05/23/2026
Extortion 17 underway! No better weekend to start it.
On August 6, 2011, the world lost 38 extraordinary souls in the single deadliest incident of the war in Afghanistan—the downing of Extortion 17. Among them were 30 American service members—including 17 U.S. Navy SEALs from the elite DEVGRU, alongside dedicated Army Aviators, Air Force special operators, and a courageous K9—as well as seven Afghan National Army soldiers and an Afghan interpreter. These men did not just wear a uniform; they embodied the absolute pinnacle of bravery, selflessness, and elite warrior ethos, rushing into the dark of night toward danger so that others might live in peace. To honor Extortion 17 is to remember not just the catastrophic finality of that crash in the Wardak province, but the vibrant, fierce lives they lived and the crushing void left in the hearts of their families. They were husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons who gave everything for the brotherhood next to them and the nation behind them. Their names are forever etched into the bedrock of freedom, and their legacy remains an unyielding beacon of ultimate sacrifice: **"Never Forgotten, Forever Revered."**