4 during an ambush in the desert scrub of Niger that was recorded on a military helmet camera. These were the last minutes in the lives of three American soldiers killed on Oct. With only the thorny brush for cover, he turned and fired at the militants advancing toward his fallen friend. Sergeant Johnson was hit and went down, still alive.Īt that point, Sergeant Wright stopped running. Sergeant Black lay on his back, motionless and unresponsive.Ĭornered, Sergeant Wright and Sergeant Johnson finally took off, sprinting through the desert under a hail of fire. “Black!” yelled a third American soldier, Staff Sgt. and took up a defensive position, his M4 carbine braced on his shoulder. With one hand, Sergeant Wright dragged his wounded comrade to the precarious shielding of the S.U.V. But the militants, wielding assault rifles and wearing dark scarves and balaclavas, kept closing in. Wright tried to steer while leaning away from the gunfire. KOLLO, Niger - Cut off from their unit, the tiny band of American soldiers was outnumbered and outgunned in the deserts of Niger, fighting to stay alive under a barrage of gunfire from fighters loyal to the Islamic State.
