Taliban attack survivor describes scene of 'pure chaos'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A soldier who survived a Taliban attack that killed nine U.S. troops in Afghanistan last month described a scene of "pure chaos" in which he watched buddies die.

Army Spc. Tyler Stafford and fellow soldiers in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team were establishing an outpost near the village of Wanat when about 200 Taliban militants attacked July 13.

"They had 200-plus guys all shooting at us -- I mean, pure chaos," Stafford said. "You could hear guys screaming."

Nine Americans were killed and 12 -- including Stafford -- were wounded in the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years. Afghan sources said that up to 100 militants were killed in the attack.

Stafford, who is recovering at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, said he and his fellow soldiers were facing Taliban fighters on three sides when the attack began.

The Americans were outmanned and outgunned. A NATO spokesman said the defense of the outpost was "heroic."

Once he was wounded, Stafford called out to his friend, Cpl. Matthew Phillips.

"I yelled to him, I was like, 'Phillips, man I need help. I'm hit.' ... I looked at him and I called him about four or five times. I was like, 'Phillips. Phillips. Are you all right, Phillips?' And he never moved.

"That's the first one of my buddies I've ever seen die."

A short distance away was Cpl. Jonathan Ayers.

"He never once stopped shooting," Stafford said. "I thought that was completely amazing. He never, I mean, he finally was killed by [rocket-propelled grenades] and gunfire, but he never once stopped shooting back at them."

Lt. Jonathan Brostrom and Cpl. Jason Hovater were killed when they ran through a hail of Taliban gunfire in an attempt to carry more ammunition to their fellow soldiers, Stafford said.

"They knew our guys were in trouble, and when the Airborne's in trouble, you don't leave them to die; you go help them," Stafford said. "They brought what they could."

The Americans were running low on ammunition, and some of them were so badly wounded they were unable to move, Stafford said.

Help did not come for an hour, he said.

Stafford eventually was helicoptered to safety. He said he looked back at the scene below while aboard the chopper.

"It's like one of the those movies out of like Vietnam that you see with all these special effects and everything's on fire," he recalled. "Smoke in the air, and that's all you see is tracer rounds going back and forth ... just, 'boom, boom, boom.' "

The other Americans who died were Sgt. Israel Garcia, Cpl. Gunnar Zwilling, Spc. Sergio Abad, Cpl. Pruitt Rainey and Cpl. Jason Bogar.

"The way they served each other -- you're fighting for the guy on your back, the guy that's in the foxhole next to you, when that kind of stuff happens. We all love each other very much," Stafford said.

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