"ln 1972, American airmen are shot down in the midst of an enemy invasion." "They land as 30,000 North Vietnamese troops descend upon South Vietnam." "Rescue attempts by air end in tragedy." "But one Navy SEAL refuses to leave three Americans behind enemy lines." "ln 1961, an elite team of Special Forces was created for covert operations on the sea,... air and land." "Their missions have been kept secret for national security reasons." "Who they are and what they do has remained shrouded in secrecy." "Now, based on firsthand accounts of classified operations, these are the untold stories of the Navy SEALs." "On April 2nd, 1972, a U.S. Airforce EB-66 escorted a squadron of B-52 bombers over the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam." "The unarmed electronic warfare plane, call sign "Bat-21", carried a crew of six." "Their mission was to seek out enemy missile batteries before they could strike the bombers." "Bat-21 detected an incoming surface-to-air missile." "I got SAM right five o'clock low." "Repeat SAM." "Take a look at it." "SAM uplink, vicinity of DMZ, Bat-21." "Got it. lt's tracking us." "Caution." "Caution." "The pilot took evasive maneuvers." "Break right, release tactic flare." "He broke hard right, hoping to fool the missile." "The missile streaked pass them." "Here comes number two, left, seven o'clock, low." "But another was on its way." "Break way, launch tactic flare." "This time the missile hit home." "The pilot struggled to control the damaged aircraft." "Bail out, bail out." "Only one man was able to eject." "Five others died instantly." "Lieutenant Colonel Gene Hambleton survived." "But the 53-year-old navigator landed behind enemy lines." "A North Vietnamese patrol had spotted his chute." "Hambleton's escape and evasion training took over." "He could not allow himself to be captured." "As an expert in U.S. missile strategy, his top-secret clearance had given him access to sensitive information." "lnformation vital to U.S. efforts in Vietnam." "He had evaded capture for the moment." "Bat-21 to Joker." "Come in, joker." "Hamilton use his survival radio to call his position." "Bat-21, Bravo..." "He was two miles into enemy territory and surrounded by enemy troops." "Captain on deck." "Carry on." "Colonel Cecil Muierhead was the Commander of the U.S. Join Search and Rescue Center at Da Nang Air Base." "He quickly mounted an air rescue operation to pick up Hambleton." "327, two miles." "Retrieving the downed flier by air was risky." "But they had to get to Hambleton before the NVA did." "The North Vietnamese Army, or NVA, had amassed a huge invasion force." "30,000 troops infiltrated the demilitarized zone separating North and South Vietnam." "Hambleton was trapped." "Above his position, American B-52s rained bombs on the attacking NVA forces." "Two helicopters raced to Hambleton's position." "They flew straight into an NVA antiaircraft battery." "One chopper crash-landed." "The crew survived but the helicopter was total loss." "Another Huey was hit hard." "Three of the four crewmembers were killed." "One was taken prisoner." "Muierhead had just lost four men and two helicopters in an effort to rescue one man." "He suspended rescue missions for the night." "How many men?" "I said, how many men were in that Huey?" "Bat-21, hold your position until morning." "Hambleton was instructed to lay low until daybreak." "An NVA listening post intercepted Hambleton's transmission." "Colonel Tranh, the Commander of a North Vietnamese battalion, assessed the situation." "Americans were known to rescue their own." "He could use the downed pilot as bait to lure a U.S. aircraft into the area." "At dawn, Muierhead deployed two forward air controllers to get a visual fix on Hambleton's position." "Lieutenant Mark Clark and Lt. Bruce Walker flew low and slow over the jungle." "They finally spotted Hambleton in the brush." "Rock your wings so he's got a visual." "Rocking the wings." "Suddenly, a surface-to-air missile streaked from the tree line." "Bank right!" "Bank right!" "Both men ejected." "NVA troops searched the area where Clark went down." "They came to within a few feet of his hiding place." "Walker was just a hundred yards away." "Colonel Muierhead here." "Now Colonel Muierhead faced the challenge of rescuing not just one man, but three." "Three men missing." "What happened?" "Well, sir, we don't know exactly the details right now, but..." "Just keep me posted." "I'll call back as soon as I get more information, sir." "Right." "Damn!" "This time the colonel ordered precision air strikes to take out enemy air defenses around the downed fliers." "It didn't help." "The rescue choppers were pummeled with antiaircraft fire." "Six more Americans lost their lives in the attack." "Hambleton saw the choppers go down." "He was devastated." "ln four days, nine Americans had died trying to save him." "The intensity of the rescue effort tipped off Colonel Tranh." "Perhaps the airmen were important assets with valuable intelligence." "Colonel Muierhead here." "Yes, sir." "The Air Force shut down the rescue operation." "No, sir." "I understand, sir." "Too many men had already died." "Thank you." "But Muierhead refused to give up." "With three lives at stake, he had to figure out another way." "Give me Lieutenant Colonel Anderson." "Muierhead contacted Lieutenant Colonel Andy Anderson, the Head of the Joint Personnel Recovery Center." "327, two miles." "Anderson was an expert in ground-based rescue operations." "Anderson arrived in Da Nang to assemble a team of South Vietnamese Sea Commandos." "For the dangerous rescue to succeed, he would need the best-trained men available." "Lieutenant Tom Norris, a U.S. Navy SEAL, had volunteered to lead the mission." "By 1972, Norris was one of a handful of Navy SEALs still in country to train South Vietnamese commandos." "Now, Norris and his team would take on a mission that had already cost nine lives and a half-dozen aircraft." "For Gene Hambleton," "Bruce Walker and Mark Clark," "Norris was their only hope." "Bail out!" "Bail out!" "ln 1972, three American airmen were shot down over Vietnam." "They ejected safely, only to find themselves trapped in the middle of an enemy invasion." "How many men?" "Lieutenant Colonel Gene Hambleton... was the first to be shot down." "How many men were on that Huey?" "Lieutenant Bruce Walker was shot down a day later with Lieutenant Mark Clark." "All three airmen were now separated and trapped behind enemy lines." "Every attempt to rescue them by air had ended in tragedy." "Nine brave men had already lost their lives and one man had been taken prisoner." "Lieutenant Tom Norris, a U.S. Navy SEAL, volunteered to lead a daring ground rescue." "With the help of Pettty Officer Nguyen Van Kiet, he assembled a team of South Vietnamese Sea Commandos." "As Kiet translated, Norris briefed the plan." "At which point, Hambleton..." "All three airmen were one to two miles inside hostile territory." "The team would have to slip past 30,000 enemy troops to get them out." "They didn't have much time." "The American fliers had spent a week in the jungle." "With each passing day, their condition grew worse." "Starving and dehydrated, Hambleton hid from enemy patrols and hoped he would make it home alive." "Two miles away, Clark searched for Walker." "The NVA found Walker first." "If Walker was taken prisoner, he would be interrogated and tortured." "Like so many servicemen in his position, he risked death to avoid being captured." "Lieutenant Clark could only watch in horror." "There was nothing he could do." "At the base in Da Nang, Anderson learned of Walker's death." "Gentlemen, we've lost Walker." "The news hardened Norris' resolve." "The Navy SEAL was determined to rescue the remaining two airmen before they were captured or killed." "Aerial reconnaissance revealed that the Cam Lo River provided a direct route West through the jungle." "If they could just get the fliers into the river, they could get them out." "The team could only pick up one man at a time." "Although Hambleton was in worse shape," "Clark was closer to the river." "Circumstances forced them to choose Clark." "...three downed planes." "They would have to take the risk and hope Hambleton could hang on." "...within a kilometer from where we are." "The mission would be coordinated from the air by a forward air controller." "Captain Harold lcke would relay communications between Anderson and his men on the ground." "Like Clark and Walker before him, lcke had to fly his OV-10 aircraft dangerously close to the ground and within reach of enemy fire." "The forward air controller circled to get a fix on Clark's position." "Since the NVA was eavesdropping on his radio signal, he relayed Clark's instructions in code." "Nail 38, this is Bill 11." "Do you copy?" "Nail 38, this is Bill 11." "Do you copy?" "lcke based the code on things the pilot would recognize." "Bill 11, this is Nail 38, come in, over." "Listen carefully, Nail 38, Bravo." "This is Bill 11." "When the moon goes over the mountain, I need you to become Esther Williams." "Then get in the Snake." "Go from Boise to Twin Falls." "At first, Clark was confused by the code." "Then he put it together." "Esther Williams was a famous Olympic swimmer and movie star." "The Snake was a river in Idaho, Clark's home state." "Traveling from Boise to Twin Falls meant he was to travel east by river." "This is Nail 38, roger." "Over." "Copy." "Out." "At nightfall, Navy SEAL Tom Norris and his team of sea commandos inserted south of Clark's position." "They entered the jungle and began the dangerous trek to the rendezvous point." "Lieutenant Colonel Andy Anderson would coordinate the mission at a command post near enemy lines." "Hambleton was advised that Clark would be rescued first." "He would have to hang on one more night." "Yeah." "Norris and his team made their way to the Cam Lo River." "The further they moved into NVA territory, the more enemy patrols they encountered." "NVA soldiers passed within a few yards of Norris and the commandos." "The team couldn't afford to engage the enemy." "Any gunfire would compromise the mission." "At the NVA listening post, a surveillance patrol briefed Colonel Tranh." "The American air rescue had abruptly stopped." "Suspecting a ground rescue, Tranh quickly changed his strategy." "This time he sent out hunter/killer teams to find the Americans." "Trapped behind enemy lines, Hambleton watched the NVA deploy." "The Colonel was exhausted." "He had been on the move for nine days." "He had no food." "He had no weapons." "But he did have a radio." "F-4, this is Bat-21, Bravo." "Hambleton called in air strikes on the enemy's position." "Ready to copy?" "An A-6 flying in the area responded to his request immediately." "...this is Roger 65." "Go ahead." "The fighter jet pounded the enemy invasion force with 500-pound "Mark 82s"." "Norris and his men heard the bombardment from two miles away." "The air strike distracted the enemy, allowing Clark to move to the river." "NVA presence in his sector was heavy." "He could see an advancing column of enemy troops." "A half-mile down river, Norris notified Anderson they had reached their rendezvous point." "He requested illumination flares from U.S. warships floating off the coast." "Norris and his men waited for Clark to drift into view." "Minutes passed, but there was no sign of Clark." "Norris began to worry he had been intercepted." "Then he noticed movement on the water." "It was Clark." "The team moved in to intercept him." "An NVA patrol cut them off." "Norris watched helplessly as the current carried Clark away... and toward the enemy patrol." "A North Vietnamese Army invasion force of 30,000 soldiers was on the move into South Vietnam." "Two downed airmen were stranded in the midst of the invasion." "Lieutenant Colonel Gene Hambleton and Lieutenant Mark Clark had evaded capture for nearly two weeks." "But the North Vietnamese were closing in." "U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Tom Norris led the mission to rescue both men." "They had narrowly missed Lieutenant Mark Clark as he floated past them on the Cam Lo River." "Clark was now traveling downstream toward an enemy patrol." "This is the Chain Gang." "Come in, Joker." "Norris could not contact Clark directly." "He would have to relay instructions through Anderson at the outpost." "Get to south side of the Snake and hold and radio me your position." "Clark was told to hold his position and wait for the Navy SEAL to come to him." "The fastest way for Norris to reach Clark was to go in alone." "I want you back at the observation post." "He told Kiet to take the team back to the outpost." "Navy SEAL Tom Norris went into the river without backup." "Anderson monitored the radio, awaiting Norris' call." "ln the predawn hours of April 10th, 1972," "Lieutenant Tom Norris pulled Lieutenant Mark Clark out of the Cam Lo River." "The two men made it back to the forward command outpost." "Let's go, let's go, let's go." "Come on, let's go." "Clark was immediately med-evaced to Da Nang where he was treated for exhaustion, dehydration and exposure." "Come on, let's go." "Go." "For Anderson and Norris, it was one rescue down and another to go." "Now they would focus on getting Hambleton out." "The ordeal was taking its toll on the 53-year-old Lieutenant Colonel." "Ten days without food or water left him severely dehydrated." "His condition was critical." "Captain lcke circled overhead and gave Hambleton directions to the river." "Once again, he customized the code with a subject familiar to the officer." "As an avid golfer, Hambleton knew the layout of several famous golf courses by heart." "Bat 2-1, Bravo, this is Bill 1-1." "Bat-2-1, Bravo, this is Bill 1-1." "This is Bat-21, Bravo." "Bat-2-1, you are shooting nine at Pebble Beach." "You're on the third hole." "I need you to move to the eighteenth." "Don't putt until I tell you to." "Then I need you to putt yourself right into the hazard." "Roger that." "But I don't think I can putt into the hazard." "Bat-2-1, if anyone can do it, you can." "Out." "Bat-21, out." "Hambleton had exhausted what little energy he had left." "He was unsure he could make it to the river." "The NVA continued to monitor the American's communications." "Although they couldn't decipher the code, they were able to calculate the location of the forward command outpost." "Take cover!" "Get down, sir!" "Mortars rained down on the outpost." "Get down and take cover!" "With each volley, the explosions got closer and closer to the command bunker." "I told you two to get in your bunker and take cover!" "The enemy was quickly zeroing in on their position." "Radio up." "This is the Chain Gang." "We are under attack." "We request immediate air strike." "The only men who could save Colonel Hambleton were now under attack." "Lieutenant Colonel Gene Hambleton was trapped behind enemy lines." "Weak from hunger and dehydration, he had evaded North Vietnamese patrols for over a week." "His rescue team was pinned down by enemy mortars." "Navy SEAL Tom Norris called in an air strike dangerously close to their position." "Repeat, we are under attack." "We request an immediate air strike." "lmmediate air strike." "The response was swift and deadly." "The enemy troops were decimated." "But the NVA had accomplished their objective." "The outpost sustained heavy damage." "Several South Vietnamese Sea Commandos were killed." "Lieutenant Colonel Andy Anderson, the mission commander, was seriously injured." "The wounded were med-evaced to Da Nang." "Only two men emerged from the attack unharmed." "Navy SEAL Tom Norris and Pettty Officer Kiet." "There was no time to assemble another team." "Hambleton wouldn't live that long." "Norris and Kiet went after him alone." "They had to travel over two miles into enemy territory." "Moving on foot wouldn't be fast enough if they wanted to get Hambleton out alive." "They found their solution in the rubble of a bombed-out fishing village." "The only thing left intact was a sampan." "The two commandos disguised themselves as fishermen." "They quickly pushed off, moving towards Hambleton and into the heart of an enemy invasion." "Hambleton's situation was desperate." "After ten days without food and water, he was disoriented and could barely walk." "Bat-2-1 Bravo, this is Bill 1-1, do you copy?" "Captain lcke had no choice but to air drop a survival kit, exposing Hambleton's position." "Where is that kit, Angel-3?" "Bat-2-1, Bravo, I have your drop kit in sight." "It's hung up in a tree about 50 yards from your position." "Can you get to it?" "Yeah, yeah, I think I can see it." "Hambleton headed for the survival kit." "But an NVA patrol got there first." "Norris and Kiet made their way west on the Cam Lo River." "They stayed alert for enemy troop movement along the banks." "As they rounded a bend in the river, they passed an enemy gun emplacement." "The NVA soldiers were asleep." "The disguised commandos landed near Hambleton's last reported position." "They combed the banks of the river, searching for the downed flyer." "There was no sign of him." "Norris and Kiet widened their search." "They finally found him." "Hambleton was still alive, but barely." "He had collapsed just 50 yards from a massive NVA encampment." "The commandos hid him in the bottom of the sampan." "With Hambleton on board, Norris and Kiet set out." "The current would make the return trip faster." "But with dawn approaching, they would lose the cover of darkness." "Bill-1-1, we have cargo." "We are moving out." "They passed the same gun emplacement." "This time, the guards were awake." "Their cover was blown." "The rescuers were pinned down by enemy gunfire." "U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Tom Norris and South Vietnamese Sea Commando Nguyen Van Kiet journeyed into the heart of a North Vietnamese invasion force." "Their mission, to rescue Lieutenant Colonel Gene Hambleton." "The downed navigator had been hiding in the jungle for ten days." "When they finally reached him, he was barely alive." "Getting him to safety would not be easy." "As they ferried Hambleton in the bottom of a sampan, they came under attack." "Norris lay down cover fire as Kiet raced for shore." "Every NVA soldier in the area was ordered to stop the sampan." "The three men were trapped." "Norris had no choice but to order air strikes directly on his own position." "A squadron of A-6s responded." "As Norris waited for the bombardment, he could hear the NVA closing in on their position." "Voices echoed on the water, making it impossible to pinpoint the location of the enemy." "Norris and Kiet needed that air strike and they needed it now." "The U.S. Airforce responded with a surgical strike." "At dawn, the commandos reached the last leg of their journey." "With less than an hour to go, the light of day left them without cover." "Air strikes had wiped out the enemy gun emplacement." "By now every NVA soldier in the area had converged on the river." "They were surrounded." "Norris desperately called for cover." "A nearby A-1 Sandy dropped two M-47 smoke bombs directly over their position." "The smoke built quickly, obscuring the river." "A few minutes later, the sampan emerged from the mist." "Thank you, roger that." "Norris and Kiet had achieved the impossible." "They had rescued Bat-21 Bravo... and successfully ended one of the costliest search and rescue efforts in the history of the U.S. Armed Forces." "On April 13th, 1972," "Lieutenant Colonel Gene Hambleton was med-evaced to an army hospital in Da Nang." "At the age of 53, he had survived 11 days trapped in enemy territory." "Any time, if I can bring back another pilot." "While grateful, Hambleton said it was a hell of a price to pay for one human life." "I feel good." "Great." "I want to thank you very much." "Just doing my job, sir." "For his heroic efforts," "Pettty Officer Nguyen Van Kiet received the Navy Cross." "He was the only South Vietnamese soldier to receive the medal." "Lieutenant Tom Norris received the medal of Honor," "America's highest military decoration." "For Lieutenant Norris, the mission was not an act of heroism." "Braving danger to save fellow soldiers was his duty." "Just keep walking." "Part of a job he was trained to do as a United States Navy SEAL." "Thank for your watching."