- This area was a known Taliban hideout, and they had just run into a 20-foot tall steel gate that no one had known was there.
“Kind of ominous,” Morrison said.
Seidl and Valderrama were planning out how to get around the gate through an adjacent compound when the ambush began.
“We heard a distinctive thud, and we both turned to look at the gate,” said Seidl. “That’s when the first grenade detonated.”
Morrison and Gloyer, along with several Afghan soldiers, were caught in the blast. Morrison was knocked to the ground, suffering shrapnel wounds to his body, hands and face. He regained situational awareness immediately, engaging and suppressing an enemy fighter inside of a second-story window before dragging an unconscious Afghan soldier out of the kill zone.
Gloyer, who was mortally wounded in the blast, managed to run back to the group before collapsing into Morrison and Valderrama. Morrison, ignoring his own grievous injuries, began treatment on Gloyer, directing a fellow operator to perform complex medical aid under his supervision after realizing that he had the use of only three fingers on his hand.