A retired Green Beret officer alleged Trump’s defense secretary pick Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis delayed sending medical evacuation units during a Dec. 5, 2001 friendly fire incident in Afghanistan, charging the general “left us to die.”
In a Facebook post Friday, Retired Lt. Col. Jason Amerine recalled the conflict that resulted in the deaths of Army Master Sgt. Jefferson D. Davis, Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory, Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser and around fifty Afghans.
“The delay of Mattis in launching MEDEVAC [medical evacuation] on December 5th was never in question, not even by him,” Amerine wrote.”The only debate was whether it was justified and how many died as a result.”
“He was indecisive and betrayed his duty to us, leaving my men to die during the golden hour when he could have reached us,” he added.
Stars and Stripes reports that Mattis was in command of Camp Rhino—the first US base in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom—when the Green Berets came under friendly fire while facilitating an initial Taliban surrender with future Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Despite manning 10 Special Forces solders and military aircraft, Amerine said Mattis failed to supply his unit with medical assistance once the bomb fell. “Every element in Afghanistan tried to help us except the closest friendly unit, commanded by Mattis,” Amerine wrote.
Amerine was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart for his 2001 deployment to Afghanistan. In 2015, the U.S. Army signaled it was investigating Amerine for providing sensitive information to Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) to assist the government in hostage freeing efforts. He later testified before the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs during a hearing on federal whistleblowers.
Read his account of the friendly fire incident below, via Facebook:
