Summary

The cabin was crowded. Walt had to sit on bin Laden’s body because there weren’t enough seats. No one could relax until they were over the border and refueled. Back in Abbottabad, the Pakistani military descended on the compound. They scrambled fighter jets armed with 30mm cannons and air-to-air missiles.

It was a forty-five minute flight back to Jalalabad. Thinking back, Owen was more terrified when the copter crashed than during the rest of the mission. He regretted that they had left a lot behind but there had been no choice. The Pakistani jets didn’t follow them and the copters returned in one piece to Afghanistan proper.

In Jalalabad, Army Rangers took custody of the body that was taken on a plane heading for Bagram. Owen and some of his colleagues were on a plane right behind it in a...