Here's the "rest of the story" on Petty Officer First Class Neil Roberts,
the SEAL we lost out of the helicopter. I don't know who wrote this, but
its not what you heard in the media. I would expect nothing less of the
Navy's finest.

Regards,
Woody
B. L. Woodyard
CDR USN
Combat Information Systems Officer
USS John F. Kennedy CV-67

I think Roberts memory is worth more than Bronze Star.

"I apologize in advance for the lengthy e-mail, but I have just gotten
back from Neil's funeral. There were over 1,000 people in attendance and
needless to say, it was moving. I had the opportunity to speak with
several individuals, who were in country at the time of Neil's death and
who
had also viewed the video. The following is merely a sanitized
compilation of the conversations I had and tid-bits from the eulogy.
The usual disclaimers apply and there is some stuff I need to leave out.
And I know I will not do the story justice, nor could I ever hope to.

Supposedly...as the helo was on final, it came under fire. An air-crewman
fell off the back ramp and was dangling by his tether. Neil
reached down to pull him back in. An RPG hit the nose of the helo (didn't
explode) and the pilot subsequently made an evasive maneuver. Neil tumbled
out (the air-crewman may have also mistakenly pulled Neil out while Neil
was trying to recover him or that may have not even of happened - doesn't
matter - bottom line, Neil fell from about 10ft and was on the ground
alone). It is unclear as to whether or not the guys on board the helo knew
that they lost a man. Helo peeled away, developed hydraulic problems, and
crash-landed about a click away.

Neil turns on his beacon and low crawls to a position under fire. Neil
takes the offensive, firing and maneuvering against the enemy and
allegedly storms a machine-gun nest. Neil was shot several times, but
continued the fight. Apparently, the video shows the mortal
wound and Neil falls to the ground (~an hour after he fell from the helo).
He had expended all of his ammo, both primary and secondary, as well as his
grenades. The video has Neil point shooting with his pistol at very close
ranges to the enemy. He was dead by the time the enemy arrived and dragged
him off. Not sure on whether they intended to use Neil's body as a decoy
for an ambush or as a bargaining chip or for another Somalia street
dragging episode.

Doesn't really matter. Then the boys came. The force was a mix of
operators and arrived about 2 hours later. As they expected, they
encounter significant hostile fire, but returned fire immediately.
Apparently, a lot of undisclosed heroics occurred that night and
there was significant payback (and I mean significant). Several of our
brothers were wounded, two of which were flown back to CONUS (one of whom
may lose a foot).

People are talking CMH level heroics - we'll see. After fierce fighting
and a valiant rescue, Neil's body was recovered, as were the other
dead, and all were evacuated. Neil went down fighting and took many of
those @^%$ with him (an unconfirmed number). The ridge upon which he died is now called
Roberts Ridge. He was post-humously awarded the Bronze Star with a V and a
Purple Heart. Neil is now SpecOps folklore and a legend in the Teams for
the rest of eternity.

Neil also left a wife (Patty) and an 18-month old son (Nathan). I believe
Patty intends to move to Pennsylvania to be with her family (and as of
this afternoon, Neil will also be in York, PA). Guys, I hope this helps -
it has been cathartic for me, especially after the press has royally
screwed this one up (as expected). In the near future, several of us who
knew Neil and his family plan to work on the scholarship fund to ensure
that Nathan has anything he needs. More to follow on that-"