TONGO TONGO AMBUSH (1/3): GREEN BERETS FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES
On 4 October 2017, a vehicle convoy of Nigerien soldiers and 10 US Special Forces moved out of the village of Tongo Tongo to capture IS leader Doundou Chefou. Only a short time later, the Green Berets would become the hunted themselves in one of the costliest battles they ever fought.
The rear vehicles were already taking fire from a well-laid ambush as the convoy left the village. The enemy fire was light at first, but grew heavier when they drove into a wooded area. The soldiers stopped, dismounted under covering fire and moved to engage. The Green Beret team leader then ran a flanking maneuver onto the head of the ambush together with 4 Nigerien soldiers, engaging 4 IS fighters and spotting roughly 50–100 enemy with mortars, armed trucks and motorcycles pushing toward the main body.
The team leader recognized the danger, ran back to the convoy and ordered the American and Nigerien soldiers to break contact. Most of the force was spread out across the area, so the withdrawal ran late, and in the end 3 Green Berets were still on the battlefield with one vehicle.
The special forces men were now outnumbered 3 to 100, with no heavy weapons and no air support. Working on the principle of “fire and movement,” they tried to break away, but the IS fighters were too fast and too many. SSG Bryan Black was killed while running alongside the vehicle, giving his comrades covering fire on the move.
With the enemy pressure too heavy, SSG Jeremiah Johnson and SSG Dustin Wright had to leave their comrade’s body behind and keep falling back on foot. 
Out in the open steppe, Johnson was hit and went down wounded. Wright turned around, saw him and decided not to leave his brother to the enemy. He ran back and defended Johnson until he was hit as well and went down. A short time later, the IS fighters executed both men at close range.
Our next post covers the fourth soldier killed in the ambush, SGT La David Johnson. You can find it here (click here).
A brotherhood nobody else understands.
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