A retired Green Beret simply could not lose another soldier in the Global War on Terror. He called together a group of Special Forces veterans from the Army, Navy and CIA to join him in one last mission. As the US withdrew after 20 years in Afghanistan and the Taliban seized control, their friend, an American-trained Afghan commando, had to be saved. However, that would be just the beginning of their remarkable evacuation efforts. It is our sincere honor to welcome US Army Lt. Col. Scott Mann.

Amidst the total chaos of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, what began as a mission to save their friend Nazam, grew into something far greater. Operating from their own basements and garages in the US, Scott and his team first called their mission Operation Harriet, after Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Then - after using ‘Pineapple’ as a vital code word - it became Task Force Pineapple, and is now well known as Operation Pineapple Express. 

By any name, Scott and his amazing group helped more than 500 Afghans escape their collapsing country. They worked tirelessly, until the horrific suicide bombing at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport August 26, 2021.

We give our highest recommendation to Scott’s book ‘Operation Pineapple Express: The Incredible Story of a Group of Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission and Honored a Promise in Afghanistan’.

As always, thank you for listening to Heroes Behind Headlines.