00:00There were many heroes on that January raid to capture Maduro, really great heroes.
00:06It was very dangerous. They knew we were coming. They were all set.
00:10But the deeds of one warrior that night will live forever in the eternal chronicles of military valor.
00:18Chief Warrant Officer 5, Eric Slover, planned the mission and was the flight lead in the cockpit of the first
00:29helicopter.
00:30A big, beautiful, powerful helicopter. It was a massive Chinook carrying, as you can imagine, many, many American warfighters.
00:43Wearing the dog tags his wife Amy had blessed with holy water before he left. She knew it was going
00:50to be a rough one.
00:51Eric steered the Chinook under the cover of night and descended swiftly upon Maduro's heavily protected military fortress.
00:59This was a major military installation protected by thousands of soldiers and guarded by Russian and Chinese military technology.
01:10How did that work out? Not too good.
01:14While preparing to land, enemy machine guns fired from every angle.
01:19And Eric was hit very badly in the leg and hip, one bullet after another.
01:25He absorbed four agonizing shots, shredding his leg into numerous pieces.
01:30And yet, despite the fact that the use of his legs was vital to a successful helicopter flight, legs are
01:40the most important part of flying a helicopter.
01:43To deliver the many commandos who would capture and detain Maduro was the only thing Eric was thinking about.
01:52Then, even as he was gushing blood, which was flowing back down the aisle, helicopter lands at a steep angle.
01:59The machine guns stood right in front of him.
02:01They were right in front of him, two machine gunners who escaped the wrath of the previous planes.
02:08Eric maneuvered his helicopter with all of those lives and souls to face the enemy and let his gunners eliminate
02:15the threat.
02:16Turn the helicopter around so the gunners could take care of business, saving the lives of his fellow warriors from
02:23what could have been a catastrophic crash deep in enemy territory.
02:28Only after safely landing the helicopter with all the warriors aboard in the exact right spot, which was vital to
02:37the mission, probably would have had to maybe cancel the mission if that didn't happen.
02:43Eric told his co-pilot, also wounded, but not as gravely, to take over.
02:51I'm about ready to pass out.
02:54The success of the entire mission and the lives of his fellow warriors, Hinge and Eric's ability to take searing
03:02pain.
03:02It was unbelievable what's happened to his legs.
03:07The success of the bullets and keep on flying and landing and people knew what was happening.
03:14Everybody in the back of the helicopter knew because they saw the blood pouring down the aisle.
03:20Chief Warrant Officer Slover is still recovering from his serious wounds, but I'm thrilled to say that he is here
03:27tonight with his wife, Amy, Eric and Amy.
03:31Come on in.
04:23So we have a surprise, Eric and Amy.
04:27In recognition of Eric's actions above and beyond the call of duty, I would now like to ask General Jonathan
04:36Braga to present Chief Warrant Officer Slover with our nation's highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
06:01Well, thank you very much, Eric and Amy.
06:05Great to get to know you.
06:06I met with them and with a lot of their fellow warriors at Fort Bragg recently.
06:11You know, there's the name Fort Bragg.
06:13We have it back.
06:14We brought it back.
06:14We won the First World War with it, the Second World War with it.
06:18And then they decided to change the name.
06:20So we changed it back.
06:23Everybody wanted to change back, too.
06:26And 10 of Eric's fellow warriors from that incredible night of victory will also be receiving medals at a private
06:33ceremony that will soon be held at the White House.
06:36And Eric will do that.
Comments