Major Sheffield Ford III was leading a U.S. Army Special Forces unit in Afghanistan in June 2006 when Taliban fighters overwhelmed their position. The 16 Americans and 46 Afghan Army soldiers under Ford’s command, working to re-establish order in a village, were surrounded by Taliban.

As darkness fell, the attack began. The terrorist fighters directed machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades at the American and Afghan allies from three directions. During the night, however, the Taliban fighters withdrew, so the next day, Ford ordered a team into the suspected hideout. More than 200 jihadis quickly poured out, splitting the allies in two.

Despite the odds, Ford organized a rescue mission for two wounded Americans and the accompanying troops that were split from the main group. Combat was at times so close that the Taliban were beckoning the Afghan fighters to lay down their arms, saying, “We can forgive you; just put your weapons down and walk away. We want the Americans alive.” Ford rallied the men, however, and they answered his call by continuing the fight.

Ford was able to lead an evacuation, including the wounded, under cover from Apache helicopters. His unit had more than 120 confirmed kills, while losing only two Americans and three Afghan soldiers. For his accomplishments, Major Ford received the Silver Star.

(This account was originally published in the June 20, 2008 Digest.)

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