For 1st Time Since Vietnam, Airman Receives Miltary's Highest Honor

"Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. Any Grim. Any Nail. This is Mako Three Zero." The distress call came in the dead of a March night in 2002. A U.S. commando unit — Mako Three Zero — was in trouble. Al-Qaida fighters had ambushed it on a snowy peak called Takur Ghar in eastern Afghanistan. Grim. Nail. Those were the call signs of the AC-130 gunships, fearsome aircraft with cameras, sensors and big guns. Grim 32 answered and started flying toward Takur Ghar to provide help. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Rob Harrison was a crew member. "We flew as fast as we could to their location," he said. When they arrived some 15 minutes later, they saw a downed helicopter miles from the mountaintop where commandos were trying to set up a reconnaissance post. And they learned the worst. One of the commandos, Petty Officer 1st Class Neil Roberts, had fallen off the ramp of the helicopter after it was riddled with fire. He was on top of Takur Ghar. The AC-130 was able to see Roberts leaning against a large rock.