Military hero talks past, present and future
Moultrie News May 20, 2024
A little over a week prior to the May 25 reopening of the Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point, retired US Navy SEALs Master Chief Britt K. Slabinski spoke of the recent revamp of the historic venue during his appearance at the May 16 Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce Luncheon.
As the President of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Medal of Honor recipient in 2018, Slabinski glowingly spoke of the $3.5 million renovation of the Mount Pleasant-based museum aimed to improve the storytelling experience of distinguished Veterans.
The transformation that began in the fall of 2023 has seen the removal and replacement of old museum elements with new immersive experiences aboard the USS Yorktown.
All of the pieces, as detailed in an introductory video at the luncheon, have been thoughtfully assembled so visitors can leave the venue with a "sense of purpose."
When addressing the crowd of Chamber members at Alhambra Hall, the self-effacing Sablinski, 54, conceded his own reservations of being inducted into the hallowed club of military icons six years ago.
He recalled telling Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis, "I don't want it, just keep it" due to the DNA of the other people embedded in that honor.
While he dutifully accepted the recognition for his brave actions during the early part of the century in Afghanistan, those feelings of discomfort didn't dissipate during the day of the medal certification and ceremony in the White House.
"My mind is just an absolute mess, right? I'm thinking of all my teammates. I mean, they're all in the room just down the hallway," recalled the 25-year Navy Veteran. An uneasy Slabinski, moreover, was admittedly on the verge of passing out until someone facetiously advised him to "be ready in case in he drops it" in reference to President Donald Trump, who was handling his medal.
The guest speaker went on to recount another humorous anecdote about his first convention as a Medal of Honor recipient shortly after his Oval Office visit without acknowledging his selfless heroics on March 3-4, 2002 in the recovery attempt of a fallen officer.
Audience members, in fact, would have been deprived of Slablinski's first-hand account of his mission if not for Chamber member John Carroll goading the keynote speaker into sharing his story.
The one-time Navy SEALs senior chief apprised listeners of conducting a recognizance operation with a group of troop colleagues in Afghanistan, where he was assigned to fly up to an 11,000-foot mountain via helicopter. Once there, he was ordered to observe enemy forces over the course of three to four days.
However, his helicopter's sudden mechanical failure prompted Sablinski to ask his superiors to regroup and delay the exercise by 24 hours since the malfunctioning rotorcraft would make him and his crew sitting ducks for the surrounding enemies.
"I said: 'If I go to the top of the mountain with this helicopter, I'm going to get shot out in the sky,'" he continued. But his command center didn't heed the advice.
"In the military, what do we do? Roger that. Here we go. So, I take my helicopter, there were seven of us at the top of that mountain, and we land. And you know what? It sucks to be right."
Within seconds Slabinski and his group of seven were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, which blew up inside the helicopter. As the senior chief was trying to evade enemy fire, a teammate, Neil Roberts, was thrown from the aircraft amid a hail of finger-sized bullets.
After escaping further damage and taking the controls of a second helicopter, Slabinski opted to return to the scene of battle and recover his fallen colleague.
"That guy was my teammate. It was my responsibility, and I had a duty to do the right thing. I still had some combat power, so I made the decision based on my Boy Scout oath."
His helicopter took on heavy damage during an ensuing grenade-filled 14-hour firefight. Slabinski would go on to guide his team to a more defensible position and direct air strikes close to his troop's position, while requesting reinforcements.
During those 14 hours, the Massachusetts native continued to fire back against the opposition until the mountain was secured and his fellow SEALs were extracted.
"That's the Reader's Digest of a 24-hour battle. That really changed the course of how we prosecuted the war," summarized the Medal of Honor recipient.
"We were a peacetime nation and we were transitioning into a wartime fight, and all the processes that needed to change. And this was part of that — sadly — the learning process of transitioning from a peacetime force to a fighting force."
From there Slabinski went on to serve 14 more combat deployments before retiring in 2014.
