TSgt, USAF — War on Terror
John Allan Chapman was born July 14, 1965, in Springfield, Massachusetts, and raised in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, where he graduated from high school in 1983. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in September 1985 as an information systems operator, then cross-trained into the grueling combat control specialty — the airmen who coordinate air support for ground forces. He served with the 1721st Combat Control Squadron at Pope Air Force Base, the 320th Special Tactics Squadron in Okinawa, and finally the elite 24th Special Tactics Squadron. In 1992 he married Valerie Novak; they had two daughters, Madison and Brianna.
On March 4, 2002, during Operation Anaconda, Chapman was attached to a Navy SEAL team reconnoitering Takur Ghar, a snow-capped peak in Afghanistan. During insertion their MH-47 Chinook was ambushed, and SEAL Neil Roberts fell from the aircraft. Chapman got the damaged helicopter to safety, arranged gunship coverage, and volunteered to reinsert onto the mountain to rescue Roberts. Ambushed from three directions, Chapman charged an enemy bunker up a steep incline in thigh-deep snow and hostile fire, cleared the position, then moved into the open just 12 meters from a second machine-gun emplacement. His assault let his teammates break contact. Believing him dead, his team leader withdrew, leaving Chapman on the mountain.
Drone footage analysis later revealed that Chapman regained consciousness and fought on alone for roughly eighty minutes, engaging multiple enemy fighters — killing one who charged him and another in hand-to-hand combat. When the quick reaction force helicopter arrived, he left cover to lay down suppressive fire so it could land, and was killed doing so. His actions saved his teammates and many aboard the helicopter. His Air Force Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor on August 22, 2018 — the first for an airman since Vietnam, and reportedly the first Medal of Honor actions ever captured on video. He was inducted into the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes and posthumously promoted to Master Sergeant.
Chapman is buried in Saint Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church Cemetery in Windber, Pennsylvania. The Military Sealift Command ship MV TSgt John A. Chapman was renamed in his honor, and in 2023 the Air Force Academy Class of 2026 chose him as class exemplar — the first enlisted person so honored. His story is told in the book Alone at Dawn, written by Dan Schilling and his sister Lori Chapman Longfritz.
Sources: Wikipedia · Congressional Medal of Honor Society