U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Rogers, center, helps U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Halberg and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Stumpff hook up to extraction equipment as they prepare to be rescued from a mountainside in Afghanistan's Khowst province, July 4, 2012.

Halberg and Stumpff are assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team, and were stranded on a narrow ledge above a 50-foot drop while escaping an enemy ambush.

A dual-state U.S. National Guard unit assigned to the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade rescued the two soldiers with a hoist attached to their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Eric Pahon