Publisher's Synopsis
Tarnak Farm, near Kandahar, Afghanistan, pre–dawn, April 18, 2002 Two American F–16 pilots returning to their base after an uneventful support mission suddenly notice flashes of light from the ground. They have no idea that what they are seeing in the darkness is a company of Canadian paratroopers conducting a live–fire exercise. Convinced that his flight lead is under attack, Major Harry Schmidt unleashes a 500–pound laser–guided bomb. It is deadly accurate. The explosion kills four Edmonton–based paratroopers and seriously injures eight others. Moments after dropping the bomb, Major Schmidt calls over the cockpit radio to his flight lead. "I hope that was the right thing to do," he says. "Me too," Major Bill Umbach replies. Based on years of investigative research, thousands of pages of classified documents and dozens of exclusive interviews—including conversations with Harry Schmidt and Bill Umbach—this book dramatically recreates (with cockpit imaging) the tragic event and its shock–wave aftermath: the Canadian families left bereft and heartbroken; the pilots’ supporters who rallied behind them; the high–profile military trials and the controversial outcome. Was justice done? No matter what you conclude, the pain of unnecessary death in a theater of war will never subside.
