S02E08 - Guilty as Sin

Foggy: "Colonel, how long have you known the defendant?"

Colonel Schoonover: "I'd say the better part of a decade. Most of his career in the Marine Corps."

Foggy: "So you're familiar with his service in the Middle East? Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran?"

Colonel: "Yes, very familiar."

Foggy: "I wonder if you could tell us how Lieutenant Frank Castle won the Navy Cross?"

Colonel: "Due to the nature of that mission, you'll have to understand that the precise circumstances are classified."

Foggy: "How about the part that's not?"

Colonel: "Lieutenant Frank Castle was part of a small team. He was conducting a close target reconnaissance in the vicinity of the Hindu Kush. The mission became compromised. taking enemy contact on three sides. Lieutenant Castle wanted to abort. Said the mission was a bust, pulling the plug would save lives. Officer in charge said 'no'."
Foggy: "And why was that?"

Colonel: "Maybe he wanted more medals on his chest. Doesn't matter. Either way, Frank was right. They were cut off, boxed into a canyon."

Foggy: "And what happened next?"

Colonel: "Within the first hour, the officer in charge of that mission got his arm blown off. So Lieutenant Castle assumed command. His only goal was to get his men out alive. The enemy had set up an ambush at the LZ that would accommodate one of our birds."

Foggy: "Sorry, Colonel?"

Colonel: "LZ is a landing zone that can accommodate a helicopter. So the enemy, they block this landing zone, knowing it was the only shot the team had to get out alive. All they had to do was wait. They knew that Frank's team had to come to them."

Foggy: "Fish in a barrel."

Colonel: "So to speak. Only fish don't know they're gonna die. These men did. Frank went to the LZ all by himself to draw the bastards away."

Foggy: "Why didn't he order one of his men to do it? He certainly could have."

Colonel: "Not his style. So the men hear the fire fight break out. All hell breaks loose. Frank against God knows how many. And then there was silence. The team thinks, 'That's it. Frank's dead, and we're next.' Next sound they hear is the helos, the helicopters. They get to the landing zone, and know what they see? Frank Castle, standing there, grinning. Thirty-two muj surrounding him, all dead. Son of a gun cleared that entire LZ all by himself."

Foggy: "How?"

Colonel: "By being Frank Castle."