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In the midst of the darkest day in the history of the Navy SEALs, a day that saw 11 of the special operators die in the mountains of Afghanistan, a miracle occurred: A lone SEAL managed to escape the swarming enemy force that had killed his three teammates on the ground and shot down a helicopter carrying 16 other SEALs and soldiers.

Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew G. Axelson and Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny Dietz made that escape possible, and in doing so, sacrificed their lives. For that, Navy Secretary Donald Winter presented the widows of Axelson and Dietz with their husbands’ Navy Crosses, the service’s second-highest award for valor, on Sept. 13 at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“Putting the safety of their teammates above their own, they displayed extraordinary heroism in combat,” Winter said. “Extraordinary heroism — those words perfectly capture their final selfless act on Earth.”

Few specifics about Axelson’s and Dietz’s deaths have been made public. But according to their awards citations and other information released about their role in “Operation Red Wing,” the two men died fighting while trapped in a desperate situation, and by doing so, helped a shipmate get out alive.

On June 28, 2005, Axelson and Dietz were part of a four-man reconnaissance team inserted into enemy territory on a clandestine mission to “capture or kill” a high-level militia leader, according to the Navy. Each man was mortally wounded in a firefight that broke out after they were spotted by militia sympathizers who then alerted Taliban fighters. Despite being hit, Axelson and Dietz continued to fight, killing numerous enemy fighters.

After 45 minutes of fighting, Lt. Michael Murphy, the small group’s commanding officer, made contact with friendly forces and asked for an emergency extraction. A Chinook and Army Apaches were dispatched for the rescue. The Chinook, carrying eight SEALs and eight Army special operators, was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed before it could provide support. Now stranded, with no hope of reinforcements, the men fought for their lives despite facing “30 to 40” enemy fighters who held the higher ground and surrounded the SEALs on three sides.

“Although mortally wounded, Axelson and Dietz held their position and fought for the safety of their teammates despite a hail of gunfire,” a Naval Special Warfare Command release said. “Their actions cost them their lives, but gave one of the other SEALs an opportunity to escape.”

Murphy, of Delivery Vehicle Team 1, was also killed in the action. Murphy’s award for Operation Red Wing has yet to be determined. His family members were part of the audience at the Navy Cross ceremony.

During the ceremony, former teammates of Axelson and Dietz spoke not of the men’s deaths, but of their lives and the character that made them warriors.

Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Dave Albritton emotionally remembered Axelson, a member of SEAL Vehicle Delivery Team 1, as a quiet family man who loved to golf. Albritton said Axelson showed quickly at SEAL training that he was a cut above.

“No matter how hard I worked at something, he was better,” Albritton said. “[But] he never let me fall behind or fail at anything as long as he was there.

“As BUD/S progressed, fellow classmates began to see this and realize he was among the top of the class and a quiet leader.”

Lt. Brad Geary gave Dietz’s tribute, describing the Colorado native as a doting husband to wife Maria and a man as selfless in life as he was in death. He recalled that after qualifying for a coveted spot in sniper school, Dietz chose instead to go to the less glamorous communications school because of a greater need.

“Upon hearing that the second platoon needed a communicator, he decided to back out of the spot and go to communications school. Which … has the added benefit of 70 extra pounds with you wherever you go,” Geary said, “which he never complained about.”

To close the ceremony, Winter presented the framed Navy Crosses to Maria Dietz and Cindy Axelson, with each man’s award citation read aloud.

“It’s a way of honoring these men to people around the world,” Maria Dietz said two days later in a telephone interview. “[SEALs] don’t get recognition. Nor do they need it. Their recognition is doing their job. … That’s fulfilling enough for them.”

Dietz and Axelson are the fourth and fifth SEALs to be awarded the Navy Cross since 2001. The awards are also the first publicized from the deadly 2005 incident in Afghanistan, in which eight other SEALs and eight Army special operations troops died after their Chinook was shot down while they attempted to rescue the four-man team. It was the deadliest day in the history of the SEALs, and the worst one-day loss of life in Navy special operations since World War II.

The lone surviving SEAL evaded enemy capture for days before being recovered. He is still on active duty and thus has not been identified by the Navy. He received the Navy Cross in July in a private ceremony, according to the Navy. He was not present at Dietz and Axelson’s ceremony, officials said, because he wanted all attention paid to his fallen teammates.

Earlier in the war in Afghanistan, two still-unnamed SEALs were awarded the Navy Cross, and those men were in the audience for the outdoor ceremony, according to Rear Adm. Joseph Maguire’s opening remarks. Others in the estimated 300-person crowd included Axelson’s and Dietz’s families and friends, fellow sailors — including a contingent from Dietz’s SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2, members of Congress and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen.

Capt. Pete Wikul, a 35-year veteran SEAL, was one of the many special operators in attendance who didn’t know either man personally, but wanted to pay tribute to the bravery of Axelson and Dietz, which he described as “beyond words.”

“Words cannot express the situation they were in and the extraordinary acts of heroism they had to endure,” Wikul said.

Hospitalman Luis Fonseca Jr. is the only non-SEAL sailor to receive a Navy Cross since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, earning the honor during the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.