Ten years ago, on August 6, 2011, an Army Chinook helicopter, call sign Extortion 17, crashed in the Tangi Valley of Afghanistan. All military personnel aboard were killed. There are more questions than answers about the event, which leads to calls of cover-up. This documentary smashes some of the the myths, but, for me, led to many more questions and a metric ton of anger.

For those of you who read “Call Sign Extortion 17: The Shoot-Down of SEAL Team Six” by author Don Brown, much of this may be old news. Even if you think you know everything, interviews with those who were on the ground or in the air that night, make it real. The ways the family of the fallen are disgraceful. Here is the trailer for Fallen Angel, Call Sign: Extortion 17:

The video is available for rent or purchase on Salem Now.

Osama Bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011. The principles in the executive branch of our government were asked not to disclose which Special Operators were on the scene. Then Vice President Joe Biden and CIA Director Leon Panetta both openly identified Seal Team Six (DevGru) at the personnel tasked with the assassination.

On August 6, 2011, just three months later, Army Rangers were conducting operations in the Taliban controlled Tangi Valley. Aboard the AC-130 Gun Ship, eye in the sky, was Fire Control Officer, Captain Joni Marquez. The Rangers below killed six Taliban. Overhead, Captain Marquez saw a couple of “squirters”. These Taliban ran off and were knocking on doors, gathering more fighters. Marquez radioed in to get permission to kill the squirters. Permission denied. The Rangers below began humping towards the growing Taliban group. Marquez was told killing the squirters wouldn’t win hearts or minds.

Back at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Shank, there is a call for back up from Seal Team Six Gold Group. Extortion 16 flew with only the flight crew. Extortion 17 had 38 personnel, including seven Afghan Special Operators or APU (Afghan Partner Units). The U.S. military personnel did not trust the APU at all. There had been a surge of Green on Blue attacks and our personnel did not believe the APU were well-vetted.

Author Don Brown is a former Navy JAG officer and his speculations have a ring of truth. No one recalls where the call for a team of Special Operators come from. The Rangers didn’t need them. Extortion 17 lost radio contact for seven minutes before coming back with the pilot saying he couldn’t find the Landing Zone. Second later, the helo was shot out of the air by a rocket propelled grenade. What happened during the seven minutes? Was there a Green on Blue attack on board?

Fire Control Officer Marquez saw one of the Seal team members, PO1 Michael Strange, on the ground dying. Quite a few were thrown off of the helicopter and were found on the ground. Their bodies were intact. During the autopsies, the Medical Examiner found bullets that were later thrown away. Why?

Testifying before then Congressman Jason Chaffetz, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Garry Reid testified that there was no Black Box on Extortion 17. The Fallen Angel documentary interviews the personnel who installed the Black Boxes on all of the Extortion call sign helicopters. The Rangers and personnel from the 10th Mountain Division spent days looking for the Black Box. Later, the Pentagon said that the Black Box was washed away in a flash flood. The non-existent Black Box was washed away in a flash flood, after days were spent looking for it. Your tax dollars at work.

At the ramp ceremony, with the coffins of our dead heroes displayed, a Muslim Imam disrespected them:

Hear are the words of the Muslim speaking over the flag draped coffins of our dead heroes in the video:

“Amen, I shelter in Allah the merciful forgiver. The companions of the fire, the sinners and the infidels who are fodder for hell fire are not equal with the companions of heaven. The companions of heaven, Muslims are the winners. Had we sent this Koran to a mountain, you would have seen the mountain prostrated in fear of Allah. (Mocking the God of Moses) Such examples are what we present to the people, to the people so that they would think. (Repent and convert to Islam). Blessing are to your God (Allah) the God of glory of what they describe. And peace be upon the messengers (prophets) and thanks be to Allah the Lord of both universes of mankind and Jinn.”

Why?

The collateral damage to the other personnel involved in the search continues to this day.

The documentary is great, terrible and frightening. The way the Pentagon lies without conscience should scare everyone. The entire government apparatus lies to this day.

This is personal to me. I am the daughter of a Marine, the mother and Aunt to three soldiers. My friends Doug and Shaune Hamburger lost their son, Staff Sergeant Patrick Hamburger on Extortion 17.

For Staff Sergeant Hamburger and the other Army soldiers and Navy Seals on board, we honor and salute their service and demand the truth, whatever it may be.

Featured Image: NASA HQ PHOTO/Flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)