Mike Spann (CIA) 25NOV2001, Battle of Qala-i-Jangi, Afghanistan

25NOV2001: Johnny 'Mike' Spann was working in the CIA when al-Qaeda terrorists conducted their attacks on September 11, 2001. Before long, Spann, a prior Marine, found himself on the ground in Afghanistan, searching for these killers.

Spann was one of the first Americans on the ground in Afghanistan and immediately set about tying in with local forces from the Northern Alliance. Spann focused on building relationships with local military leaders, specifically General Dostum, in preparation for the arrival of American Special Forces units that would hopefully turn the tide in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Spann helped coordinate resources and relayed critical intelligence from the front lines as Dostum and his US advisors took the critical city of Mazar-i-Sharif in early November. As the first major victory over the Taliban, this battle saw quite a few enemy fighters offer to surrender. Of the new prisoners, Spann and his team pulled aside nearly 600 with suspected ties to al-Qaeda for further questioning to be done at a fortress known as Qala-i-Jangi.

The prisoners were quickly moved during the night and placed in a cellar to be interrogated the following morning by Spann and his colleague. However, in the chaos, many prisoners were able to sneak weapons in with them.

The following day, as Spann worked through the prisoners, asking where they were from, why they were in Afghanistan and more, shots rang out. The armed prisoners were staging an uprising and Spann was caught right in the middle. Fighting for his life, Spann emptied his pistol and rifle at close range before engaging dozens of al-Qaeda fighters in hand to hand combat. Overwhelmed and outnumbered, Spann was quickly killed, the first American killed in combat during the war in Afghanistan.

The Northern Alliance guards locked down the fort and as US and British special operators arrived on scene, the retaking of the fort began. After a few days, with the help of American airpower, only a few dozen holdouts remained holed up in a cellar. General Dostum ordered the cellar flooded with cold water, forcing their final surrender. In all, barely 80 of the initial 600+ prisoners would survive the uprising.