John A. Chapman

John Allan Chapman (July 14, 1965 – March 4, 2002) was a combat controller in the United States Air Force who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on August 22, 2018, for his actions in the Battle of Takur Ghar during the War in Afghanistan. He is the first airman to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. He was inducted into the Hall of Heroes on August 23, 2018, and posthumously promoted to Master Sergeant on the following day.

Chapman was also the first Air Force combat controller to be awarded the Air Force Cross, before his decoration was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, making him just the 19th member of the United States Air Force to receive the Medal of Honor.

Early life John Chapman was born July 14, 1965, in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Eugene and Terry Chapman and grew up in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. He has two sisters, Lori and Tammy, and a brother, Kevin. He graduated from Windsor Locks High School in 1983.

Military career Information Systems Operator

Chapman enlisted in the United States Air Force on September 27, 1985, and was trained as an information systems operator. His first assignment was with the 1987th Information Systems Squadron at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado, from February 1986 to June 1989.

Combat Control Operator Chapman cross-trained into the Combat Control career field and served with the 1721st Combat Control Squadron at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, from August 1990 to November 1992.

He was a Special Tactics team member with the 320th Special Tactics Squadron at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa from November 1992 to October 1995. His final assignment was with the 24th Special Tactics Squadron at Pope Air Force Base.

Operation Enduring Freedom

On March 4, 2002, Chapman and members of the United States Navy SEAL Team Six took part in Operation Anaconda. A Boeing MH-47E Chinook came under enemy fire, causing Navy SEAL Neil C. Roberts to fall. The helicopter landed away from where Roberts was killed. Once on the ground, Chapman called for air support protection until another helicopter could pick them up. He and the team volunteered to rescue Roberts from the enemy stronghold.

Upon returning to recover Roberts, the team came under fire from three directions. Chapman charged forward, killing two enemy soldiers and advancing towards a defensive fighting in Bunker 1 Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James began attempting to have Chapman awarded the Medal of Honor, the military's highest award, after new technology that allowed a deeper analysis of video of the battle suggested Chapman regained consciousness and resumed fighting Al-Qaeda members who were coming toward him from three directions. Chapman may have crawled into a bunker, shot and killed an enemy charging at him and then killed another enemy fighter in hand-to-hand combat.

While the Air Force pushed for Chapman to be recognized, Naval Special Warfare Command allegedly attempted to block Chapman's Medal of Honor as it would result in an admission that Chapman had been left behind. When it became apparent that Chapman's Medal of Honor could not be blocked, it was further alleged that the Navy put the commander of the operation, Britt K. Slabinski, up for the same award, which he received in May 2018. In March 2018, Chapman's family was notified that his Air Force Cross was to be upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

The citation accompanying his upgrade to the Medal of Honor reads as follows:

The ceremony took place Wednesday, August 22, 2018. At an August 23 ceremony at the Pentagon attended by family and teammates, Chapman was inducted into the Hall of Heroes, a room dedicated to honor Medal of Honor recipients. The next day, he was posthumously promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant and his name was added to the Medal of Honor wall at the Air Force Memorial.

Personal life Chapman met Valerie Novak in 1990 while he and a friend were visiting her hometown of Windber, Pennsylvania. They married in 1992 and had two daughters, Madison and Brianna.

Chapman is buried at Saint Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church Cemetery in Windber.

Awards and decorations Chapman received the following awards and decorations:

Legacy Chapman's actions in the Battle of Takur Ghar were recorded from multiple angles from circling aircraft and are reported to be the first Medal of Honor actions ever recorded on video.

The Military Sealift Command logistics ship was renamed in his honor in 2005.

Dan Schilling and Chapman's sister, Lori Chapman Longfritz, wrote a book based on his Medal of Honor action titled Alone at Dawn: Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman and the Untold Story of the World's Deadliest Special Operations Force. In October 2025, it was announced that the film, Alone at Dawn, with Adam Driver and Anne Hathaway attached to star as Chapman and his sister, was to begin filming in November 2025, in Maryland and Hungary.

In April 2023, the United States Air Force Academy graduating class of 2026 selected Chapman as their class exemplar, honored with the nickname "Sarge". Chapman is the first enlisted person to be chosen by an Academy graduating class.

According to retired green beret Nate Cornacchia in a post on YouTube, the upcoming Medal of Honor museum in Arlington, Texas was going to have an exhibit dedicated to John Chapman but has since been canceled and replaced with Britt Slabinski, who is on the museum board. Per Chapman's sister, Lori Chapman Longfritz, the museum gave her a tour in February 2024 while it was being built. She was shown where John's exhibit would be and she offered artifacts from the family. In November 2024, she learned that the museum would not in fact be honoring Chapman ... the first airman to receive the Medal of Honor since Vietnam and the first to be recorded. Instead, they chose to reduce Chapman to a photo on the wall and an edited and muted version of the historic drone video. Slabinski, whose citation credits him with Chapman's actions, is showcased with an enormous exhibit including a glass case with two uniforms: his white Navy uniform and the one he allegedly wore during the battle. There are supposedly bullet holes in the leg, however Slabinski never suffered any injuries. The museum honors every recipient on the anniversaries of their birthdays. On July 14, 2025, the museum failed to remember Chapman's birthday. The Navy SEALs appear to be attempting to distance Slabinski from Chapman, even though he would probably not be alive were it not for Chapman.