We’ve seen a few different videos of camera-mounted combat footage from the Afghanistan, but this one might just take the cake. With nearly 20 million views in less than two weeks, this is one of the most widespread military viral videos that we’ve ever seen.
What makes the video so tense is that you can connect with the visceral tension that this warfighter is experiencing. You can see the adrenaline-fueled haste as he fumbles with a new magazine, and then there’s a teeth-clenching moment as he leaves what little cover he has to go down the mountain. Dust plumes up all around the soldier as bullets miss their mark by mere inches. Eventually, the soldier is hit and he screams out for help. It would be a happy ending if other soldiers could come to his aid, but you really get a feeling for the isolation as the soldier screams “I’m hit!” and nobody answers back.
Here’s a recap of the events straight from the cameraman:
I got a hit a total of four times. My helmet cam died and I made it down the mountain on my own. I was also hit in the side of my helmet and my eye pro was shot off of my face. We were doing over-watch on the village to recon and gather intel. I was point heading down the face of the hill with the LT. When we got hit the rest of the squad was pinned down by machine gun fire. I didn’t start the video until a few minutes into the firefight for obvious reasons. I came out into the open to draw fire so my squad could get to safety.
A round struck the tube by my hand of the M203 grenade launcher, which knocked it out of my hands. When I picked the rifle back up it was still functional, but the grenade launcher tube had a nice sized 7.62-cal bullet hole in it and was rendered useless.
Despite getting hit four times – including a shot to his helmet – this operator survived the ordeal and has an absolutely killer story to boot. According to the YouTube page, none of the rounds penetrated his body armor and he was sent home without any injuries. We’re just going to come out and say it – this soldier was lucky. If he had just been a foot to his left or right then he might not have survived that day.
If this video is your type of thing, you can catch hundreds of other raw, unedited clips of combat from Afghanistan on Funker530’s YouTube channel.
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