One Battle, Two Films

A major motion picture and a documentary aim to tell different stories about a 2002 battle in Afghanistan—and the Medal of Honor.

Two sharply contrasting films on the Battle of “Roberts Ridge” are in the works. One is by Ron Howard, left, and the other by former Navy SEAL Mitchell Hall

Two films currently in the works will offer radically different versions of a bloody mountaintop battle in Afghanistan that led to a posthumous Medal of Honor for Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman—and continues to divide the special operations community more than two decades later.

A feature film, currently titled Combat Control, honors the full arc of Chapman’s heroism. The other, a documentary called Ground Truth, calls that account into question.

What happened on the mountain—and who gets to tell the story—has sparked a war of narratives marked by lingering tension between the Air Force and SEAL Team Six, as well as an accusation that has damaged one of America’s most elite units.