heroic . '' Once he was wounded , Stafford called out to his friend , Cpl. Matthew Phillips . `` I yelled to him , I was like , ` Phillips , man I need help . I 'm hit . ' ... I looked at him and I called him about four or five times . I was like , ` Phillips . Phillips . Are you all right , Phillips ? ' And he never moved . `` That 's the first one of my buddies I 've ever seen die . '' A short distance away was Cpl. Jonathan Ayers . `` He never once stopped shooting , '' Stafford said . `` I thought that was completely amazing . He never , I mean , he finally was killed by -LSB- rocket-propelled grenades -RSB- and gunfire , but he never once stopped shooting back at them . '' Lt. Jonathan Brostrom and Cpl. Jason Hovater were killed when they ran through a hail of Taliban gunfire in an attempt to carry more ammunition to their fellow soldiers , Stafford said . `` They knew our guys were in trouble , and when the Airborne 's in
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A soldier who survived a Taliban attack that killed nine U.S. troops in Afghanistan last month described a scene of `` pure chaos '' in which he watched buddies die . Army Spc. Tyler Stafford is recovering from wounds he suffered in the July 13 attack . Army Spc. Tyler Stafford and fellow soldiers in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team were establishing an outpost near the village of Wanat when about 200 Taliban militants attacked July 13 . `` They had 200-plus guys all shooting at us -- I mean , pure chaos , '' Stafford said . `` You could hear guys screaming . '' Nine Americans were killed and 12 -- including Stafford -- were wounded in the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years . Afghan sources said that up to 100 militants were killed in the attack . Stafford , who is recovering at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center , said he and his fellow soldiers were facing Taliban fighters on three sides when the attack began . The Americans were outmanned and outgunned . A NATO spokesman said the defense of the outpost was ``