During a firefight with the Taliban in the Kunar Province, Afghanistan, a U.S. soldier was struck several times by Taliban machine gun fire, barely escaping with his life.
The video, which was released in 2012, says in the description that the U.S. soldier ran out into the open so that his squad to get to safety.
They were doing overwatch on the village to gather intel and do recon, and as this soldier and the LT were coming down the face of the hill, they got hit by Taliban machine gun fire and the squad was pinned down.
During the fight, a round struck the tube of the soldier’s hand holding the 203 grenade launcher. The grenade launcher was knocked out of his hand. While trying to pick it back up, the grenade launcher tube had a 7.62 cal bullet hole in it, rendering it useless.
A U.S. soldier is hit by gunfire during a firefight against the Taliban (YouTube)
The soldier was shot a total of four times, but managed to make his way down the mountain on his own despite yelling for help and telling the rest of his squad that he was hit several times. Luckily for this soldier, no rounds penetrated his armor and he returned home with no injuries.
The soldier said he was hit in the side of the helmet and his eye pro was shot off of his face.
The video cuts off around the 3:28 mark because the helmet cam died. Because of this, his escape is not caught on video. According to the soldier, the first few minutes of the firefight was not captured on video.
A U.S. soldier survives a firefight against the Taliban in Afghanistan (YouTube)
At the very beginning of the video, the soldier can be seen reacting to the gunfire and moving off to his right. He then asks his squad to lay down some fire as he moves down the mountain.
Incoming rounds can be seen landing just inches from his feet until he is finally hit a few times while trying to take cover behind some of the rocks. Almost immediately, his weapon was hit by incoming fire and his body is hit once again. As he lies down on the ground, he continually calls for help, telling his team he is hit. Despite having been hit several times, the soldier remains rather calm while several rounds land just a few feet from his body.
Check out the intense firefight below:
