3212 Un-redacted (2021) - full transcript

[ crickets chirping ]

♫♫

♫♫

REPORTER: We learned overnight

that at least three
U. S. Special Forces

were killed in an ambush in
the African country of Niger.

REPORTER #2: Officials say
a joint U. S. Nigerien patrol

was ambushed by suspected
Islamic militants

near the Mali border.

REPORTER #3: The names

of the American
Special Forces soldiers



is being withheld,

subject
to next‐of‐kin notifications.

MAN ON TV: You must not draw

until that clock makes the
first chime of the hour.

Once that happens, you may fire
at your convenience.

ARNOLD: I was sitting here
watching TV.

It was like 10:30 at night,

and somebody knocked
on the door.

I didn´t know who it was,
so I got up

and I went to the door
and I opened the door.

And I want to say it was
a captain and a master sergeant.

They were in dress blues,
and I knew.

I just said, "No, no, no."

♫♫



I mean, I just knew because
they don´t show up

at 10:30 at night
unless he´s dead.

♫♫

♫♫

[ sighs ]

TERRI: "Attached for your review
and action,

this US‐AFRICOM´s completed
investigation conducted..."

‐ "...pursuant
to Army Regulation 15.6..."

‐ "...and to the facts and
circumstances surrounding..."

‐ "...the enemy contact event
that occurred..."

‐ "...on 4 October 2017..."

‐ "...in Tongo Tongo, Niger."

♫♫

[ gunfire ]

♫♫

[ gunfire continues ]

♫♫

♫♫

[ gunfire continues ]

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

[ crickets chirping ]

ARNOLD: My first thought was
"What the hell happened?"

And it was like
I got shot or something.

I mean, it was like my insides
just went empty.

I almost fell down.

The master sergeant, he said,
"You´re number one on the list.

Number two is Will."

And so I came to Will´s house.

WILL:
At about 11:30 that night,

two officers showed up,

and, uh, they told me,

"On behalf of a grateful nation,
we regret to inform you

that your brother
has been killed in action."

♫♫

♫♫

ARNOLD: And then Will drove
all the way to Brunswick,

which is about 90 miles away,
to tell Dustin´s mom.

♫♫

TERRI: It was the worst day
of my life.

♫♫

Opening that door
and seeing Will

and Mandy and my mom
and my sister standing there.

And in that instant,

I knew that something was wrong.

But it took me a minute
to get it.

♫♫

It really took me a minute.

All I can say is, "No."

"No."

♫♫

♫♫

[ train whistle blowing,
bell ringing ]

REPORTER #4: Tonight,
we are getting no details

beyond this statement

that U. S. forces have come
under hostile fire

in this area of southwest Niger
near the border with Mali.

They are not offering
any other details.

We will stay on this story...

KAREN: I had come home from work
and sat down in the living room,

kind of do, you know, the little
relaxing kind of thing

and check the news.

And while I was on my phone,

a little news alert popped in

that there was an incident that,
um, had just happened in Nigeria

along the Mali border.

And it was like, "Uh‐oh,"

and that got my ‐‐
my, uh, attention

and, uh,
I had a real bad feeling.

HENRY:
Karen called me at work.

She said that something
had happened in Niger.

And I said, "Okay,"
and, uh, hung up.

I went to a friend
of mine there.

I said, "Hey, my son´s deployed,
and we heard about something.

Pray for my son."

And then Karen called me
at whatever time it was

to say that she had gotten,
uh, the knock on the door.

♫♫

KAREN:
There´s nothing really to say.

I mean, at that point,
it´s shock.

You just...

I don´t really even
remember reaction.

♫♫

HENRY: I couldn´t leave
till the next morning,

and so I spent, uh,
just a grief‐filled...

grief‐filled night.

Just ‐‐ just unimaginable...

thoughts.

♫♫

[ bell tolling ]

REPORTER #5: The three
Green Berets who were killed

and the two wounded

were on a patrol
with the Niger soldiers

when they were ambushed.
It is not clear...

REPORTER #6:
The American soldiers

were part
of a Green Beret battalion

called the Bush Hawks,
assigned to train

and assist the Nigerien army
in fighting terror.

‐ Did the biscuits get in?

Two piece, dirty rice,
mac and cheese.

I was at work.

Morning was going normal
and somebody turned around

and said, "Debbie,
your husband´s here."

And I went, "No, he´s not.
He´s in Texas."

Okay.

Somebody else said, "No, Deb,
your husband´s here."

I turned around and saw him

and my mother´s health
isn´t that good.

So I looked at him
and I thought,

"He´s only home
if it´s my mother or my son."

And this may sound terrible,
but I was thinking,

"God, let it be my mother."

And as I got closer to him,

I could tell by the look
on his face,

it wasn´t my mother.

♫♫

♫♫

I told him he was lying to me.

That couldn´t be Jeremiah.
He was too good.

There had to be a mistake.

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

MYESHIA: My dad called me,

and he was like,
"Hey, babe, where you at?"

I said, "Oh, I´m out.

I´m doing some errands
for auntie really fast.

What happened?"

He said, "Because the Army
people at the house for you."

I said, "What?"

He said, "The Army people
at the house for you."

I said, "Okay, I´m coming right
now. I´m coming right now."

♫♫

We get there.

They tell me, um...

that they was
in, um, a rapid gunfight.

And as of October 4th,

Sergeant La David Johnson´s
whereabouts is unknown.

I asked him, I said,
"What you mean ´unknown´

Like, you can´t find him,
you don´t know where he at?"

They told me, "No."

After that, I couldn´t eat,
I couldn´t sleep,

I couldn´t do anything,

I´m just sitting here
wondering about,

"Where is my husband?"

"They gonna find him."

That´s what I´m saying
to myself.

They gonna find him.
They gonna find him.

Then I get a call
saying that, um,

they have an American soldier

and they are willing
to do a trade

or something like that.

MEEK: For who?
‐ They didn´t say for who.

They just said they willing
to do a trade.

In my mind, they still
didn´t find my husband.

I don´t know what´s going on.

So any little thing
that somebody tells me,

I´m thinking,
"Could this be my husband?

Could this be my husband?"

‐ If I can go back
and figure out

who gave them that first report,

I´d fucking choke the shit
out of them.

I mean, it´s just ‐‐

It´s egregious
that somebody would share

that unconfirmed report

with them and...

Unconscionable that the family
would be given

conflicting statements.

‐ I didn´t hear anything else

until my casualty
assistance officer

came to my home October 6th.

And he told me,
as of October 6th,

Sergeant Johnson went
from missing in action to KIA.

Everybody went bananas.

I was screaming and crying.

My mother‐in‐law
was throwing, um, glasses

and screaming and crying.

She falling on the floor,
just throwing things.

COWANDA: Aunt Rachel
used to always say,

Lord, please take her before
you take one of her children

because she´s gonna go insane.

October 6, 2017,

was the day
I think I went insane.

REPORTER #7:
The Pentagon´s Africa Command

does not know for sure

if this American soldier
was wounded

and alive on the battlefield

and if he was even, for a brief
time, in ISIS hands.

MEEK: Did that phone call,
the memory of that,

sort of leave you
with lingering doubt

about whether La David
was captured?

And today,
do you think he was captured

or have you been convinced
that he died fighting?

‐ At that moment, yes,
I believed that...

I felt that my husband
was captured.

REPORTER #7:
This is a serious incident.

Very little information
being publicly offered

by the U. S. military.

‐ It was a very frustrating time
for me

and I think for everybody
in the Pentagon

to not have a clear

and really, um...

♫♫

...we felt accurate description

of what had transpired
on the ground.

I served 28 years on active duty

as an Army Special Forces
officer

and most recently served
as a senior civilian executive

in the Office
of Secretary of Defense.

♫♫

I was recognized for my actions
during the 4‐day battle

to retake the fortress
at Qala‐i‐Jangi...

[ gunfire ]

...which had been seized

by 600 Al Qaeda
and Taliban prisoners.

[ gunfire continues, explosion ]

SOLDIER:
[ shouts indistinctly ]

MARK: I received
the Distinguished Service Cross.

On October 4, 2017,

I was the acting
Assistant Secretary

for Special Operations.

I think there were
multiple factors

that contributed
to the, um, inability

to get a complete picture
early on.

First of all, the fog of war

certainly contributes
at the tactical level,

but there seemed to be
a reluctance

to share the full scope
of everything that was going on.

REPORTER #8: The week ended
the same way it began ‐‐

with questions
about why President Trump

still hasn´t addressed
the ambush in Niger.

‐ Thank you all very much.

REPORTER #8: The Pentagon has
launched a full investigation.

FBI agents on the ground
in Niger to assist.

DAVID MUIR:
In a rare moment today,

the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs, General Joseph Dunford,

coming before the cameras
after the President today

would not answer questions
sent his way.

‐ I think first and foremost,
in this particular case,

we owe the families as much
information as we can find out

about what happened.

REPORTER #8: On the Hill,
frustration is growing.

REPORTER #9: Members of Congress
are now asking

whether this was a failure
of intelligence or preparation.

MICHAEL WALTZ:
Even if there were mistakes,

if there were mistakes
from the team

or there were mistakes
in the chain of command,

the families deserve the truth.

I mean, I think that´s truly
the heart of the issue here.

The families deserve the facts
of what happened.

RAY: We asked,
"What exactly went wrong?

Why did these four men
lose their lives?"

And no one would
give us an answer.

♫♫

MEEK: I spent years
investigating

the friendly‐fire death in Iraq

of Private First Class
David H. Sharrett II

with his dad, Dave Sharrett Sr.,

who was my high school
English teacher.

In 2018,
Dave and his wife, Vicki,

went down to a retreat
in Tennessee

for families
of fallen service members,

and they met Ray
and Debbie Gannon,

who approached them and said,

"Our son was killed
a few months ago in Niger.

We don´t think the Army
is leveling with us.

We don´t know what to do."

So, Dave said, "Talk
to my former student James."

And he put them
on the phone with me.

And we talked and I told them

that I had had concerns
since the incident

in Tongo Tongo happened
that the full truth

was not being told
to the American public.

And so I promised Jeremiah
Johnson´s mother, Debbie Gannon,

that I would not rest
until I knew what was knowable.

♫♫

♫♫

BRAD:
Thank you for joining us today

in remembrance
of our fallen brothers.

My name is Colonel Brad Moses.

I´m the 3rd group commander.

On 4 October, Team Quallam
and their Nigerien partners

were attacked by an enemy
that didn´t want them

to make this small spot
in the world a better place.

MEEK: When did you first feel

like there was something wrong
with the story?

Or when was the first moment
when you were like,

"Whoa, wait a minute"?

COWANDA:
When Colonel Moses came in,

and from the time
he starts talking,

it just seemed to me
everything was a lie.

Because I had already
had someone already came

and spoke to me
about another story.

So I´m thinking when he came,

it was gonna be exact
same story that I heard before,

but it was totally the opposite.

Colonel Moses told me

that La David
was in the back of the truck.

The truck hit the tree.

And La David ‐‐ He said
that La David flew 900 meters

and wind up in the bushes.

[ laughing ] Yes.

So I looked at him
and I told him,

"You must think I´m really...
I´m really crazy

to believe a story like that."

‐ Just stuff that they said
didn´t add up at all.

Everybody came telling me
different things.

First day, um, Moses came
to my auntie house,

sat on a couch saying

that my husband, um, was
on the back of the truck

shooting a machine rifle.

They hit a tree.
He flew off.

Then he say he was
the one driving the truck.

So which one was it?

Did he hit the tree and flew off

or was he driving the truck?

Everybody was just
saying anything

because they know that mission
went horribly wrong.

And it was gonna be a lot of
fingers to point and to blame.

‐ The ODA caught
in a near ambush,

made a decision to plant
their feet and fight.

MEEK: Colonel Moses refused
to do an on‐camera interview,

but he denied to me on the phone

that he ever
gave conflicting information

to the Johnson family
regarding La David´s death.

However, the first
and most consistent thing

I was told
by all the family members

was that they, too,
had received dubious

or conflicting information
from the military.

WILL: The immediate report

was that
he had been killed in combat

and it had been by mortar fire.

Mortar fire was the explanation
for his death.

I didn´t have any reason
to think otherwise,

but I viewed his body.

I served for seven years
and saw my share.

And what a mortar does
to the human body ‐‐

shrapnel and fire ‐‐
is a lot different

and is much more graphic
and ‐‐ and sinister

than small‐arms fire.

And he was not charred flesh.

He was a man who had stood
his ground and fallen

by small‐arms‐fire bullets
riddling his body.

So the autopsy report was where
it really started clicking

that something didn´t add up.

DEBBIE: I had a gut feeling
when I heard all this

from the very beginning
that something wasn´t right.

I had already been
somewhat speaking with, uh...

Dustin´s family,

and what they were being told
and what we were being told

were two different things.

And I´m thinking, "Well, Dustin
and Jeremiah were side by side,

so there can´t be
different stories."

And that´s when I´m going,

"Now I know
we´re being lied to."

‐ And that´s the only damn thing
I asked him to do

from the very beginning.

Just tell me the truth.

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

TERRI:
Everybody knows Afghanistan.

Everybody knows Syria.

Everybody knows those places.

They don´t know about
Niger, Africa.

I didn´t realize that...

we even needed troops there.

DEBBIE: I never thought

there was anything
going on over there.

Absolutely nothing.

Never heard it on the news,

never saw anything
that was going on over there.

Had no idea
we had troops over there.

MYESHIA:
I used to always tell him,

"Make sure you stay alert.

You know, don´t let
your guard down with nothing."

And he reassure me.
He was like,

"No, My, it´s not
nothing like that.

You know, we´re just
going over here to train

the African soldiers
and stuff like that."

And I ain´t think nothing
about ISIS

and stuff over there
coming to get him.

No. That was the least
of my worries.

♫♫

♫♫

ALAN: Having been in Iraq
and Afghanistan previously,

there´s just
a different mindset in Niger.

But I would never fool myself

and think nothing could happen
in West Africa.

We know why we were there.

I joined the Army because
I wanted to serve others.

I wanted to make a difference
in the world.

I do not come
from a military family.

I think most of
my military influence

came from too many movies
as a child,

probably watched "Rambo"
one too many times.

And I´m not afraid
to admit that.

As a Special Forces
Detachment Commander,

when I was a captain
leading a 12‐man team

in both eastern Afghanistan
and southern Afghanistan,

we saw quite a bit of combat.

In Niger,

I was the advanced operations
base Niger commander.

We were partnered
with Nigerien forces.

We were there to work with them
because there was a very real

and active threat in West Africa

in the form of both
Al Qaeda affiliates

and Islamic State affiliates,

not to mention some other ones,

kind of an alphabet soup
of threat forces out there.

[ all yelling
in foreign language ]

♫♫

♫♫

[ horns honking ]

MOUSSA: The biggest problem now
is this area

near the Malian border.

These guys are very mobile.

They move on motorcycles,
land cruisers.

Any time we have
an encounter with them,

we will just try to [inaudible]
and then cross the border.

In normal time, you don´t see
them in large group.

So just like scattered
in villages, you know,

they have those small camps

that only will group
to conduct an attack.

‐ Surprise to us, we still
can´t get towards the enemy.

Let´s go to Quallam.

‐ Yeah.

Stabilizing this part
of the world

is part of the overall
global, like, uh,

fight against, uh, evil.

[ explosion ]

♫♫

DONALD: This environment
in Africa is no joke.

It is just like Afghanistan,
just like Syria, just like Iraq,

but it doesn´t get
the resourcing

because it´s not
a combat environment, right?

But it is a combat environment.

And so stop putting lipstick
on the pig.

It is what it is.

[ all yelling
in foreign language ]

DONALD: Most foreign fighters

that joined the fight
in Afghanistan,

Iraq, and Syria and other places
come from North Africa.

They´re all now
starting to come back.

Most of the designated
what they call terrorist groups,

um, by the State Department
reside in Africa.

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

ALAN: Alright,
so we´re getting ready

to fly out to see Team Quallam.

This will be
my first time out

to see the guys
since we´ve gotten here.

People are familiar
with the show "The A‐Team."

"The A‐Team" is modeled
off of an ODA,

an Operational Detachment Alpha,

a 12‐man Special Forces team.

[ helicopter blades whirring ]

As a major in Special Forces,

my ODAs included ODA 3212.

I´m coming to check out
the barbershop.

I heard good things.

Who´s next?

‐ You, sir.
‐ I´m good.

I got mine in the capital
the other day.

La David Johnson
stood out to me

as the soldier´s soldier.

He...

He like ‐‐ like
all good mechanics,

he was the jack‐of‐all‐trades.

He could fix anything.

When you´re not cutting hair,

what are your other, uh,
camp duties around here?

‐ Finding stuff to do, like
make sure my truck´s good,

making sure my generator´s good,

like regular maintenance
on the daily.

SOLDIER: Hey. Hey.

SOLDIER #2: There you go.
There you go.

SOLDIER #1: Hey!

ALAN: La David was
a kind‐hearted person

who would give you
the shirt off his back

in a rainstorm.

He would help
anybody who needed it.

♫♫

COWANDA: Sergeant
La David Johnson´s mom passed

when he was 5 years old.

I am his auntie,
I´m married to his uncle,

which made me become
his auntie/mom.

‐ Yeah, I´m his uncle,
you know what I mean?

But I raised him as my son.

He was always a spiritual kid,

and he always told us,
we need to be more grateful.

He always said
that we more blessed

than a lot of people
that we don´t see.

‐ He was sweet, he was kind,
and he always was creative.

He always found something to do.

He never was a kid
just sit in the house.

Like kids nowadays...never.

♫♫

MYESHIA:
They call him the Wheelie King

because down here in Miami,

he´s known for riding his bike
with one wheel.

REPORTER #10:
His name is La David Johnson.

He rides from his home
in Miami Gardens

to his job in Pembroke Pines
on one wheel.

MYESHIA:
He even was on the news for it.

So he was very known
in our city.

YOUNG MAN: My homie,
he do a catwalk

from here to West Broward
with no wheel on the front.

That´s crazy, man.

‐ We love you, David.

LA DAVID:
Love y´all, too, man.

♫♫

COWANDA: Our block,
we had a good block,

but around us,
it was a lot of killing.

And I think that he thought
maybe if he get out,

he could have
a better life for himself.

‐ He see me grind it out
all my life.

And he was just saying,
"There got to be a better way."

I would ask him, "Why you don´t
try and go to the military?"

He´d be like, "I´ve been
thinking about that."

I was like, "You should go."

♫♫

♫♫

REPORTER #11: A community coming
together to honor a local hero.

Today Puyallup remembers
Staff Sergeant Bryan Black.

Black graduated from
Puyallup High School in 2000

and enlisted nine years later.

He spoke several languages,

including the one spoken
in Niger,

where he often tended
to injured civilians.

A man they say...

ALAN: Bryan Black, one of
the smartest man I´ve ever met.

Extremely cerebral.

There´s always something
on his mind.

But he was so cool and calm

that he knew
just when to speak his mind.

And when he did,
you knew you were wrong.

KAREN: I knew something was
different the day he was born.

When I held him right
after he was born,

he immediately pushed up
against me

and did his first push‐up

and literally
looked around the room.

And it´s like, "Infants
that just were born

don´t do that."

And that pretty much
is what persisted

throughout his entire childhood.

Always having
the strong determination

to do whatever it is
he wanted to do.

HENRY: I remember the first year
when he was playing chess.

He didn´t win many, uh, games
that year.

And I remember ‐‐

It may have been the last
tournament of the season ‐‐

and he went out
in the parking lot.

He sat on a curb
and he was really mad.

And I went and talked to him,
sat down.

I said, "Look,
if you study and work at it,

you´re gonna be good."

And he did the whole summer
and next year,

he, uh, won just about every
chess tournament he played in.

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

ALAN: Jeremiah Johnson was
a new member of the team

and had previously been
at my company headquarters.

He had the instincts
of the perfect soldier.

DEBBIE: He was just about like
any other little boy,

outside running around
all the time.

He broke a couple of bones
and didn´t even whine about it.

He´d just come home
and go, "This hurts."

JENNIFER: Jeremiah
was the fucking badass.

There´s just no other way
around that.

He was just a badass.

He was scared of nothing.

♫♫

Growing up, he was a pain
in the butt,

but he was also a hero
and a protector.

♫♫

You know, military kids,
you move around,

people would pick on us,
and he would always defend me.

Being younger ‐‐ three,
almost three years younger ‐‐

he would still defend me.

RAY: When we first met,
Jeremiah was about 16.

And, you know, we got together
and I told him

I was ‐‐ I was gonna ask
his mother to marry me.

And, uh, he said,

"Well, you know, I don´t think
I´ll ever call you dad."

I said, "I understand that.
You already have a father."

I said, "But, uh, you know,
if I could just be your friend

and mentor, that´d be ‐‐
that´d suit me fine."

And over the years,
I became Pops.

And it did my heart good.

DEBBIE: He, uh, joined the Army
at a late age.

That kind of shocked us.

He wanted to do his part.

He wanted to serve his country.

He wanted to do
what he could to, uh,

take care of the terrorists
that were out there.

‐ I remember very clearly
the day he told me

he wanted to join the Army.

I said, "Why?

You are 29 years old.
Why now?"

He said, "Because I want
to legally kill people

and blow shit up."

I swear to God.

And I went,
"Alrighty, that works."

♫♫

‐ Well, this is how
we set the charge.

‐ This will not make
the final cut.

‐ Tom Hanks
in, uh, "Saving Private Ryan."

This should make the final cut.
‐ There you go.

ALAN: Dustin Wright.

Dusty could walk into a crowd
of a thousand people

and within an hour, be best
friends with all of them.

DUSTIN: I actually like
this kind of stuff.

I mean, anybody can shoot a gun.
You know?

Demo is something else.

It´s a lot more fun.

[ explosion ]

Mission success.

♫♫

♫♫

ARNOLD:
Our whole family served.

My granddaddy
and his four brothers

were in World War II.

My grandmother´s three brothers
were in World War II.

Our family goes back
to the War of 1812.

WILL: We had a family member
in service at any point

through constant engagement
since that war.

And to our knowledge,

we´ve never lost anyone
except for Dustin.

When I think about Dustin,

it´s my best friend
and he´s half my soul.

We nailed it as brothers.

♫♫

♫♫

We had a blessing
that most people don´t get.

We had each other
through thick and thin.

TERRI: He and Will
were always together.

They didn´t go a day
without speaking.

Just not one day.

♫♫

♫♫

‐ So I haven´t told him yet

about him having a‐a niece.

So that´s what, um, I wanted
to come out here

and talk to him about today
because I don´t know

what I´m gonna do
with a little girl.

[ laughs ]

Them damn Wright boys.

Little spice and trouble
and meanness

and a whole ‐‐
whole lot of fighting,

but end of the day,

a whole lot of love, too.

To Dustin.

I love you, brother.

♫♫

[ Man singing
in foreign language ]

♫♫

MEEK: Five months after
the gunfight in Tongo Tongo,

ISIS in West Africa claimed
responsibility for the attack.

They released
a propaganda video,

which included clips

from Jeremiah Johnson´s
helmet cam,

which they took off his body.

[ gunfire ]

The video shows the final
desperate minutes of battle

from Bryan, Jeremiah, Dustin
alone around their vehicle,

exchanging heavy fire
with the enemy.

[ gunfire continues ]

♫♫

REPORTER #12: Newly released
video shows the deadly ambush

of American soldiers
and is raising new questions

about the U. S. military mission

in the African country
of Niger.

REPORTER #13:
It shows just how outgunned

and overwhelmed they were.

♫♫

♫♫

THOMAS:
Good afternoon, everyone.

We are here this afternoon
to brief you

on the findings of U. S. Africa
Command´s investigation

into the ambush of U. S.
and Nigerien soldiers

near the Tongo ‐‐
near Tongo Tongo, Niger,

in early October 2017,

and also to answer
your questions.

Before we begin, however,

I would like to extend
my deepest condolences

to the families and loved ones
of those lost in this attack.

Our commitment,
first and foremost,

has been to provide a complete
accounting to the families.

I would like to talk with you
in greater detail

about the preparedness
of Team Quallam to conduct,

partnered, advise, assist
and accompany operations

on 3 and 4 October.

The investigation discovered
the integration and training

with partnered forces
in Niger was inadequate.

Team Quallam did not meet
the appropriate standards

of familiarization
and integration

with the Nigerien
Partner Force

prior to conducting the initial
mission on 3 October.

In addition, routine tasks
such as conducting rehearsals

for immediate action drills
upon enemy contact

were not completed prior to
stepping off for this mission.

The team did not conduct
those basic soldier‐level skills

that would ‐‐
that are really necessary

to go on an operation
such as this.

REPORTER #14:
So in layman´s terms,

how would you characterize this?

Are they sloppy
or are they cowboys?

Are they taking too much risk?

What would you tell
the American people about this?

How would you characterize
your behavior?

‐ The special operators on
the continent are serving well.

They do high‐risk missions
and based on my observations,

this particular ‐‐
this particular team

is not indicative
of what they do.

KAREN: That was infuriating
to me, and it´s like,

"Oh, my gosh."

I didn´t even finish listening
to the news conference.

I turned it off.

I couldn´t stand to even
look at him after I heard that.

It´s like,
"How can you possibly say that?"

‐ I think it´s an unfair
characterization of an ODA

that found itself
in a bad situation

and did the best
that they could.

And to say
that they weren´t indicative,

I just don´t think
it´s a fair characterization

of ‐‐ of the ‐‐ the men
on that detachment.

‐ It stung.

It hurt...
really bad to hear that

because it was clear

that a statement like that
was protecting the command

and, in a way, trying
to protect the community

while badmouthing a team

that had the odds overwhelmingly
stacked against them.

‐ Those briefings,

I thought, were embarrassing
briefings.

‐ Infuriating, unbelievable

to ‐‐ to literally say these

about my stepson
and his comrades.

I mean, it, uh,
just besmirches their memory.

MEEK:
General Waldhauser.

General Waldhauser,
ABC News.

General, your public comments

about the team
and its competence,

which you said
they were not indicative

of other special operators

who are doing great work
on the continent.

That´s what they had ‐‐
‐ Correct.

MEEK:
They said that was hurtful

to the families of the fallen.
They told us that.

‐ Well, it wasn´t intended
to be hurtful

to the families of the fallen.

The intent was to make that
the special operations forces

have difficult missions
on the continent.

They carry them out every day

and to try to highlight
some of the shortcomings

that the investigation found

with regards
to contributing factors

to the overall situation,

but it was never intended
to be hurtful to the families.

MEEK:
Thank you for your time.

‐ Thanks.

TERRI: Well, maybe he didn´t
mean to hurt us, but he did.

And not just as a gold star
mother who´s lost a child,

but as an American.

Why would you throw your people
under the bus?

Why would you...

blame your men...

...who were following
your orders

and who you´re responsible for?

♫♫

Doesn´t the buck stop
with the leader?

Isn´t that why
there´s a chain of command

and isn´t that why the chain
of command is followed?

‐ But according
to General Waldhauser,

ODA 3212 did not follow
the chain of command.

He alleged that the team
did not inform

their commanding officers of the
true intent of their mission.

‐ The investigation
also found the team

inaccurately portrayed
the concept of operations

for the first
of three total missions

on 3 and 4 October.

Mark: If I were to summarize
the report in one sentence,

it said that the ODA
was ill‐prepared

and conducting
an unauthorized mission.

‐ Not only did
General Waldhauser suggest

that ODA 3212
was relatively incompetent,

he went on to claim
that this team of Green Berets

left base under false pretenses
to try to capture or kill

one of the most dangerous
terrorists in the region ‐‐

A man named Doundou Chefou.

In effect, he accused the team
of going on a rogue mission

for the ISIS commander´s scalp.

The Pentagon investigation

found the team´s commanders,
two captains,

mischaracterized
the initial mission,

claiming it was less dangerous
than it really was.

ROGER: Had the first mission
been properly characterized,

it would have been required
to ‐‐ to be approved

at a higher level.

And by being approved
at a higher level,

it would have received
more oversight

from the chain of command.

‐We started to see press reports
come out

that there was, you know, claims

that ODA 3212
decided on their own

that they would, um, institute
a kill/capture mission

to one of the lieutenants
of, uh, ISIS in Niger.

‐ That kind of narrative,
as it started to leak out,

kind of gave me pause
because something like this,

from what I understood,

was going after a, you know,
a highly targeted,

well‐known terrorist commander

and would have had
a lot of visibility.

So to think that the team
could just kind of go rogue

on its own
just didn´t make sense to me.

‐ I don´t buy the fact that
the ODA submitted their plan,

and then at the last minute,

rolled over in their trucks
to ‐‐ to the Nigeriens

and said, "Let´s go.

We´re ‐‐ We´ll tell you
when we get there."

It doesn´t work like that.
That´s not how we operate.

‐ Going after
a high‐value target,

like this gentleman,
is a top‐down process,

and it is top‐down approved.

It´s a 4‐star‐level
approval con‐op.

You don´t ‐‐ You can´t get away
with cutting and pasting

and, you know,
getting in your trucks

and going, "Yeehaw," right?
You just can´t do it.

‐ They don´t need to act
like my son

was some kind of damn Rambo

out there on his own
doing something.

Because all he was doing
was what he was told,

and...he fought his ass off.

ALAN: On September 28,
I left Niger

and went back to Fort Bragg,
North Carolina,

where my pregnant wife
and daughter

were waiting for me.

We went to the hospital
on October 1st

for my wife to be induced,

and my second daughter
was born

early in the morning
on October 2nd.

♫♫

On the morning of October 4th,

we´re getting ready
to be discharged.

I brought the car seat up,
get the baby loaded up,

and my phone, uh, received
a text message

and all it said was,
"You need to come in to work.

Something has happened."

‐ Exactly what did happen
is in dispute.

The United States Africa Command
released their version

of the events in this 268‐page,
heavily redacted report.

It´s a combination of facts

and what many people
close to the investigation say

are omitted details
and unsubstantiated opinion.

NARRATOR: The teams manning
for this mission...

MEEK: Accompanying the report
was a narrated video

with mission footage
and animation

to support AFRICOM´s account

of what went wrong
on the ill‐fated mission.

DEBBIE: "Team Quallam
and partner forces

depart at Camp Quallam

at 5:59 on October 3rd, 2017,

traveling in a military convoy
in a northwest direction."

NARRATOR:
The teams´ U. S. soft personnel

traveled in three vehicles,

two of which were equipped
with mounted M240 machine guns.

The 34 Nigerien personnel

traveled in
five additional vehicles.

RAY: "The convoy continued
from checkpoint one

in the northeastern direction
for 43 kilometers,

arriving 5 miles south of Tiloa

on approximately
ten hundred hours."

NARRATOR:
The concept of operations

that was submitted
for approval stated

that the purpose of the mission
was to conduct a civil

and military reconnaissance
in the vicinity of Tiloa.

MARK: The plan, submitted
to higher headquarters,

called for them to do a patrol
that would include a series

of what we call
key leader engagements

to meet with local leaders,

discuss the situation
on the ground,

and, if possible,
find any intelligence leads

that the locals
may be able to give them.

♫♫

NARRATOR: The mission plan did
not accurately characterize

the intended purpose
of the mission.

‐ From the beginning, everything
was negative about the team.

Basically, what they said
was the team leader lied

in the brief that he submitted
to hire for the mission.

NARRATOR:
The mission was, in fact,

to pinpoint the location of
and capture

or, if necessary,
kill the ISIS‐GS sub‐commander.

MARK: I have a really hard time
believing that to be the case.

Doundou Chefou was identified

as a leader of the Islamic State
in the Greater Sahara,

and to say
that the ODA went rogue

and not only
the detachment commander,

but that the team sergeant

and all these
other experienced NCOs

all agreed to go on a mission

to kill or capture
Doundou Chefou

and just blatantly lie,
it would be a big deal.

‐ A captain on an "A" team

does not have the authority
or the power

to make those decisions.

‐ I didn´t have any inside
information telling me all this,

but I just know,
as an infantry man,

we would never do that.

We would never go
on a rogue mission

outside the wire
to track down somebody.

And so, it just did not
smell truthful.

NARRATOR: Once in Tiloa,
the team searched for

but could not
successfully locate

the ISIS‐GS sub‐commander.

They conducted the rest
of their mission

and began their return to base.

♫♫

♫♫

MARK: The first mission
had been completed.

They made it to Tiloa.

They checked on the Nigerien
checkpoint that was out there

and the team was returning back
to base in Quallam.

WILL: "At approximately 1700
hours on 3 October 2017,

Team Quallam´s convoy halted

approximately 5 kilometers
south of..."

‐ "...in order to receive
additional information

for a possible remission."

‐ Well, they go ‐‐
They headed back to base.

End of the day.

and, um,
they got to change the mission.

NARRATOR: During the team´s
return to base from Tiloa,

they received
high‐confidence intelligence

that placed the ISIS‐GS
sub‐commander

northwest of Tiloa,
near the Mali border.

MARK: This is when they were
redirected to go to a location

where the higher headquarters
believe that Doundou Chefou,

or at least a cellphone
associated with him,

had been present for the night.

NARRATOR:
This time‐sensitive intelligence

gave the Nigerien
and U. S. forces

a narrow window to capture him
while he remained in Niger.

‐ At this point,

you have Colonel Brad Moses
getting involved

and Lieutenant Colonel Painter
getting involved.

MARK:
Lieutenant Colonel Painter

was the Special Forces
battalion commander,

and he was also, uh,
the task force commander there

on the ‐‐ on the continent.

NARRATOR: The approved
concept of operation

called for another U. S.
and Nigerien partnered force

to clear the target,
with the Quallam‐based team

serving
as a quick reaction force.

MEEK: The new mission called

for a second,
more seasoned ODA team

to fly in on helicopters

and raid the campsite
of Doundou Chefou.

That´s the same ISIS commander
who the team

was accused
of going rogue to hunt down.

So at this point, ODA 3212,

also referred to
as the Quallam‐based team,

is ordered
to play a backup role.

Their job will be to reinforce
their comrades if they need it.

[ thunder rumbling ]

NARRATOR: However,
due to weather constraints,

the other team was forced
to return to base.

RAY: The initial ODA coming
from another part of Niger

couldn´t make it
due to weather conditions,

and now the responsibility
goes to Jeremiah´s team.

ARNOLD:
Instead of ending the mission

and 3212 going back to camp,

they told them to continue
without the other forces

being a part.

ALAN:
Upon receipt of that directive,

Team Quallam´s mission changed
from providing a flexible,

redacted force
to capturing and detaining."

MEEK: Now, you might think that
the team would be thrilled

to be the main reigning force.

After all,
according to the AFRICOM report,

they had just set out on a rogue
mission to do exactly that.

Have you ever seen that image?

ALAN:
No, I´ve never seen this image.

But that´s Captain Mike Perozeni
on a satellite phone

not looking happy, concerned.

MARK:
Captain Perozeni was assigned

as the Special Forces
detachment commander,

so he is the senior officer
on that detachment

and is responsible for the
conduct of all their operations.

MEEK: According to those
who were there,

this is one of the moments
when the detachment commander,

Captain Mike Perozeni,

was pushing back
against the new orders.

He spoke to his command
in satellite phone calls

and text messages,

telling them that to head north
deep into unfamiliar desert

with no backup force available,

no possibility of speedy
medical evacuation,

an exhausted Nigerien
partner force,

and his own lightly armed team
was needlessly risky.

TERRI: He protested vigorously
is my understanding.

He knew that
they weren´t...equipped.

He knew that
that wasn´t their mission.

That´s not what
they were there for.

‐ He objected because he knew
that his unit

was not prepared to do this ‐‐
this new mission

because they left
for a day trip,

not an overnight movement,
and not to go fight somebody.

‐ In Mike Perozeni´s mind
on the ground,

he´s identifying risk.

He was communicating back
to the company headquarters

and ultimately back up
to Lieutenant Colonel Painter

the risks that were involved
from his standpoint

on the ground.

‐ Now, deep in the highly
censored AFRICOM report,

they do acknowledge
that Captain Perozeni

tried to have
the mission scrubbed.

WILL:
"In order to conduct this raid,

Team Quallam
and their partner force

would have to move an additional
25 kilometers north

through difficult terrain
under limited visibility.

Given that distance
to travel..."

‐ "...and the fact
that his partner force

have been up for over 18 hours,
redacted expressed to redacted

his preference
that the force return to base."

ARNOLD: "...redacted relayed
redacted´s preference

to redacted."

MARK: "...but redacted
directed that redacted

move to objective north
and conduct the raid."

ALAN: I highly doubt

that Mike politely, uh,
expressed a "preference"

as it said in the investigation
of ‐‐ of his concerns.

Mike will speak his mind.

Mike, uh, will not
hold anything back,

and so I have no doubt that
he expressed those concerns.

‐ The U. S. Special Forces
commander for Northwest Africa

was Lieutenant Colonel
David Painter,

who was hundreds of miles
away in Chad,

and he overruled
Captain Perozeni´s objections.

Colonel Brad Moses,

the 3rd Special Forces group
commander based in Germany,

also was informed
of the changes to mission

and that Perozeni and ODA 3212

were now going to be the main
force raiding the campsite.

But Colonel Moses told me that
Lieutenant Colonel Painter

did not tell him about
Captain Perozeni´s objections

to going forward.

He says had he known about
the captain´s concerns

about the mission, he would have
called him directly.

DEBBIE:
They were told to go anyway.

They didn´t care that there was
no backup for those boys.

‐ The way I operated as a ‐‐
as commander of SOC Africa was,

my guys on the ground tell me
what they´re going to do

and what they´re not
going to do, right,

based off of the risk.

And the captain tells me ‐‐

a team leader
on the ground tells me ‐‐

"Hey, sir." Or it comes up
through the chain.

"No way.
This is just ‐‐

I just don´t feel comfortable
with it."

Then the brake goes on hard.

MEEK: I guess one big question
that comes to mind with all this

is if your captain had come up
with this plan

and "We´re gonna ‐‐
We´re gonna make our bones.

We´re gonna make our careers.

We´re gonna go kill this guy
or capture him

and we´ll be the heroes,"

or whatever their motives
would have been,

if Africa command was correct,

that that´s what they were doing
from the start,

if all that was true,

why would this guy,
Captain Mike Perozeni,

object to searching
his target´s campsite?

ALAN: It makes no sense.

Why would he push back now

if he was supposedly on board
at the very front?

Why would he be issuing
or expressing concerns

about not being equipped
or prepared

if that was his intent
all along?

MEEK:
Not only did Captain Perozeni

object to the missions
assigned in the field,

he first voiced concerns
before his team

even left their base in Quallam.

ALAN: The people
in my company headquarters

knew that Mike pushed back.

So why that wasn´t shared
with the families,

I´ll never know,
but I will say there´s no reason

it should not have been
shared with the families.

‐ I was left with the impression
that this guy was a screw‐up.

And he screwed up and carried
my son off and got him killed

because that´s what
I was led to believe.

And I think that´s probably
the biggest injustice

was I walked around
pissed off for a year

and my anger was directed
toward somebody

that was completely innocent
of what they told me he did.

HENRY: It´s clear that
if he had been listened to,

my son and Jeremiah,

La David, and Dustin
would be here today.

MARK: The only reason why they
would accuse Captain Perozeni

and the team of lying
and mischaracterizing

is to somehow absolve
the chain of command above them

and basically say because they
went out under false pretenses,

they put themselves
in a bad situation

and are therefore responsible
for what happened.

‐ There´s no way ‐‐

Like I say,
anybody with any common sense

would be headed back to base

and then all of a sudden decide
to turn around

and go six hours the other way
in the middle of the night.

NARRATOR: Through the night
of October 3rd,

the team made the difficult
movement north to the target.

MARK: They traveled
from late afternoon

till early the next morning
to get to the position.

NARRATOR:
On the morning of October 4th,

the team reached the objective
at sunrise,

but the enemy had already
departed the area.

The team discovered
enemy rations,

a motorcycle, drying uniforms,
and warm fire pits.

RAY:
This campsite was abandoned.

Nothing there to speak of.

And that they were
just gonna go off

looking for trash
and pocket litter.

ALAN:
In the middle of the desert,

there is nothing urgent enough

to send an improperly
supplied element

that far out into the desert.

NARRATOR: After completing the
mission near the Mali border,

the team was directed by
AOB Niger to return to base.

♫♫

♫♫

RAY:
While returning to base,

Team Quallam´s partner,
Nigerien forces, needed water,

so the convoy stopped

near the village
of Tongo Tongo to resupply.

NARRATOR: As the team waited,

they conducted an impromptu
key leader engagement

with the village elder.

During
the key leader engagement,

team members met with leaders
and 27 men of the village.

The meeting lasted
about 30 minutes longer

than the team commander
expected.

WILL: "Witnesses believe
the village owner

deliberately delayed the convoy
from departing in an effort

to allow the enemy time
to set up the ambush."

NARRATOR: At 11:35 hours,

the team
moved out of the village

of Tongo Tongo
on their planned route.

HENRY:
"The convoy traveled southeast

along the eastern edge
of the village.

Shortly thereafter,

a villager approaching
the village from the tree line

to the east directed
the convoy down a road,

which appeared to cut
through the wood line

due east from Tongo Tongo."

ARNOLD: "As the convoy
moved through the narrow road

between two wood lines,

the vehicles to the rear
of the convoy

began to receive
small‐arms fire."

[ gunfire ]

NARRATOR: At this point,
the convoy halted.

The team reported enemy contact
to the advanced operating base

and returned small‐arms fire.

DEBBIE: "I was starting to pick
back up even more.

I could see Jeremiah,
Dustin, Bryan

shooting their M4s
at muzzle flashes

and suspected
likely enemy locations."

MEEK: After the first shots
were fired,

most of the three dozen Nigerien
troops with the ODA fled,

leaving less than a dozen
to fight out the battle

alongside the American team.

RAY: "Realizing then

that the team was
significantly outnumbered

by a well‐trained force,

Team Quallam´s commander ordered
everyone to break contact

and to withdraw to the south."

NARRATOR:
As the rest of the team

loaded into their vehicles,

they saw Staff Sergeants
Bryan Black, Jeremiah Johnson,

and Dustin Wright in the
vicinity of U. S. vehicle 2.

The team commander signaled
to begin movement,

and Staff Sergeant
Jeremiah Johnson

acknowledged the order
with a thumbs‐up.

A team member
threw a smoke grenade

to conceal the team´s movement.

MEEK: No one knows
exactly what happened,

why U. S. vehicle 2 with Bryan,
Dustin, and Jeremiah

did not follow the rest of
the team out of the kill zone.

But now they were alone.

A large attacking force
descended upon them.

[ gunfire ]

WILL: Staff Sergeant Wright
began driving U. S. vehicle 2

slowly south,

while Staff Sergeant Black

and Staff Sergeant
Jeremiah Johnson

walked along next
to the vehicle,

providing suppressive fire.

HENRY: "During the movement,
enemy small‐arms fire

hit Staff Sergeant Black,
killing him instantly."

♫♫

♫♫

[ gunfire ]

♫♫

RAY: We saw Bryan Black
fall first.

Watch Dustin and Jeremiah
pull him back to safety,

realizing that Bryan
had lost his life.

Jeremiah and Dustin
tried to leave the area.

[ gunfire ]

But there was no, uh,

no support fire
from the other team members.

They were just left
to fend for themselves.

[ gunfire ]

♫♫

DEBBIE:
"Overrun by enemy fighters,

Staff Sergeant Wright

and Staff Sergeant
Jeremiah Johnson

were forced to evade on foot.

Approximately 85 meters
from the vehicle,

enemy small‐arms fire

hit Staff Sergeant
Jeremiah Johnson..."

"...severely wounding him."

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

TERRI:
"Staff Sergeant Wright stopped,

returned to Staff Sergeant
J. Johnson

and continued
to engage the enemy..."

‐ "...attempting to protect
Staff Sergeant Johnson,

Staff Sergeant Wright
fired his M4

at the enemy
as they advanced on his position

until he was fatally wounded.

The enemy killed both soldiers
with small‐arms fire."

♫♫

WILL: I know what it took
to take him down.

And I´m proud of it.

It makes me want to strap
on my boots and go back.

It does.

I have no problem
with how he went.

I´m ‐‐ I´m jealous.

That´s ‐‐ It´s crazy,
but as a warrior, I´m jealous.

He ‐‐ He fought more than
10 men could fight.

Till his dying breath.

He did it for love.

He did it for the man
standing next to him, so...

I don´t have an issue
with that at all.

♫♫

MEEK:
The team quickly realized

that Bryan and Jeremiah
and Dustin

had not followed them.

Four of the Green Berets

went off on foot
to try to find them

but were pinned down
by heavy fire.

The remainder of the team
and their vehicles

were forced to withdraw again,

but this time La David
and two Nigerien soldiers

were lost in the chaos.

NARRATOR::
Believing Sergeant Johnson

was in control of his vehicle,

the driver of U. S. vehicle 1

accelerated hard
to the northwest.

MYESHIA:
"Sergeant La David Johnson

and the two Nigerien soldiers

were unable to get
into their vehicle

and with enemy forces rapidly
closing on their position,

they were forced
to evade on foot."

NARRATOR: The Nigerien soldiers
were killed

with small‐arms fire.

roughly 400 meters
from position 2.

MYESHIA: "Sergeant La David
Johnson continued to evade,

running west
for an additional 450 meters

before eventually seeking cover
under a thorny tree.

Sergeant La David Johnson
fired his U. S. M4 weapon

a total of five times
on advancing enemy

before being killed."

♫♫

♫♫

‐ The rest of 3212
had no idea that La David,

Bryan, Jeremiah, and Dustin
had been killed,

along with
four Nigerien soldiers

and a Nigerien
civilian contractor.

Two other members of the team
had been wounded,

including Captain Perozeni,
who was shot in the side.

The six Americans
and four Nigeriens remaining

were down to a total
of 60 rounds of ammunition.

They made a desperate call
on their radio ‐‐ broken arrow,

which is a term that goes back
to the Vietnam War

and means essentially
all hope is lost.

MARK: "With enemy vehicles
fast approaching,

Team Quallam and the Nigerien
partners realized

their unit was being overwhelmed
and radioed higher headquarters

for the first time
since the initial contact."

MEEK: Captain Perozeni
texted frantic messages

to his headquarters, saying...

And two U. S. commanders in Niger
that day told me

that dozens
of Special Forces soldiers

were eager to fly to Tongo Tongo
to save ODA 3212.

‐ One of those ODAs

had helicopters
at their disposal,

immediately got in the air

and started flying
in the direction of Tongo Tongo

because they were fighting
tooth and nail

to get in there
and help their brothers.

They radioed back
to Lieutenant Colonel Painter

to receive permission to go in,
and multiple times were denied.

MEEK: Lieutenant Colonel Painter
was the same officer

who, the night before,

had denied
Captain Perozeni´s request

to return to base.

MARK: At 14:58, a French Mirage
fighter jet

made a show of force

by flying over the troops in
contact site at a low altitude.

The enemy broke contact

and departed the area
after the show of force.

ALAN: The French were the ones,
at the end of the day,

who came in
as the quick‐reaction force

and ‐‐ and rescued the ODA.

And that really frustrated
and ‐‐ and pissed off the guys

who were sitting there
at Quallam

with helicopters ready to go

and to this day does not
sit well with a lot of the guys.

ARNOLD:
"French forces evacuated

the surviving members
of Team Quallam

from the battlefield."

‐ The deaths of the four
Special Forces soldiers

and the failure to even rescue
their own men

from the battlefield
was a huge embarrassment.

And in spite
of what AFRICOM claimed,

there was little
or no evidence at all

that the team had gone rogue
as they were accused of.

In fact,
Captain Mike Perozeni

pushed back against
the superior officers twice,

which begs the question ‐‐

Why were the captain´s
concerns overruled?

What was driving his immediate
chain of command

to push ODA 3212 forward

against the team´s
better judgment?

And did a mysterious
additional vehicle,

which joined the convoy
as they left base

on October 3rd,
factor in to that decision?

I´ve confirmed
with intelligence officials

that what was identified
in the AFRICOM animations

simply as a 3‐man
Nigerien reconnaissance team

and a truck they labeled
Nigerien vehicle number 3

was, in fact, a team

of Nigerien CIA operatives.

It´s not at all uncommon
for CIA operatives

who are going
into dangerous areas

to be in the company of
U. S. Special Forces soldiers.

But because of the top‐secret
nature of their work,

it´s not always clear to the
troops they´re operating with

what or who they´re looking for.

In this case, the American
trained and outfitted operatives

were carrying
a sophisticated device

which can covertly lock onto
and track a cellphone signal.

And with it, we have learned,

they were the ones
who were hunting Doundou Chefou

in the hope that he would lead
them to an even bigger prize ‐‐

an American Christian aid worker
named Jeffery Woodke,

who was being held hostage
somewhere in the region.

ELS: When Jeff was a child,
he used to spin the globe

and look where he stopped.

And one time he stopped

and his finger was pointed
at Niger.

And he told his mom,

"When I grew up,
I´m gonna go to Niger."

When he was grown up,
he remembered that moment

and he looked up and saw
how poor the nation was

and when he sees suffering,
he wants to alleviate it.

He looks for ways to help
the people.

So he build wells.
He did animal vaccinations.

He helped create schools for
kids so they could be educated.

He worked very close
with the local population

in view of their needs.

‐ This was the start
of the whole process

of the upwards budget.

ELS: That morning,

Jeff announced
this special project.

We´re seeing the video of Jeff

with the leaders
of the community.

After all that, he went home.

And then it happened.

He heard ‐‐ he heard shots.

He ran away.

He fleed.

♫♫

But they ‐‐ they got him.

♫♫

Then it was just all a blur.

I just kept saying no.

It took a long time for me
to, um,

to really accept the reality
that it had really happened.

Yeah.

[ sighs ] Yeah.

‐ Certainly, we knew
who Jeff Woodke was in Niger.

His clothes were
in my headquarters,

so that should he be freed
during our time there,

he would be brought through
and given back his belongings

as part of his reintegration
to feel human again.

But when ODA 3212 left the wire
on their reconnaissance mission,

never was there an understanding

that it related
to Jeffery Woodke.

It wasn´t in any
of the mission plans.

It was never told to me
after the fact.

It was never in any of the
conversations that took place.

‐ Jeffery Woodke
was never brought up

in any of the mission planning

and his name appears nowhere

in the 268‐page
redacted AFRICOM report.

Plus, the four families
of the fallen

were never told about
any connection between Woodke

and the missions until General
Waldhauser alleged that

in his press conference,

shocking nearly everyone
who heard it.

‐ And I think it´s important
to underscore why then

was that mission undertaken?

Why was it so important
to send those people up there?

We´ve had an American citizen
by the name of Jeffery Woodke,

who´s been captured
and held hostage

in somewhere in that area
for the last year and a half,

and there was a possibility
that what they might find

at that target
would be a piece of the puzzle

of the whole
of government approach

to try to return an American
who´s been held hostage

for over a year and a half.

MEEK: You´ll recall at General
Waldhauser´s press briefing,

he wasn´t asked
a question about this,

but he just sort of
brought up Jeffery Woodke.

And he said that third mission
in searching that site

was to look for intelligence on
that hostage Jeffery Woodke.

Is that something
that you´ve ever heard?

‐ I had never heard that,

and I don´t recall that ever
being part of the instructions

that were given to
Captain Perozeni and his team.

So I´m not sure where
that characterization came from.

MEEK: Jeffery Woodke,

this hostage that´s been held
since October 2016.

‐ Yeah.

MEEK: His name come up
in the briefings?

‐ No, never once.

‐ The mission was
a sensitive site ‐‐

clear a sensitive site
for intelligence.

ALAN: For General Waldhauser
to say,

"We were out there
looking for Jeff Woodke,"

seemed like a convenient excuse
on his part

as the commander of AFRICOM

to try and put a, uh, noble
cause about what we were doing.

MEEK: Does that change things,

how you see what Jeremiah
was doing out there at all?

If he was part of a team
that was helping

to facilitate efforts to locate
and eventually recover

an American‐held hostage
by ISIS?

‐ Yes and no.

Um...

It still could have
waited another day.

Um...

I mean, I´m all for finding
the American, definitely, but...

another day...

when they could have had backup

would have made a world
of difference.

We´d have four boys
back home, probably.

‐ If this was indeed
on my husband´s behalf,

I would have to say
thank you so very much.

Um...

I´m still I´m very sorry
it happened.

And that would be
a terrible burden

to know that people might die
in the attempt

to rescue my husband.

I don´t take that lightly.

♫♫

♫♫

[ wind chimes chiming ]

‐ Colonel, come on in.
‐ My name is Lieutenant Hudson.

‐ Tom, how are you?
‐ Good.

‐ Real pleasure.
Come on in.

OFFICER: This week is about, you
know, recognizing the valor.

You know, our gold star families
and our fallen heroes ‐‐

national treasure.

Obviously there´s nothing

I´m gonna be able to say
that will, you know,

do much for your loss, frankly,
but, you know...

MEEK: Despite the fact the
official military investigation

tarnished the actions
of ODA 3212,

nearly two years
after the attack in Tongo Tongo,

the fallen soldiers were finally
given some recognition

for their sacrifices.

‐ So I´d like to present you
with the Bronze Star award.

Bronze Star with valor.

You can see the award there,

and you can read
the citation there.

DEBBIE: Well, thank you very
much for bringing this down

and presenting it to us.
OFFICER: Yes, ma´am.

♫♫

‐ He´s truly missed.
OFFICER: Yes.

♫♫

DEBBIE: He deserves it.

He´s earned that honor.

But I´ve lost my child.

That´s never gonna
make that right.

But my son would not want me
to turn my back on the military.

My stepson´s in the military,
in the Marine ‐‐

in the Marine Corps ‐‐
Michael.

My grandson Danny
is in the Army.

My granddaughter´s
in the Army Reserves ‐‐ medic.

And I am still
all for the military.

I am very...

very infuriated with the Army

and the ones involved with this.

I´m sure they wake up
every morning now,

and they don´t think
about those four boys.

I wake up without my son
every morning

just as the other parents do.

♫♫

The wives wake up
without their husbands,

the brothers and sisters wake up
without their brother,

kids wake up without their dads,

and we deserve the full truth
and some accountability.

♫♫

HENRY: I feel the pain of
the families as much as I can.

I understand their grief.

I grieve with them
for their loss.

And I think that they grieve
for our loss.

KAREN: For me, I don´t want to
just constantly living my life.

"Okay. In October of 2017,
this happened.

Let´s rehash it again and again
and again and again."

That´s not me.

[ train whistle blows ]

You don´t live with your head
in the sand

and act like it never happened,

but move forward,
do positive things,

continue to grow and learn

and impact other people
in their lives.

♫♫

♫♫

Well, yeah, it´s already ‐‐
It´s already named,

but I think you can change
their names

up to, like, a year.
WOMAN: Is it Opie?

KAREN: Yeah.
‐ What´s their name?

WOMAN: Opie.

‐ Oh, that´s perfect.

‐ I get a new grand‐dog.

‐ I know.

[ laughter ]

HENRY: It´s a routine now
of life without Bryan,

adjusting but remembering
and thanking our Lord

for what we had with him
for all those years.

[ dog barking ]

COWANDA:
We all family now.

Their pain is my pain,

and I know my pain
is their pain.

We all going through
the same thing.

We just want to know the truth.

OFFICER: The president of
the United States of America,

authorized by Act
of Congress 9 July 1918,

has awarded the Silver Star
to Sergeant La David T. Johnson.

Sergeant Johnson,

with total disregard
for his personal safety or life,

maneuvered multiple times
across open terrain

through intense
and accurate fire

from an overwhelming hostile
force to protect his team.

MEEK: I want to ask you
about the ceremony.

At one point, you kind of
like turned away,

like, your back to the audience.

Do you remember that moment,
how you were feeling?

‐ I was angry.

Angry.

I wanted my husband
to be here with me.

No ‐‐ A war medal or anything
could bring him back.

I´m angry and I´m still angry
to this day.

Come on. You ready?

♫ Happy birthday to you ♫

♫ Happy birthday to you ♫

♫ Happy birthday,
dear Shay Shay ♫

♫ We love you, we do ♫

Whoo!
You love Mommy?

BOY: Blow.

‐ Whoo!

[ laughs ]

Ooh, pretty girl.

Yeah, I don´t got anything
to make him sit up.

GIRL: Daddy can sit
on Shay Shay lap.

‐ I can´t.
I got to hold it.

but I´ll lay it like that.

They still
ask questions every day.

"Mommy, when Daddy coming home?
When Daddy coming home?"

And I have to tell them,
"Daddy not coming home.

You know, Daddy in Heaven now,
you know.

So, you know, you could see
Daddy in your dreams."

♫♫

♫♫

And when I´m dead and gone,

I´m gonna reunite
with my husband.

He´s gonna be waiting for me.

♫♫

♫♫

WILL:
You wanna go get the doggie?

Huh? Abigail.

Hey. Abigail.

You want to go get the doggie?

A lot of changes
on the personal front.

I´ve been married now ‐‐

September 22nd,
it was a year.

I have a 9‐month‐old daughter,
Abigail.

Far as my brother and his life,

his legacy and his death,

it´s been a long,
arduous process

over the last two years.

Um, the most recent development,
you know,

was obviously his award.

He was awarded the Silver Star
for Valor in Combat.

[ "The Star‐Spangled Banner"
playing ]

♫♫

OFFICER: Staff Sergeant Wright,

with total disregard
for his personal safety or life,

maneuvered multiple times
across open terrain

through intense
and accurate fire

from an overwhelming
hostile force

to protect and recover
two of his fallen comrades.

His courage...

TERRI: I can´t change the past.

I can´t bring Dustin back.

But I can have a voice.

And I can be a thorn
in your side...

...to get my point across.

And that point is

if we´re gonna have
a strong country,

we have to have
a strong military.

And that means
when you make a mistake,

you are accountable.

And you must hold yourself
accountable,

because that is what my son did.

He held himself accountable

for his actions that day.

He had a choice.

He could have kept running.

He didn´t.

He stopped.

He stopped.

♫♫

He turned around,
and he faced his enemy.

Not everybody can say that.

♫♫

WILL: I´m gonna share
a few quotes.

They´re not from a writer.

They´re from a man
named Dustin Wright.

"Life boils down to a series
of choices.

Before long,
the choices you make

and the ones you don´t
become you.

All choices lead you somewhere.

Bold choices take you
where you´re supposed to be."

He may have gave
his last breath,

but that´s not
where his life ended.

And that´s not where
our lives ended.

That´s where we were challenged
to truly live again.

The sacrifices by men
like La David Johnson,

Jeremiah Johnson,
Bryan Black, and Dustin Wright

require a response
from us as Americans.

MEEK:
Have you rejoined the Army?

‐ I have.
MEEK: Have you rejoined the Army

to avenge Dustin´s death?

‐ I think...
it would be easy to say

and completely understandable
if I said,

"I want to go get ´em,"

but that´s not why I rejoined.

I rejoined because I care
about my country.

I care about the men and women
that are still going to combat.

I care about American blood
being spilled,

and if I can do something
to help, I want to.

I should do something.

MEEK: Your son Will
re‐enlisted recently.

‐ Not with my blessings.

He did that on his own,
and that´s his prerogative.

He´s a grown man.

And I don´t know ‐‐

Honestly,
I don´t know his motivation.

Um...

But I was ‐‐

I was not happy
when I found that out.

♫♫

[ sighs ]

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

The Army let me down.

They let my son down,
and then they lied about it.

♫♫

♫♫

It was like the guys that
actually made the decision

for them to do that mission
ran from their decision.

And did everything they could

to force the blame
down the ladder

as far as it could go.

MEEK:
Secretary Mattis wanted scalps.

I mean, we´ve heard that.

He was the Defense Secretary
at the time,

and he wanted accountability.

He wanted to pin blame
on people.

ARNOLD: Correct.

ALAN:
Where´s the accountability?

Where is the blame?

And it became very apparent

that there were certain levels
of the chain of command

that were being targeted

and other parts
that really weren´t.

MEEK: Above your rank.
ALAN: Above my rank.

MEEK: And the people
above your rank were...

ALAN: Lieutenant Colonel
Dave Painter,

Colonel Brad Moses ‐‐

my commander
and my commander´s commander.

MEEK: People close to
the investigation have told me

that the move to protect
higher‐ranking officers

began almost immediately.

Just a week after its launch,

General Waldhauser replaced
the lead investigator

with his own Chief of Staff,
Major General Roger Cloutier.

ROGER: In October of 2017,
General Waldhauser appointed me

to conduct an investigation
into the enemy attack

on U. S. and Nigerien forces
near Tongo Tongo in Niger.

My first responsibility was
to the families of the fallen.

DONALD: This is wrong.
This is wrong.

Using your chief of staff,
as much as I love the man,

to do the investigation
for AFRICOM.

The last thing we want
is AFRICOM

controlling an investigation
of themselves.

‐ The idea that the Secretary
of Defense let AFRICOM

investigate themselves here
and that the combatant commander

appointed his chief of staff
to look at this,

I felt was just unconscionable.

And their unwillingness

to look at those commanders
above the company level

is an egregious shortcoming

and dereliction
of their responsibilities

to really assess
what happened here.

‐ The investigation
was an attempt

to protect senior leaders
and their careers.

And a deliberate attempt

to hold the...company commander

and the detachment commander

and the team members
accountable.

‐ I was ultimately
held accountable.

I ultimately received
this reprimand.

"Memorandum
for Major Alan Van Saun

dated October 9, 2018.

You are hereby reprimanded
for failing to ensure

that the members of Operational
Detachment Alpha ODA 3212

were adequately trained

prior to conducting
combined operations

with a Nigerien partner force."

And then
Major General John Deedrick

came to visit me at the Pentagon

to give me the final results
of my punishment.

And he notified me
that, more or less,

my future in the Army was over.

So my words to him were, "Sir,
just so we´re straight here,

just so I understand
we´re on the same page,

you are essentially
ending my career

over something
that I was not part of,

nor did I have authority over."

"ODA 3212 was trained
and certified and validated

by Lieutenant Colonel Painter
and Colonel Moses."

Then he changed the topic,
asked if I had any questions.

We shook hands,
and I went on my way.

‐ Colonel Moses
and Colonel Painter

were not held accountable,

but they should have been
held accountable.

And the reason
they weren´t held accountable

is because
they´re card‐carrying,

you know, members of the club.

He was a scapegoat
to protect higher officers

from being punished.

MYESHIA:
They gave him a reprimand.

For what?
He wasn´t even much there.

His daughter is born
the same day my husband died,

and I´m pretty sure
that eats him up every day.

‐ It´s all about the club.

It´s all about protecting
the establishment.

It´s all about, you know,

circling the wagons
around the senior leaders.

‐ They spent months
and months and months

trying to formulate a damn story

that they thought
would protect their ass.

‐ So that first mission
was the one

that was not
properly characterized.

It was characterized as a civil
military reconnaissance

when it was actually focused
on the ISIS‐GS sub‐commander.

MEEK: So if you were sitting
across from Roger Cloutier

right now instead of me...

‐ I´d say, "Get your ass
in the yard."

That´s exactly what I´d say.

And I´d try to beat
that son of a bitch to a pulp.

He would need medical assistance
to leave my house.

If I had to hit him
with a damn ball bat,

it wouldn´t matter.

I´d ‐‐ I´d put something on him
he would remember

as long as I´m gonna
remember my son.

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

MEEK: The Pentagon´s response,
what we found, is to stand firm

by their investigation
and its conclusions

by refusing to comment.

Military officials have also
avoided answering questions

of many of the family members
of the four fallen soldiers.

And so the official record
remains unchanged,

despite the preponderance
of the evidence

showing ODA 3212
did not go rogue

or contribute
to their own downfall

as the Pentagon suggests.

‐ There´s been a lot of ink

spilled on this, uh,

on this incident in Niger.

And I think a lot of...

...mischaracterization

of what actually occurred

and to the detriment,

not only of the men
on the ground

and their legacy
and their performance,

but also to the special
operations community in general.

And it´s important to me

that we attempt to set
the record straight

and recognize

that these men served
with honor.

They didn´t mischaracterize
their mission.

They fought valiantly

and made the ultimate sacrifice.

And it´s important to tell
that whole story

so that America
knows the truth.

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

‐ [ grunts ]

I turned 33 three days ago.

I am a bit of an old man
compared to most.

But I know
I had unfinished business.

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

The events of my brother
solidified that position.

I admire him, I respect him
and everything he´s done

and everything he was able to do
in the short time he had here.

And I wanted to do things
with my life

that would make him proud

and to go into Special Forces
is part of that.

For me, this is a bold choice.

For my wife and my family,
this is a bold choice.

♫♫

I think my dad...
He is, uh...

Throughout my career,
my brother´s career,

he´s kind of had
the same stance.

He´s proud of us
but doesn´t want it to be us.

And I get that.

To willingly watch
another son go down that path,

I can´t imagine
how hard it would be.

WIFE: Ready?

God is great, God is good.

Let us thank him for our food.

[ Praying indistinctly ]

Amen.

Yay, Abigail.

WILL: You know,
I am painfully aware

of what can happen
on the worst day.

It´s terrifying.

I mean, I...

I know what I stand to lose.

And that´s why I´m not
taking it for granted.

♫♫

[ indistinct conversation ]

But...

I wasn´t called
to live a cautious life.

And, you know,
I believe

it was Andrew Jackson said.

"I was built for the storm
and the calm doesn´t suit me."

So this is...

where God has placed me.

This is what
he´s put on my heart.

This is where he called me,

and I´m gonna see it through.

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫