Saturday, December 22, 2001 Gen. Franks' helicopter is fired upon during approach to Kabul

By Jon R. Anderson, Stars and Stripes European edition, Sunday, December 23, 2001

KABUL, Afghanistan — A jet-black double-propped helicopter carrying the top U.S. field commander in the war against terrorism was fired upon Saturday as pilots navigated their way into Kabul from a military airfield north of Afghanistan’s capital city.

Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the U.S. Central Command, appeared unflustered as he disembarked the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment CH-47 Chinook after touching down at the newly reopened American Embassy in Kabul.

Flanked by his wife and Brig. Gen. Gary Harrell, a senior special operations commander inside Afghanistan, Franks got off the aircraft under the watchful eyes of the helicopter door gunners, a contingent of Marines and his own plain-clothes security detail. Franks was traveling to Kabul to attend the inauguration of Afghanistan’s new interim government.

Officials believe Franks’ helicopter — one of two "Night Stalker" Chinooks that was flying in close formation into Kabul — was shot at by a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, commonly called a "man pad" by pilots.

Franks had spent the night at a Marine Corps Forward Operating Base in southern Afghanistan, dubbed Camp Rhino, where he and the troops were entertained by a USO show.

In addition to meeting with the leaders of the new government during his visit to Kabul, Franks again spent time with the Marines and Special Forces troops before leaving the war-scarred capital city.

"This is war," he told the gathering of troops at the U.S. Embassy, "and we’re probably going to be at war for a long time."

Franks said that while it was unfortunate those deployed to Afghanistan would be away from home through the holiday season, that their sacrifices would help ensure that their "children and grandchildren would be safe."<

-- Anonymous, December 22, 2001