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I wondered if they could adapt to these circumstances. I was full of emotions. It seems that the brutal warlord has engineered the biggest peaceful surrender in recent Afghan historymore than 5,000 Afghan Taliban fighters and foreign volunteers laid down their arms. Is 12 Strong a Real Story? Ending Explained, and More Officials had been unaware that Dostum's army still used a horse cavalry. My memorable experience as cast member of 12 Story With assistance from US special forces soldiers from the US 5th Special Forces Group, Abdul Rashid Dostum's Northern Alliance forces were able to call in close air support against the Taliban fighters in Bescham and drive them out of the village. Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved, The joy was short-lived. This article on ODA 595, General Dostum, John Walker Lindh and the battle at Qali-i-Jangi was originally published in the March 2002 edition of National Geographic Adventure, THE LEGEND OF HEAVYAND THE BOYS By Robert Young Pelton. He freely admits that in two decades of war, abuses have been committed by the troops of every commander. So I approach a war movie set in the days after 9/11 with a certain amount of skepticism. Since I was a guest of General Dostum it was a little difficult for the men to avoid me. We did all that we could. Yes, but the tagline is a bit of an exaggeration. After the bombs hit, I peeked over the side of the bunker; our horses were gone. The general climbs out of the tiny black car and tucks his hands into his belt. In the conservative press I am criticized for being too gentle in my questioning of an obvious traitor, on the left for cold-bloodedly tricking a helpless boy into incriminating himself. Their rooms are filled with green Army cots, dirty brown packs, and green flight bags. -The Fayetteville Observer, Only two of the characters in the film actually have the same names as their real-life Green Beret counterparts. We could see a bunch of Taliban come out of another bunker complex off to the south and disappear behind a hill. The Taliban had surrendered at Qali i Jangi to CIA officer JR and Dostum and surrenders were under way in Kunduz. Dostum is actually a nickname thatmeans my friend was born Abdul Rashid in 1954 in the desolate village of Khvajeh Do Kuh, about 90 miles west of Mazar. Somehow I make it across the open area. The movie isn't revealing anything new. As we approach the village, the men and boys are lined up in a perfect row a hundred yards long, waiting to greet Dostum. It was like that scene in Close Encounters where the aliens meet humans for the first time, one soldier says later. The two Afghan leaders study a map with Captain Mark, just in case air strikes are needed. 12 STRONG Rebeca Aguilar-Diaz PROFESSOR - Course Hero Perhaps theyll convince any surviving prisoners to surrender. However, the mission quickly changed and became about convincing ethnic leaders (some were more similar to warlords) to join forces with them to fight their common enemy: the Taliban and its Al Qaeda allies. -SOFREP, In the movie, Chris Hemsworth's character's wife is not pregnant. Later, one is shown penning a goodbye letter to his family. In an air attack, says Air Force Steve, you do one of two things. SFC Bill Bennett RIP Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. Some cry out in pain, some are weeping, and others lie still, their faces frozen in deathly grimaces. Most of the fallen look as if they were killed instantly. Dostum and Mitch Nelson remain close friends to this day. Both of the named Green Berets are commanding officers, John Mulholland and Max Bowers. It was somewhere between harassing and accurateenough to keep our heads down. The problem is that the the Convoy of Death story is false. General Abul Rashid Dostum Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. Images of them doing this can be seen below and in Alex Quade's short documentary Horse Soldiers of 9/11. Two weeks after Dostum descended on Balkh, things have calmed down, so the warlord climbs into the front passenger seat of a Nissan, and we head across a sandstorm-blasted desert. It was indeed as much of a surprise to the real team as it is in the movie. I will let what you see be the truth.. Chris Hemsworth's character's real-life counterpart, Mark Nutsch, had worked on a cattle ranch when he was younger and was one of the few members of the 12-man team who had experience riding horses. In real life, Bob Pennington wasn't badly injured by a surrendering enemy fighter who blew himself up with his own grenade, an act that leaves Michael Shannon's character clinging to life as his fellow soldiers hurry to extract him. The task inspires him to try to express his feelings about the past two months. Wrapped in blankets, members of the mullahs entourage fix me with soulless stares. They are known as the quiet professionals because their missions are covert and, for obvious reasons, they rarely publicize their exploits., Actor and producer Thad Luckinbill commented on the need to just be authentic and pay these guys the respect that they deserve and tell the story that should be told., One of the most fascinating threads throughout the movie is the forging of an uneasy partnership between Captain Mitch Nelson (Hemsworth) and Northern Alliance General Dostum (Navid Negahban). These Special Forces soldiers took on the Taliban on horseback Paul, Andy, and I drive past villages of round, domed huts, past a checkpoint manned by Dostums men, and up along the winding road to the Tingi Pass. Then the bombs are dropped, and I look through the scope and see body parts flying everywhere. Its a gritty reminder of who our common enemy wasone that not only strove to kill Americans, but also attempted to force its archaic way of life on whole countries. First, a soft gray cloud of smoke rises in a lazy ring. Then theres Steve, a well-mannered southern medic; Pete, the burly chaw spitter; Mark, their blond, midwestern captain; and so on. I suggest to Bill that we remove Walker from the hospital, where he might be killed by other patients, many of whom were fighting against him at the fortress. Our mission was simple, another soldier says. While researching to answer the question, "How accurate is 12 Strong?" Submit an Article As he leans into the Afghan wind, the light falls, and a moment in history fades. They also had two boys, then ages 4 and 3 (in the movie, they have a little girl). -The Fayetteville Observer. Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. In 2014, General Dostum became Vice President of Afghanistan. The greatest restrictions they face have been placed on them by Dostum himself. Drop a bomb on that grid. Pretty straightforward stuff.. 12 Strong tells the story of the first Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11; under the leadership of a new captain, the team must work with an Afghan warlord to take down the Taliban. Dostum, a former Communist general, had a reputation for violence. Mitch Nelson, scanned the dark landscape around the landing zone. True Story of 12 Strong: The Horse Soldiers - Average Joes In seconds, 250 men on horseback were thundering toward the Taliban position a mere 1,500 meters away. If we had been there, Mikes death would not have happened., When they got word of the incident, the unit desperately wanted to get back to the prison. 12 Strong stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor from the Avengers movies, in case youre not up on pop culture) and Oscar nominee Michael Shannon and is produced by Alcon Entertainment, Black Label Media, and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. Now, on most mornings, Dostum emerges from his house, squinting into a crowd of turbaned men waiting for an audience. Each member had an average of eight years experience and most had combat experience in either Desert Storm, Kosovo or Somalia. The book was quietly taken out of print. On September 11, 2001, Mitch Nelson, a U.S. Army captain with Green Berets Operational Detachment Alpha 595, moves into a new home with his wife and daughter after receiving an assignment to staff duty under Lieutenant Colonel Bowers. These soldiers, I soon realize, come from much the same background as Dostums: sons of miners, farmers, and factory workers; some are men whose only way out of poverty is the military. We fought with nothing but hope.. The post was in an uproar, says Paul. In exploring how accurate 12 Strong is, we learned that some members of the ODA 595 Special Forces team had been involved in a nighttime training exercise along the Cumberland River. The rest of the time they travel. Dostums first stop was the blue mosque at the tomb of Hazrat Ali, the revered son-in-law of the Prophet. During the Talibans reign, thousands of Hazara Shias were murdered in northern Afghanistan; the mullahs are unrepentant. I grab my cameras and ask Bill, a pensive Green Beret medic, to come with me. Mazar-i-Sharif was the stronghold for the Taliban's northern force and once liberated, the northern provinces quickly fell. I thought the guy was this ruthless warlord, one soldier says. Even the CIA was reticent to land paramilitaries and officers to set up the conditions for an Special Forces ODA to be inserted. Dostums father talks to his son as though he were a child, telling him that he and the teacher have been praying for his success. The men know their story and I wrote it down. Around eight oclock on Saturday night, while Im talking with the Green Berets, one of Dostums men comes into the house and asks us to follow him outside. Paul points to a misty, triangular peak that forms one side of the gap. In the last two semi-wars we have been in, every time American soldiers get killed we pull out. . This time there is no convoy; just a son paying his respects to his father. Paul picks up the story, raindrops dotting his gold-rimmed, government-issue glasses. Santos pointed out that with Massoud dead, and no Pashtun resistance, Dostum was Americas only hope. -The Fayetteville Observer, ODA 595 was an experienced, mature team of Green Berets that had recently worked with special operations forces in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan's northern neighbor. Six months ago, he traveled to Kabul with some Pakistanis to join the Taliban. He did have trouble getting off his horse, and like in the movie, the medic gave him something for the pain. Is Captain Mitch Nelson still alive? Bill and the team were wearing armor decorated with my logo when he died. The B-Team had already set up shop at theTurkish School in Mazar and was getting ready for the push to Tora Bora. The only sign that something is about to happen is a white contrail high in the sky. Travel and accommodations were provided by Warner Bros. Pictures. A local mullah sings a prayer of deliverance and thanks to Dostum. When noon comes and goes, I expect the order to fire. The team cleared him for immediate re-attack, but the pilot radioed back that he had hung a bomba bomb had not released. He ended up in the Takhar Province, in the northeastern part of the country. He confesses that he had worried at first how the Americans would handle Afghan warfare: It was cold; the food was bad. The Uzbeks and Hazara took to the mountains to escape the mechanized columns of the Taliban, Those among Dostums men who had remained in Afghanistan now became guerrilla fighters, moving on horseback holed up in the mountains under the command of his former number two La. I soon learn that yesterday some 400 foreign Taliban prisoners overpowered their guards, broke into arsenals, and took over part of the fortress. Soon were winding past an ancient brick bridge that crosses a roaring gorge; on the west side are large caves that shepherds have scooped out of the soft rock over the centuries. And that is a story worth telling. -The Fayetteville Observer. -The Fayetteville Observer, Yes. Dont I know you? one of them says. What else do you expect my enemies to say? he asks. Dostum has not been home in five years to the village of Khvajeh Do Kuh. Green Berets work in secrecy, so only their first names can be used: Theres Andy, the slow-talking weapons expert who is never without his grenade launcher; back home, he keeps the guns in his collections loaded so they are ready when I am. Both he and Paul, a quiet, bespectacled warrant officer, have been in the unit 11 years. Now the CIA and spec ops have been let loose., Dostums men were a loose alliance that grew with every victory against the Taliban. "We knew nothing about these guys," retired Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland said. At its core, 12 Strong is not just a war movie; its a story about learning to respect the differences that separate us but also to embrace the qualities that unite us., Terms of Use Once they hit the ground, the Regulators would be writing their own game plan. Commandeering whole villages, women in burkas with not even eyes showing, the stoning of a woman only for being caught in adultery, and the execution of a mother for daring to teach her daughters to read. DP hats, so I dig them out of my bag and pass them around. We transfer him to Dostums house, and the next day hes spirited away at the same time that his story is being broadcast around the world. One key point noted repeatedly (and military spouses already know this!) Ill admit, my guard was up, as I dont expect even-handed treatment of military-heavy stories these days. Once the plane got there, it circled about six times, Paul says. No. The Green Berets call it the Gap of Doom. As the Hespan drips into his veins, I fire up the video camera, and the man begins to tell his story. "Very Good," replied Dostum. Mullah Faizal and Mullah Nuri refuse: They claim they dont know these people. Newsletter These are two of the Taliban who chased Dostum out of Mazar in May 1997, but still he treats them more like honored guests than prisoners of war.