After long review, airman to receive Medal of Honor
Chapman’s Afghanistan heroism to be recognized
WASHINGTON – A 30-month review of grainy drone footage, autopsy results and eyewitness accounts of Air Force Tech Sgt. John Chapman’s heroism on a frozen mountaintop in Afghanistan in 2002 prompted the Pentagon to upgrade his commendation to the nation’s highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, according to documents and interviews.
The painstaking review required more than two years of investigation in part because of the highly classified nature of Chapman’s mission as a special operator. Some of those charged with the review were not authorized for a time to see some of the information, according to an Air Force officer who spoke about the mission on condition of anonymity because officers were not authorized to speak publicly about the review.
Chapman, 36, was awarded the Air Force Cross posthumously after the battle of Roberts Ridge. There was no dispute at the time that he charged into enemy fire on a rescue mission to retrieve Neil Roberts, a Navy SEAL who was killed when he was thrown from a helicopter that had been attacked. Believing Chapman had been killed in the initial assault, his team retreated from the 11,000-foot mountain.
But the new analysis layered video footage from a Predator drone that circled overhead along with testimony from troops listening in on al-Qaida insurgents and autopsy results to show that Chapman had recovered from his initial wounds to continue fighting.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump is set to award his widow, Valerie Nessel, with the medal.
Among the review’s key findings is that Chapman survived at least six gunshot wounds to his heel, calf, back and liver and suffered a broken nose and other scars to his face while fighting the extremists. The autopsy found