Photo of valour

Presented with the Air Force analysis, Milani submitted an addendum to his paper. “With some of the original uncertainty removed, I can state that the probability now lies more in favor of Chapman surviving the original assault,” he wrote.

The Air Force’s case includes a new analysis of Chapman’s autopsy that found that bruising on his forehead could have happened only if he had been alive, making the hypothesis that he had been briefly knocked out more plausible.

His body, which was recovered later that day, had nine bullet wounds, five below his waist and four above. The sequence of the injuries is not known. But the two fatal rounds entered at what would have been an impossible angle had he been killed where the SEALs said he had fallen, according to people familiar with the Air Force briefing.

Lingering questions

A team led by the Air Force’s 24th Special Operations Wing commander, Colonel Matthew Davidson, briefed Slabinski on the findings late last year. “I didn’t see anything new,” the chief said. “It was just presented differently.”

Davidson said the Air Force could see Chapman “moving in and around the bunker” where he and Slabinski had killed the two enemy fighters, the chief said.

But because the bunker was under a tree that largely obscured it, this was not clear to Slabinski watching the video.

“You’ve got these little flashes,” he said. “Here’s a sliver of the pixel here, and then it kind of goes away, and there’s another sliver of it, and here’s some muzzle flash stuff.”

What stays with him the most is that morning he led his team into battle to try to save one man, only to be told later that he had left another fighting for his life.

“Is it within John’s character to go on and do this? Without a question,” the chief said.

“If John did this stuff, I want him to get recognised.”