North - American Heroes: In the Fight Against Radical Islam

American Heroes, Digital Edition

Based on Print Edition

2012 by Oliver L. North and FOX News Channel

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-1-4336-7710-6

Published by B&H Publishing Group,

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 355.3 Subject Heading: TERRORISM \ MILITARY PERSONNEL

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible, Holman CSB, and HCSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Other Bibles quoted are the King James Version (KJV) and the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

For Betsy

With thanks for your patience and prayers while I keep company with heroes

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Left to rightAndy Stenner, Chris Jackson, Greg Johnson, Oliver North, and Chuck Holton in Afghanistan (August 2008)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE

DWYER HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

15 AUGUST 2008

If our lives are defined by those with whom we keep company, I am in good shapebecause my companions are heroes. Shortly before this photo was taken, Chris Jackson, our cameraman, and three U.S. Marines were wounded by an improvised explosive device. Chris risked his life to save one of the Marines. A few days later, we accompanied U. S. Special Operations Command troops on night raids into Taliban strongholds. Those and many more stories are contained in the pages of this bookall composed during more than a dozen protracted "embeds" with U.S. forces battling radical Islamic terror.

That we have spent so much time accompanying the young Americans and our allies engaged in this fight is a tribute to the vision of FOX News president, Roger Ailes, and David Shepherd and Brad Waggoner at B&H Publishing. Their collaboration made possible this salute to the American heroes who are fighting and winning this war.

Many others contributed to this work as well. Gary Terashita, my friend and editor, made this new account possible. Former Army Ranger and friend Chuck Holton edited my fractured prose and accompanied us to Iraq and Afghanistan to shoot some of the photos for this book.

As for shooting, FOX News cameramen Malcolm James, Christian Galdabini, and Chris Jackson have seen a lot of it in our years covering our troops. They braved improvised explosive devices, suicide bombers, and enemy gunfire to capture some of the most dramatic and dangerous frames and footage from any conflict.

Producers Griff Jenkins, Pamela Browne, Gregory Johnson, and Andrew Stenner all went into harm's waybecause that is where the heroes are. Producer Steve Tierney went with us to Afghanistan, and Senior Producer Martin Hinton went with me to document how our Special Operators help their Filipino counterparts track down Islamic terrorists in the southern Philippines.

Much of the work in completing this record of courage and commitment fell on the shoulders of others. My friend and counsel Bob Barnett worked tirelessly with Dianne Brandi at FOX News and David Shepherd at B&H to make this book a reality. War Stories Executive Producer Pamela Browne and Producers Greg Johnson, Steve Tierney, Ayse Weiting, Greg Ebben, Kelly Guernica, and Andy Stenner all pored through miles of our combat video footage to select the best frames for "stills" to illuminate the events described in these pages. And Bill Shine, our immediate boss at FOX News, ensured we would have what we needed to "get it done."

At B&H Publishing Group, Executive Editor Gary Terashita, Marketing Vice President John Thompson, Sales Vice President Craig Featherstone, Art Director Diana Lawrence, Copyeditor George Knight, Project Editor Lisa Parnell, and Managing Editor Kim Stanford all devoted their considerable talent to ensuring that the eyewitness accounts and images in this work will be preserved for posterity.

Marsha Fishbaugh, my incomparable executive assistant and Duane Ward's team at Premiere had to bear the brunt of my frenetic schedule in writing this chronicle. I am grateful for their help in making it a success.

No one gave up more than Betsy, my wife and best friend of forty years, so I could complete this book. She patiently waited and prayed for my safety while I made more than a dozen prolonged trips to cover those serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, and the Philippines. Her support and encouragement and that of our children, their mates, and our eleven grandchildren made this work possible.

None of this would have been documented without the assistance of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen, and Marines with whom we have lived, laughed, and sometimes cried over the course of the seven years they have been fighting this war. Some of their names and pictures are in this book. Most are not. They truly are American heroes. For the opportunity they gave us to let them tell their stories, I am eternally grateful.

Semper Fidelis,

Oliver North

INTRODUCTION

HANGING AROUND WITH HEROES

Front and center, with several of "the remarkable men and women who serve as our guardians against radical Islam"

I have the best job in all broadcasting. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen, and Marinesthose who fight America's warsare my only "beat." I hang around with heroes for a living. For some, a hero wears a spandex suit and a cape. My heroes wear flak jackets, flight suits, and combat boots. This book is for and about them.

In 2001 Roger Ailes hired me to host the War Stories documentary series on FOX News channel. Our idea was to present the perspectives of those who had fought America's past conflictsWorld War II, Korea, Vietnamto offer eyewitness participants an opportunity to tell how they made history.

Then came 9/11/01the day nineteen Islamic radicals hijacked four airliners and killed more than twenty-nine hundred people in America. Within weeks of the attack, I was headed for Afghanistanwith a whole new generation of U.S. warriors. Since then I have been privileged to spend more than an accumulated year of my life documenting the remarkable men and women who serve as our guardians against radical Islam.

In the pages of this book, you will have the opportunity to meet many of those I have encountered in the foothills of Afghanistan's Hindu Kush, the scorching deserts of Iraq, on the waters of the Persian Gulf, in the jungles of the Philippinesand on U.S. military bases and hospitals around the globe. To the extent possible, the accounts here are their words, for no one can tell the story as well as those who live it. This, then, is the first draft of the history they are making.