He had been gunned down when he and two others -- Staff Sgt. Vernon Martin and Spec. Stephan Mace -- got out of the Humvee as part of an escape plan they hatched.

Martin was missing; Mace was badly wounded but back in the Humvee.

Then Romesha and his soldiers came up with another plan: Go outside and lay down heavy fire from the machine guns as an airstrike targeted a village nearby that militants were using as a staging area, giving the three soldiers -- Larson, Mace and Sgt. Ty Carter -- a chance to escape the Humvee.

The plan worked.

Next, Romesha and his soldiers ran to a small mud hut near the front gate. A short time later, Larson waked through the door with vital supplies -- warm Dr Pepper.

"I remember just giving him a hug. I'd known Larson since he came in the service and, I mean we had been together forever," he said.

The soldiers sat for a moment, drinking the soft drink, a platoon staple.

"Warmest Dr Pepper you could ever imagine. But man it was good," Romesha said.

The battle for COP Keating had been raging for hours. By now, most of the outpost was on fire or destroyed.

Until they could make it to the mortar pit in the corner of the camp, there was just one more thing for the soldiers to do: recover the dead soldiers.

Romesha was worried the militants would make off with the bodies. He wanted the families of the fallen to have closure. He wanted them to be able to be with their sons just one more time.

Militants were still firing into the base when the staff sergeant and his soldiers went out on to the base to retrieve the bodies of Gallegos and Martin, who was found with two gunshot wounds at close range to the back of his head.

They found the body of Griffin, who was killed in the rescue attempt.

Hours later, the soldiers found Hardt's body strewn amid the corpses of Taliban militants. He, too, had been shot in the head at close range.

Other soldiers, meanwhile, got to those trapped in the mortar pit.

Planes and helicopters filled the valley by late afternoon, and a quick reaction force was on the way.

It wasn't enough for Mace. He died from his wounds. He was number eight.

That night, the soldiers hunkered down on the base. Half the soldiers slept at the aid station, while Romesha and his men bunked down in the barracks.

Jones pulled out his guitar and started to strum Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues."

Little songs