photo #8822670

On the morning of August 28, 2013, a group of heavily armed insurgents wearing suicide vests stormed Forward Operating Base Ghazni in eastern Afghanistan. They detonated a massive explosion at the gate, opening a breach designed to kill as many U.S. and coalition personnel as possible. Within seconds, gunfire swept across the base. It was the kind of attack meant to overwhelm defenders before they could react. Master Sgt Earl Plumlee, a Green Beret from the 1st Special Forces Group, did the opposite of what the attackers expected. Armed only with his pistol, he sprinted toward the blast site as eleven enemies poured through the smoke with rifles, machine guns, and grenades. Instead of taking cover, Plumlee closed the distance, firing with precision and forcing the attackers to scatter before they could reach populated areas of the base. As he moved, he pulled a wounded soldier to safety, then reengaged the attackers, switching between his pistol and captured enemy weapons. In the chaos, multiple suicide vests detonated nearby, sending debris and shrapnel across the compound. Plumlee continued to press forward, coordinating with responding forces and preventing the fighters from spreading deeper into the base. Witnesses later said that without his actions in those first critical minutes, the attackers could have caused catastrophic loss of life. Instead, the breach was contained, the surviving fighters were stopped, and the base held. Years later, Plumlee received the Medal of Honor for his actions. But those present remember something beyond the award. They remember a lone Special Forces soldier charging into a storm of gunfire because he refused to let the attack reach the people behind him. This post is for educational and historical purposes.