Plot Synopsis

From the producers of LOCKED UP ABROAD, this series combines gripping personal testimony with re-enactments and archival footage to shed light on the modern war heroes, stranded in enemy territory, who took survival into their own hands to get out alive. The premiere episode of NO MAN LEFT BEHIND, "The Real Black Hawk Down," tells the extraordinary true-life story of the downing of two Black Hawk helicopters during a deadly battle in Mogadishu between U.S. forces and Somali militia. Reunited for the first time, the pilot of the downed helicopter and two of the soldiers involved in the battle recount the intense details of one of the most horrific scenes in U.S. military history since the Vietnam War. Former U.S. Ranger Randy Ramaglia, former U.S. Ranger Keni Thomas and former Black Hawk pilot Mike Durant describe their terrifying battle for life in the 1993 operation gone horribly wrong. The three men were among the 120 elite U.S. soldiers -- made up of the Delta Force and U.S. Army Rangers -- who came under unexpected attack by overwhelming Somali forces and had to fight for their lives. Subsequent episodes feature: DEA agents Charlie Martinez and Kelley McCullough, whose routine surveillance operation becomes a mission to stay alive when they are ordered to go after drug kingpin Rene Benetiz in Colombia in 1982; two of the Green Beret soldiers involved in infamous Shok Valley battle in the Afghan War share their unbelievable story of survival, recalling how, both severely wounded, they managed to hold off the enemy for seven hours until they finally evacuated the wounded and returned to safety; British Special Forces operative and solider Chris Ryan shares his unimaginable and harrowing journey to freedom, walking 200 miles and surviving for eight days without supplies during a covert operation in the Gulf War; pilot Dale Zelko, who manages to eject, moments before his plane crashes on March 27, 1999 during the Kosovo War, and spends seven tense hours pinned down in a dark ditch, while a daring helicopter rescue team races to find him; and Lt. Charles Klusmann, the first U.S. Navy pilot to be shot down and captured during the Vietnam War, who endured three months of brutal captivity before engineering a daring escape, traveling over 25 miles and evading recapture for over three days.
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On Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT, Nat Geo premiered the season finale of NO MAN LEFT BEHIND. In the season ender, "Memories of Hell," US Navy pilot Lt Charles Klusmann was shot down by enemy ground troops over Laos in June 1964. Badly injured and with no hope of rescue, he endured almost three months of captivity and became the first American airman taken prisoner in the Vietnam War. Evading capture for three days, Lt Klusmann traveled 25 miles in a daring escape. With resilience and bravery, he became one of few people to ever escape imprisonment in Southeast Asia.