As his comrade ahead of him fell mortally wounded, Edward Byers burst into the Taliban safehouse, fired his assault rifle and peered through night vision goggles in search of the hostage he had been ordered to rescue.
It was 25 minutes past midnight on December 9, 2012 in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, close to the Pakistan border. Inside the single-room shelter were five Taliban kidnappers and Dr Dilip Joseph, a 39-year-old American medical aid worker from Colorado, who had been held by the insurgents for four days.
Over the next few minutes Senior Chief Special Warfare Officer Byers, a member of Seal Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, shot dead two kidnappers, pinned another to a wall, saved the life of the hostage and helped guide him to safety.
Yesterday Chief Byers’s courage was recognised by President Obama who, at a ceremony in the White House, presented him with the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military gallantry award and its equivalent to the Victoria Cross. It was the first to be awarded to a Seal in 18 years.
The rescue operation had been ordered by US commanders in Kabul after intelligence reports suggested that Dr Joseph was about to be moved across the border into Pakistan.
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A Seal unit of between six and eight men was flown by helicopter to the Qarghayi district of Laghman province and trekked for four hours along mountain trails to reach the kidnappers’ hideout.
The soldiers were within 25 yards of the compound when a guard outside spotted them. The sentry ducked past lines of hanging blankets and dashed back towards the doorway to raise the alarm.
Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas Checque ran after him and opened fire but was shot in the head and fell in front of Chief Byers, who nonethless charged into the room.
He could see only dark figures and no obvious American hostage but moved in regardless, shooting and killing one Taliban fighter who had aimed an AK-47 at him and rugby-tackling another who was reaching for his rifle.
Then Dr Joseph, who was lying on the floor, spoke his name. Chief Byers shot the kidnapper he had tackled and lunged for the doctor, covering his body to protect him from crossfire. As he did so he grabbed another kidnapper and pinned him by the throat to the wall of the compound until a fellow Seal finished him off.
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Mr Obama did not mention that Chief Byers, the equivalent in rank to a senior sergeant in the British Army, was part of Team 6, a unit normally covered by the highest secrecy classification. But Dr Joseph knew who his rescuers were. As they waited for a helicopter to evacuate them to safety one of the rescuers pressed a coin into his hand. On it was the Seal crest and the numerals VI.
Chief Byers, 36, is believed to be the first living Seal to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam war. Two others have been awarded to Seals, both posthumously, for acts of bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The late Petty Officer Checque, 28, the first commando into the safehouse, was awarded the Navy Cross.
“Our mission was a hostage rescue and in a hostage rescue that is a no-fail mission, you have to bring back that person alive,” Chief Byers explained in an interview with the Navy Times.
He is still serving and has won other bravery awards during a 17-year military career.
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Presenting Chief Byers with his medal Mr Obama recalled the Seal creed, referring to “a special breed of warrior ready to answer our nation’s call . . . Senior Chief Edward Byers Jr is such a man,” Mr Obama said. “Chief Petty Officer Nicolas Checque was that man.”
He added: “People may not always see them, we may not always hear of their success, but they are there in the thick of the fight, in the dark of night, achieving their mission.”
Chief Byers dedicated the award to his fallen comrade, saying: “The award is truly his. He’s an American hero and he is the hero of this operation.”