What else do you expect my enemies to say? he asks. In response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the elite U.S. Special Forces unit, Operational Detachment-Alpha 595 (ODA 595 for short), was one of three teams of Special Forces soldiers sent into Afghanistan. However, one was dropped due to a lack of confidence in the team. Although I spoke out on behalf of the team the media, didntpublish my eyewitness photos and testimony because it would go against a narrative thata Pashtun backed by a European-backed central government must rule Kabul, not a coalition of regional leaders.We did not want the Taliban voting themselves back into power, yet we restrained the grass roots power of the ethnic minorities. We thought he was wounded. Trigger warnings include battlefield violence, repeated explosions and gun battles, and up-close scenes of civilian killings by the Taliban. I convince the staff to move him to an upstairs bed, where Bill inserts an IV of Hespan into the mans dehydrated body to increase blood circulation. Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved, The scene at the hospital is ugly. The entrance to the bunker was pierced by cannon shots and is blackened from explosions. What happened to General Dostum in Afghanistan? "There was nothing built up," Mark Nutsch said. The only mystery was the lack of interest in the NGO, governments and media in investigating the facts. They put the prisoners back on the truck. Support Dostum. We pass the twisted, stripped wrecks of trucks and Toyotas. I ride in the warlords communications truck, a white Land Cruiser. There is aneed to never forget the sacrifices men make in war. The men Im staying with have dubbed their unit the Regulators, after the 19th-century cowboys who were hired by cattle barons to guard their herds from rustlers. He told them his name was Abdul Hamid. In 1996, when the Taliban rolled into Kabul, Dostum was forced to retreat to his stronghold in Mazar as the mullahs instituted their version of a pure Islamic state. None of these guys are clean actors." The U.S. refused to work with Dostum until former UN envoy Charlie Santos pointed out to the CIA that the only functioning fighting group besidesthe Panjshiris ofMassoud wereDostums Uzbeks. Lined up against a wall is the most pathetic display of humanity I have ever seen: the survivors of the bunker at Qala Jangi fortress. (Though in my opinion, much more time should have been given to family homecoming scenes!). (In his book Taliban, author Ahmed Rashid reports a tale he heard that Dostum once ordered his men to drag a thief behind a tank until all that was left was a bloody pulp of gore. When the council broke up, Dostum stood and motioned toward the horses. He ended up in the Takhar Province, in the northeastern part of the country. The first words I wanted to learn in Dari were, How do you make him stop?, Their most important immediate order of business was to establish themselves in Dostums eyes. Both are awake, both unwilling to break the silence as their young child sleeps nearby. John, he says. "They were very mature, very family-orientated," Bob Pennington said. Two of the Green Berets Ive been chatting withAndy and Paul, the pair with the longest tenure in the companyhave decided that I need to see this place for myself, or maybe simply that they need to go see it again one last time. Soon were winding past an ancient brick bridge that crosses a roaring gorge; on the west side are large caves that shepherds have scooped out of the soft rock over the centuries. Paul, Andy, and I drive past villages of round, domed huts, past a checkpoint manned by Dostums men, and up along the winding road to the Tingi Pass. A good reminder for all Americans are the scenes portraying the oppressive lives the Afghan people were subjected to under Taliban rule. If he goes off the deep end and starts whacking people, advise higher up and maybe pull out. This was the most incredibly open mission we have ever done., Before heading in-country, the soldiers had been briefed only vaguely about Dostum. KABUL, Afghanistan After more than a year in exile, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum returned to his native Afghanistan on Sunday facing criminal charges of rape and kidnapping, as well . Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. Nutsch commented: Were humbled that a movie has been made about our teams mission in that pivotal post 9/11 period. The men were thrilled; they were so happy. That afternoon, Dostum and I set off for the fort, where the uprising has been all but quelled. Once the ODA 595 linked up with Dostum, they were to "render the area unsafe for the Taliban and terrorist activity," says Green Beret Mark Nutsch, portrayed by Chris Hemsworth in the movie. Is 12 Strong a Real Story? Ending Explained, and More I assumed he was fricking mean, hard. He has ended the bloody battle for Kunduz by negotiating with Mullah Faizal and Mullah Nuri, the two most senior Taliban leaders in the north. I could see the horses blasting out the other side. They chose not bullets or grenades but ordnance that ranged from Maverick missiles to laser-guided bombs. He described the building we were sitting on to a T. Finally, Air Force Steve guided the pilot to the correct building, and he dropped the ordnance: direct hit. The twisted rag doll bodies of dead Taliban fighters lie heads back, fingers clutched, legs sprawled as if they fell running. So I approach a war movie set in the days after 9/11 with a certain amount of skepticism. War drama directed by Nicolai Fuglsig which is inspired by true events and is set days following 9/11 when a U.S. Special Forces team, led by their new Captain, Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth), is chosen to be the first U.S. troops sent into Afghanistan for an extremely dangerous mission. In the movie, Nelson and his men must link up with General Abdul Rashid Dostum and his small band of fightersa partnership as much diplomatic as military, according to 12 Strong's director. It was right at dark. But the US Armed Forces were thin on the ground, and were potentially facing around 50,000 Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. One Leadership Skill That Turned 12 'Horse Soldiers' Into An Elite He knew that he had to put in his time shuffling papers in order to move up in rank. At first I thought, Why not let them rule? he says. real general dostum and mitch nelson Uncategorized September 20, 2021. This time there is no convoy; just a son paying his respects to his father. Blackened, twisted vehicles are perforated with thousands of jagged holes. SFC Bill Bennett RIP Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. Not exactly. It feels more than a bit odd to be recognized for my books and TV showas someone who specializes in traveling to the worlds hot spotswhile poking around a war in Afghanistan. Here, the 12 Strong movie and the true story match up. In between conflict there was time to celebrate. Nutsch was the commander of the 12-man Green Berets from 5th Special Forces Group on a mission to Afghanistan in the weeks after 9/11 terrorist attacks. I tell the prisoner where he is and who hes talking to. -Legion of Brothers, No. The shelling, raping, pillaging, looting, and house-to-house fighting that then befell Kabul stained the name of every mujahidin commander, including Dostums, and fueled his reputation for brutality. Dostums men had finally flooded them out by sluicing frigid water into the subterranean room. The CIA had begun to work with Massouds people in October of 1999 hoping to pay him to kill Osama bin Laden. -The Fayetteville Observer. Twenty Urgan missiles point toward the village. As for why the names were changed, one article stated that the studio did not want to have to pay all of the real-life people for the rights to use their names. There is an emotional landscape here I cannot see. In the last two semi-wars we have been in, every time American soldiers get killed we pull out. This scandal would tarnish General Dostums very realaccomplishment of being Americas most aggressive and stalwart allyagainst the Taliban and al Qaeda. Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. -KTLA 5 Riggle, now an actor known for his comedic performances, gave 23 years of total service to the military. Two weeks after Dostum descended on Balkh, things have calmed down, so the warlord climbs into the front passenger seat of a Nissan, and we head across a sandstorm-blasted desert. Dostums men have been throwing down grenades and pouring in gasoline and lighting it, but the foreign Taliban refuse to come up. One key point noted repeatedly (and military spouses already know this!) They moved and attacked mostly at night, riding small, wiry Afghan horses that are well suited to steep slopes and long desert walks. General Dostum knew the area and how to reach the goal faster by cutting through the mountains and finally communicated this when he felt more trusting of Captain Nelson. He sits and makes small talk, then excuses himself to take a shower. Dostum tells me that he has fought on every inch of Afghan soil and can recite the names of his men who have died, describe each battle in detail, and tell you what he has learned from every encounter. Mitch Nelson, a character based on Nutsch. Before the arrival of the Americans, Dostum fought mostly at night. Over chai (tea), he announces good news. After four days of bombardment, the interior of the fort is a scene of utter devastation. They have been blowing themselves up with grenades. The greatest restrictions they face have been placed on them by Dostum himself. The wholesale conversion of talibs to the government side during theKunduz surrender had created confusion in how many Taliban existed in the North. When an American team finally recovered Spanns body, they discovered it had been booby-trapped with a live grenade (which they removed without incident). We are alive thanks to you. As Dostum stands on the porch, looking at the place of his birth, he chokes up. Then, here is Dostum, says Will, a guy trained in tanks whos using tactics developed in Genghis Khans time.. As we explored the accuracy of 12 Strong, we discovered that a group of both currently-serving and retired U.S. special operators were involved in the making of the movie, mainly to make sure that the filmmakers represented soldiers and combat accurately. Initially eschewing interaction with Nelson due to his youth and the fact that he doesnt have killers eyes, they come to trust each other and eventually work in tandem along with their teams. We jump in a Toyota off-road vehicle and set off. An old man yells, God bless you. When team leader Nelson presented Dostum with a gift of horse feed, Dostum was obviously offended. Some stayed behind to handle logistics and supplies. Mark Nutsch's team, ODA 595, was dropped in Dehi, roughly 100 miles from the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Yes, Bob Pennington, portrayed by Michael Shannon in the movie, had a herniated disc and suffered from excruciating back pain during the mission. Later on he had a dark premonition. He rolls in a John Wayne walk to Commander Lal, whos in charge of the standoff. Dostums men kick the corpses into the trenches and cover them with the tan dirt, not bothering to count the dead. Yes. Ten minutes later, another 40 riders galloped up. However, he had been deployed in the Middle East and around the globe. Im looking through the optics while rounds are zinging all around us. At this point in the tale, Mike nodded toward Paul, who was sitting next to him on the couch at Dostums guest house. At the last minute the Agency was told by the SF ground commander that his men were going in with or without the Agency. Of course, war is cruel and brutal; any person who has ever read a single page of history understands the unfortunate necessity and commonality of war in all cultures, in all countries around . Dostum chuckles and denies the allegation. Captain Nelson was determined to get the mission done in a timely fashion because of the promise he made to his superiors. Yes. It took a few hours for bombers to arrive from their carriers. They spend every day training for war, teaching other armies about war, and waiting for the call to fight in the next war. They are currently enjoying some well earned recognition now that the film 12 Strong has been released but again, the filmis not anywhere close to the truth. This is where Alexander ruled, where Zoroaster was born, where Buddhists came on pilgrimages, a center of art, poetry, and study where lions were hunted and where Genghis Khan came to conquer. Mark Nutsch, portrayed by Chris Hemsworth in the movie, had recently been promoted out of the job he loved, serving in the field as a Special Forces team captain. Dostums men load RPGs and check their ammo drums. The team set up on the roof of a building about 400 meters from the madrasah and called in a strike. The rest of the time they travel. You know: You better not show any weakness. The rounds are zinging over my head. None of the 12 soldiers died during the 2001 Afghanistan mission. The trapped Taliban volunteers, it seems, remain hungry for martyrdom. It was about this time that Abdul Rashid became Dostum. In Uzbek, dost means friend; dostum means my friend. It was a nickname that the young soldier was given for his habitual way of addressing people. On the next pass, three more bombs went through the hole in the roof made by the first bomb, killing most of the holdouts inside. Not everything goes to plan during a raid on a village Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. In Hollywood I was asked to join meetings during which actors and producers pitched the story, read half a dozen books in which the idea of John Wayne like cavalry charges and Dostums ogre like cruelty were fictionalized into cartoons. I was full of emotions. After our time in country, I became friends with the men and defended them when they were accused of war crimes by the media. The post was in an uproar, says Paul. In real life, Bob Pennington wasn't badly injured by a surrendering enemy fighter who blew himself up with his own grenade, an act that leaves Michael Shannon's character clinging to life as his fellow soldiers hurry to extract him. First arrival on the Observation Post. Wrapped in blankets, members of the mullahs entourage fix me with soulless stares. After days of killing as many Taliban as they could they were accused of murdering prisonersin shipping containers. "If they got in trouble, there was very little I could do and nothing I could do quickly. Three or four bombs hit right in the middle of the enemy position, says Will. No one knew just when or where the team would be sent. -SOFREP, In the movie, Chris Hemsworth's character's wife is not pregnant. The info I had was that he was MIA, Mark says. "The threat of capture, torture was very real." At the end of the Soviet period Dostum had 45,000 troops with about half of them as village reserves. Then the morphine begins to kick in. They placed it in a body bag and lowered it into the ground. The moments of shockIs this really happening? The Taliban are running. Its like a casting call for The Dirty Dozen. Like in the 12 Strong movie, the real Horse Soldiers were able to liberate Afghanistan's fourth largest city, Mazar-i-Sharif, in just three weeks. No. They had tanks, air force, and artillery. The B-Team had already set up shop at theTurkish School in Mazar and was getting ready for the push to Tora Bora. Two Soldiers Tell the Real Story Behind 12 Strong | Paul Asay Its a high, lonely place. And I believe it will mean a lot to the Afghan people because it shows their service in that conflict.. Shattered, bearded men lie everywhere on stretchers, covered by thin blue sheets. As we approach the village, the men and boys are lined up in a perfect row a hundred yards long, waiting to greet Dostum. The team had been working together for two years and the average age was 32 years old. All the while, we could see troops moving and disappearing. Right next to where I am staying. Dostums meetings do not end until well after midnight. In contrast to the Americans high-tech warfare, some of Dostums tactics would have seemed familiar to the British troops who tried and failed to pacify this region in the 19th century. Travel and accommodations were provided by Warner Bros. Pictures. Yes. Commandeering whole villages, women in burkas with not even eyes showing, the stoning of a woman only for being caught in adultery, and the execution of a mother for daring to teach her daughters to read. "They weirdly are a formidable force that will continue to fight, no matter what.". Bill and the team were wearing armor decorated with my logo when he died. -The Fayetteville Observer. The then-secret Uzbekistan air base, also known as K2, is depicted as a sort of tent city in the movie. ), Commander Abdul Karim Fakir, who was in charge of the fortress while Dostum was in Kunduz, had worked with the Green Berets since they landed in Afghanistan. A local mullah sings a prayer of deliverance and thanks to Dostum. After the American bombing campaign decimated their forces, Walker and members of his unit fled on foot nearly a hundred miles west to Kunduzall for nothing, as it turned out. He has two weeks of beard, beetling eyebrows, and a graying brush cut. They use simple wooden saddles covered with a piece of carpet, and short stirrups that put our knees up by our heads. In Doug Stanton's book Horse Soldiers, it was Colonel Max Bowers, portrayed by Rob Riggle, who brought a piece of steel with him from the World Trade Center to Afghanistan. Astoundingly, after two days of bombardment, the prisoners still control the fort. 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme. Submit an Article It was somewhere between harassing and accurateenough to keep our heads down. John Walker Lindh was among those who surrendered in the battle for Mazar-i-Sharif and his story is included in the Horse Soldiers book but not in the movie. On 19 October . In the movie, another team member arrives to pick them up and tells them about the attacks. We had unrestricted movement into the gap, which gave us the high ground.. After a final check of their gear, they head into the fortress. Was it ten thousand, five thousand, The actual number was around 3,500 who surrendered, another460 al Qaeda showed up at thegates of Mazar and around 250 300 died of their wounds, diseaseor suffocation during transport in the frigid weather. A typical meal at Dostums guesthouse. Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. Who were the 12 strong in real life? - JOUNIMARTIKAINEN The morning after Heavy Ds return from Kunduz, he greets me with a deep, booming Howareyou? Today, he tells me, he is eager for me to meet his trophy mullahs. 12 STRONG Rebeca Aguilar-Diaz PROFESSOR - Course Hero CHRIS HEMSWORTH, left, as Captain Mitch Nelson and NAVID NEGAHBAN as General Dostum in "12 STRONG," (Warner Bros. Pictures) CHRIS HEMSWORTH as Captain Mitch Nelson in "12 STRONG." (David James) Beyond the high steel gates is a confusion of trucks, headlights, and guns, and the sound of men moaning in pain. '12 Strong' turns heroic tale into generic war movie Once they hit the ground, the Regulators would be writing their own game plan. All the while ostracizing the now First Vice President Dostum who is currently in exile in Ankara plotting his next move. How Accurate is 12 Strong? The True Story of the Real Horse Soldiers vs After the seventh grade, Dostum left school to help his father on the family farm. On September 11, 2001, Mitch Nelson, a U.S. Army captain with Green Berets Operational Detachment Alpha 595, moves into a new home with his wife and daughter after receiving an assignment to staff duty under Lieutenant Colonel Bowers. you die. We were focused on calling in an air strike to take out this truck that had rumbled into view, and now RPG rounds are flying over our heads. Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved, The joy was short-lived. It's a miracle of sorts given what they faced, a feat that the movie does a good job conveying. Surprisingly Dostum agreed. At first he is hostile, like a kitten baring its claws. If the Taliban can rule successfully, let them. A year later, betrayed by his second in command, who had defected to the Taliban, Dostum fled to Turkey. However, with regard to making sure the movie didn't veer too far from the true story, only two members of the original ODA-595 detachment visited the set for a total of 2.5 days. You could see horses falling. An outcrop obscured views of the last 250 meters to the target. The book is the inspiration behind the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced film called "12 Strong" that was released in 2018 and stars Chris Hemsworth as Capt. "For all of our teams, the risk was extraordinary," Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland said. In all, less than 100 Special Forces soldiers toppled the Taliban government. They range in age from mid-20s to early 40s. The pilots, however, could not lock in on the laser-sighting device that the team was using to identify the target. My friends were struggling against the Taliban, and I was sitting there., Dostum says that to help him get back into the fray, the former president of Afghanistan, Burhanuddin Rabbani, sliced offabout $40,000 from the CIA funds. William Fichtner portrays Mulholland in the movie and Homeland's Navid Negahban plays General Dostum. What made working with him particularly dangerous was that he was known for switching sides during several conflicts with Afghanistan. Shannon's character is wounded in the movie for dramatic effect. Drop a bomb on that grid. Pretty straightforward stuff.. Mullah Nuri insists he doesnt know them and they refuse to come up. Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. At night we sit around talking over stainless steel cups of coffee. We grabbed our stuff and ran., The team knew that their story would be stolen, rewritten and misused as Rumsfeld and others seized the moment. The Taliban had surrendered at Qali i Jangi to CIA officer JR and Dostum and surrenders were under way in Kunduz. There are twelve Green Berets here and two Air Force forward air controllers. They had to kill their horses for food. The young commando Abdul Rashid, quickly rose through the ranks. So, I worked for him, directly," says Riggle. The risk they were taking was indeed that great. It wasnt done perfectly, but it will never be forgotten., Over 3200 prisoners were kept in Sheberghan Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. These Special Forces soldiers took on the Taliban on horseback He freely admits that in two decades of war, abuses have been committed by the troops of every commander. I get off the horse and say, Screw this; Im walking.. Dostum and his commanders wanted to negotiate, but the foreign Taliban shot and killed their peace envoys, which left Al-liance leaders with little choice. Based on the novel Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton, 12 Strong offers a realistic depiction of what the unit went through, the inner workings of military culture, and the effect on both Afghan civilians and the units families back home. Yes. Were not about to stand up and watch whats going on. Then he rides up on horseback with one pant leg untucked, looking like Bluto.. In a village on the outskirts of Balkh, the convoy rumbles to a halt near an ancient castle that is now a rounded mound of tan mud. Ill admit, my guard was up, as I dont expect even-handed treatment of military-heavy stories these days. Mitch Nelson (Aussie Chris Hemsworth, aka Thor) is the highly trained but not combat-tested leader of the small team dubbed Task Force Dagger and sent by Col. Mulholland (William. "We knew nothing about these guys," retired Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland said. One of the soldiers from the ODA 595 died later while serving in Iraq. When it looked like they would break the back of the position, he would ride through as fast as he could and keep the Taliban on the run., With their knowledge of military history, the Regulators appreciated the ironies of this strange war: The Taliban had gone from the muj style of fightingin the mountains, on horsebackto working in mechanized columns, says Will, another member of 595.
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