| As U.S. troops poured from the belly of a Chinook helicopter, a rocket-propelled grenade fired by the al-Qaida hit the craft and American forces scurried back aboard. A head count showed someone was missing. The missing soldier was captured by al-Qaida. "We saw him on the Predator being dragged off by three al-Qaida men," said Maj. Gen. Frank L. Hagenbeck, referring to an unmanned reconnaissance plane mounted with a real-time video camera. "Another helicopter flew in to rescue the downed aircraft, and that helicopter included a Quick Reaction Force of about 30 special operations troops," said Hagenbeck, the operation commander. Pentagon officials said the man killed by al-Qaida fighters was Petty Officer 1st class Neil C. Roberts, 32, with a Navy SEAL unit. Roberts died of a bullet wound after surviving a fall from the helicopter. A U.S. rescue team recovered the man's body. |