man. 2115 01:50:45,572 --> 01:50:49,410 I'm not firing my weapon to make sure that I come home alive. 2116 01:50:49,443 --> 01:50:52,980 I'm firing my weapon to make sure he comes home alive. 2117 01:50:53,014 --> 01:50:54,348 Back! 2118 01:50:54,381 --> 01:50:56,383 KAISER: I never thought about killing people, 2119 01:50:56,417 --> 01:50:58,652 because I always thought about it as a mission. 2120 01:50:58,686 --> 01:51:01,155 My job was never to go out and kill somebody. 2121 01:51:01,188 --> 01:51:03,357 My job was to go capture somebody, 2122 01:51:03,390 --> 01:51:06,293 go collect intelligence, go do reconnaissance. 2123 01:51:06,327 --> 01:51:08,195 Because if you kill somebody, 2124 01:51:08,229 --> 01:51:10,031 you don't get any intelligence out of them. 2125 01:51:10,064 --> 01:51:12,466 You capture them, you're gonna get something out of them. 2126 01:51:12,499 --> 01:51:13,901 So -- eventually. 2127 01:51:13,935 --> 01:51:15,737 And then we can plan our next mission, 2128 01:51:15,770 --> 01:51:18,806 because that's what every SEAL wants is the next mission. 2129 01:51:18,840 --> 01:51:23,978 [ ** ] 2130 01:51:24,011 --> 01:51:26,680 WOOLARD: I think there's always gonna be SEALs 2131 01:51:26,714 --> 01:51:29,717 in one form or another, but I think they're still gonna be 2132 01:51:29,751 --> 01:51:32,253 the same basic sort of guy 2133 01:51:32,286 --> 01:51:35,957 who trained right down the road from us here in Fort Pierce 2134 01:51:35,990 --> 01:51:37,558 during World War II, 2135 01:51:37,591 --> 01:51:40,194 the same guys who fought in Vietnam, 2136 01:51:40,227 --> 01:51:45,933 in the mountains in Afghanistan, and in Iraq. 2137 01:51:45,967 --> 01:51:47,969 The innate thread, I think, 2138 01:51:48,002 --> 01:51:50,938 that goes through the teams since their inception 2139 01:51:50,972 --> 01:51:54,141 way back to WWII is what I call the Rudy Factor. 2140 01:51:54,175 --> 01:51:56,177 If you remember the Notre Dame footballer: 2141 01:51:56,210 --> 01:51:59,080 they have hearts that they just will not quit. 2142 01:51:59,113 --> 01:52:00,982 They will not quit no matter what. 2143 01:52:01,015 --> 01:52:03,885 They're the type of guys who can get knocked down, get back up, 2144 01:52:03,918 --> 01:52:06,220 get knocked down, and get back up. 2145 01:52:06,253 --> 01:52:10,324 That's the common thread. 2146 01:52:14,829 --> 01:52:18,399 Since World War II, SEALs and their forefathers 2147 01:52:18,432 --> 01:52:20,134 have faced whatever threat 2148 01:52:20,167 --> 01:52:23,304 the enemies of each generation have posed... 2149 01:52:23,337 --> 01:52:28,009 [ explosions ] 2150 01:52:28,042 --> 01:52:32,313 from Hitler's beaches... 2151 01:52:32,346 --> 01:52:37,518 to bin Laden's terror. 2152 01:52:37,551 --> 01:52:41,155 While the perils have changed and will continue to, 2153 01:52:41,188 --> 01:52:43,991 the invisible men behind the face masks 2154 01:52:44,025 --> 01:52:48,062 still claim a common heritage and future. 2155 01:52:48,095 --> 01:52:52,800 No matter how sophisticated they or their foes become, 2156 01:52:52,834 --> 01:52:58,039 they are simply frogmen. 2157 01:52:59,640 --> 01:53:02,476 MAGUIRE: We live in an extremely dangerous and difficult world. 2158 01:53:02,509 --> 01:53:05,312 And no matter where we as a nation go next, 2159 01:53:05,346 --> 01:53:09,116 the first people in will be the SEALs. 2160 01:53:11,819 --> 01:53:14,989 [ ** ] 166059

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