I saw discussion of this in the SBS Hero thread. I tried to post this the other day, but it may not have worked. I can't comment on the veracity of this, it was going around the email chain on the Army side. I removed the originator's name and rank.
From: P.O.W. Network -
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2002 10:56 AM Subject: Neil Roberts, Navy SEAL I think Roberts memory is worth more than Bronze Star.
"I apologize in advance for the lengthy e-mail, but I have just gotten back from Neil's funeral. There were over 1,000 people in attendance and needless to say, it was moving. I had the opportunity to speak with several individuals, both in the Teams and in the Agency, who were in country at the time of Neil's death and who had also viewed the Predator video as well as another video. The following is merely a sanitized compilation of the conversations I had and tid-bits from Fitz's eulogy.
The usual disclaimers apply and there is some stuff I need to leave out.
And I know I will not do the story justice, nor could I ever hope to.
Supposedly...as the helo was on final, it came under fire. An air-crewman fell off the back ramp and was dangling by his tether. Neil reached down to pull him back in. An RPG hit the nose of the helo (didn't explode) and
the pilot subsequently made an evasive maneuver. Neil tumbled out (the
air-crewman may have also mistakenly pulled Neil out while Neil was trying to recover him or that may have not even of happened - doesn't matter - bottom line, Neil fell from about 10ft and was on the ground alone). It is unclear as to whether or not the guys on board the helo knew that they lost a man. Helo peeled away, developed hydraulic problems, and crash-landed about a click away.
Neil turns on his beacon and low crawls to a position under fire. Neil takes the offensive, firing and maneuvering against the enemy and
allegedly storms a machine-gun nest. Neil was shot several times, but continued the fight. Apparently, the Predator video shows the mortal wound and Neil falls to the ground (~an hour after he fell from the helo).