On March 4, 2002, a team of US Navy SEALs was choppered onto a supposedly quiet Afghan mountain peak, Takur Ghar. They were supporting Operation Anaconda, intended to bring to battle foreign al-Qaeda fighters who had fled after the overthow of the Taliban. But the mountain was occupied by dug-in al-Qaeda fighters, and the SEALs' Chinook was met by a hail of RPG fire. It was the beginning of a 17-hour battle for survival, involving SEAL and Ranger reinforecements, extensive close air support, and old-fashioned infantry assaults against the enemy bunkers on the mountain. Seven US servicemen died on Takur Ghar before the peak was finally secured and the SEALs and Rangers could be extracted. With a blow-by-blow account of the battle and analysis of the many lessons learned, this book is the story of a tragic but important episode in the Afghan war.