♪ come on and get up ♪ get up this is "nightline." tonight, she locked her life behind for love. moving all the way to afghanistan to live in a hut with him. >> i have been in too many firefights already to be very afraid. >> the ultimate american hero. a rule breaking green beret. but did he break one rule too many? tonight, their fall from grace. prescription drugs and alcohol in the face of war. >> there were some people in my chain of command who were looking to get me off the battlefield. >> and the secret romance that brought everything crashing down. >> we didn't want my presence there to be widely known. but at the same time, a lot of

people knew about it. >> but first, the "nightline" five. welcoheyback. really?bye. kiss yo. cardiologist to check stand 1. crystal geyser alpine spring water? toucé. crystal geyser. always bottled right at the mountain source.

things on purpose? youe not a color found nature. there's nothing wrong with tha. i can hear your arteries clogging. ok. no. this is tap water. i can't let you buy this. oh. crystal geyser please. crystal geyser. bottled at the mountain source. good evening. how far would you go for love? tonight, as we celebrate america's independence, you're going to meet a man who was once considered one of our country's

greatest heroes, and the woman who traveled all the way to afghanistan during wartime to be with him. but the fall from grace was hard and fast. here's abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: until tonight, few americans have heard the story of what happened to jim. seen here from the back, heading into a firefight, dynamic, hard charging major in the green berets. he dressed and fought like a native and was once considered a key to winning the war in afghanistan. you did go native, is that fair to say? >> yes, i did. >> reporter: but now as he walks the streets of seattle, the 46-year-old gant is a broken man, ready to tell his story of how in just a few years' time he would go from being called an american hero, awarded the silver star to being labeled a disgrace to the military.

harsh words. >> harsh words. harsh words, yeah. >> reporter: and you accepted it? >> i did. i did. >> come on! >> reporter: for some, gadget was seen as a modern american version of lawrence of arabia, who lived and fought with arab tribes, idolized by gant himself. >> any sentence that mentions t.e. lawrence and me i'm proud of that. >> reporter: for others, he was the character in "apocalypse now," gone native, out of his mind. >> i'm not innocent. i did break the rules and i never said i didn't. >> you drank alcohol. >> i drank alcohol. >> reporter: you had a civil woman living with you. >> yes, yes. >> reporter: she was one of

america's most experienced war correspondents. ann scott tyson, who would quit "the washington post" and live her family behind who would secretly live with gant as his lover. now they are married and going public with their account of hov and war. a battlefield romance that violated u.s. army rules and led to the end of gant's military career. >> we did fall in love. i would say over the course of about a week. about the third day he asked me if i would marry him. >> i still have the e-mail. the answer was ha, ha, ha. >> reporter: you were serious? >> i was serious. >> reporter: tyson has written a book how they fell in love and literally went to war together, documented in hours of videotape she provided to abc news. much of it recorded in the heat of battle. weren't you putting the woman

you loved at great risk? >> absolutely. we both knew there was a lot of risk involved in doing what we did. and i would do it again. in complete violation of army rules. >> reporter: gant was sent to afghanistan in 2010. the major had proposed a way to win the war, by spending small teams of special forces to move in with and win the loyalty of the tribes, one tribe at a time. a strategy endorsed by general david petraeus and other top commanders who told gant and the green berets to push the envelope. >> they do have to stretch the pounds a bit. there's an expectation that they'll do some of that. it's celebrated as a quality. >> reporter: gant brought a small team to assimilate with the tribes in two small villages. looking more like osama bin laden than an army major.

>> protect your village, protect your valley, and protect your tribe. tell everyone i did not come here to fight, i came here to help the people. but if someone wants to [ bleep ] fight, they know where i am. if you get into trouble and you need us, we will be there. >> he clearly had grit, gut and intelligence. >> reporter: gant got around red tape to head out automatic weapons to the tribal police unit. he didn't always fill out the paperwork to provide fuel for their vehicles or account for the cash payments for afghan gunmen he tired for extra security. and gant and his men rarely wore their official body armor or even army boots. >> when you're carrying a 70-pound kit and helmet and trying to chase down insurgents who are in flip-flops and pajamas, you can't fight like that. >> reporter: it was safer being dressed in afghan clothes?

>> absolutely. even the tactics, you could move further and faster, you could take cover more quickly. you could carry more ammunition and water. it was an absolute no-brainer. >> reporter: and in a short time, his strategy began to pay off as the tribe's code of honor required them to protect the americans as their welcome guests. when the taliban opened fire on this small compound, the villagers joined the americans in returning fire with a vengeance. [ gunfire ] >> you cannot let violence go unanswered. you have to be prepared to be more violent than they are. because if you're not, they'll kill you. they'll kill you. >> reporter: she was there during the battle and claimed she was never afraid. the afghans kept shooting, even as one of their leaders was wounded. the americans quickly came to

his aid. >> i'll never forget the courage of afghans like abdu wally, to fight with the americans side by side. that is what we needed to win in afghanistan. [ speaking foreign language ] >> it wasn't about body armor or weapons. it was going to be about how we treated them. and it worked in a big way. >> reporter: the tribal leader took on gant like a son and gant nicknamed him sitting bull. and gant's village became one of the few examples of success in afghanistan. called by some the petting zoo because so many politicians and top commanders showed up for tours and photo-opes. as the senators, including john mccain walked around. ann said she had to hide for fear they would recognize her.

>> when he came, i stayed out of the picture. >> reporter: at other times she was out in the open, trained to use weapons, and she says, the taliban was overheard on radios talking about the woman they called gant's wife. >> we didn't want my presence there to be widely known. but at the same time, a lot of people knew about it. >> reporter: gant would letter be accused of putting his men at risk to keep ann safe. >> i never lost a man or left the battlefield defeated. >> reporter: perhaps the most important test for his strategy came after four u.s. soldiers were killed in other parts of the country when afghan counterparts became angry. gant told his men he was heaving the compound to walk around among the villagers to send a message he trusted them. >> you have to trust me. i'm putting your lives in my [ bleep ] hands right here, saying i'm going to protect you.

okay? if you don't feel a little fear in your heart right now, you're [ bleep ] stupid. you're just not smart. >> you must trust the people you're with. therein lying your security. he lived by that. our lives were at risk, but they were safer the more you lived by that. >> reporter: so you were safer by breaking the rules than following the rules? >> ytin this case, yes. >> reporter: but they were the constant target of taliban, and hit a roadside bomb. but in another attack, walls injuwas

injured. but he down played his injury, ignoring another army rule. should you have done that? >> if you're a rule maker, no, i shouldn't. but i had to break the rules to be as successful as i wanted to be, yeah, i did. >> reporter: but ultimately someone would write him up and gant would discover his enemies were not just among the taliban. >> you're in a very, very, very, very bad situation right now. up next, how this beloved and decorated war hero game to be known by some as a disgrace to the military. and the shocking price he paid once he returned stateside. t ere dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain. it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away

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let's return now to the story of highly decorated special forces hero jim gant and the journalist he loved. they risk everything to brave war by each other's side. but when other demons surfaced, they battled resistance from their own camp. so who gave them away and why? here again, abc's brian ross. >> reporter: jim gant always relished a good fight. >> we can have the best tactics in the world, the best equipment in the world, the best plan in the world. but it's going to come down to, when this happens, our bravery, our courage to fight. >> reporter: and for a time, gant's unconventional tactics in working with the tribes of afghanistan and his willingness to break the rules made him a serious threat to the taliban, and also he says to the army

bureaucracy they would later break him. >> they did not deal with me honorably. there were some people in my chain of command who were looking for something to do to get me off the battlefield. >> reporter: and he gave them all the ammunition they needed, when a new first lieutenant filed an official report about his drinking, the pills, and the woman, ann. >> that was the end, yeah. >> reporter: gant was removed from command, ordered to shave and put on a uniform while the army launched its investigation. >> i would have rather have been in the hands of the taliban at that point. i could not comprehend everything that happened. my world changed overnight. >> folks make mistakes, obviously. i personally am very grateful to him for what he helped us accomplish. >> reporter: the man who sent him to afghanistan in the first place, general david petraeus, had moved on to run the cia and was no longer able to protect

his lawrence of afghanistan. >> he is one to whom we also owe a debt of gratitude, even recognizing how things ended for him. >> reporter: gant was sent back to the states, busted from major to captain, stripped of his green beret honors, choosing retirement over a court-martial, and in the end, called a disgrace by a three star general. in the end for you to walk in and be told that you are a disgrace, what was that like for you? >> it was -- it was -- it was heartbreaking. i gave them everything that i had. i had nothing left to give them. and yeah, it was -- just even to hear it now very painful. >> reporter: and today? >> i struggle every single day

with everything that happened. i know no man that got to live his dreams like i did. >> reporter: an even worse, gant says, the army went after his men for breaking the rules, too. >> the very men i wanted to protect at all costs were the ones that they went after. and they knew that. i understand i'm the commander, i made those decisions. my men followed my orders. that's what they're there to do. and for them to do that was -- was the worst thing for me. still is. >> reporter: but his men today remain among the few in the military willing to see and be seen with him >> he was the biggest idol of my life at the time. >> we won. >> reporter: some of them nowtationed nearby came to offer

their support. >> jim gant, i would go back to war with him in a heart beat. >> reporter: as the u.s. pulls out of afghanistan, there are a lot of hard feelings for america. but not for jim gant. he and his wife ann went back recently as civilians with no u.s. protection, they were welcomed like family. >> my heart just wanted to burst. i was so happy to see them again. they're my family. my family. i was a member of their tribe. i was a member. they appreciated me for what i am, and i'm a warrior. that's all i ever wanted to be. and they loved and respected that. >> reporter: the shots fired this time were in celebration. >> music to my ears, yes. >> reporter: happy gunfire.

>> happy gunfire, happy gunfire. >> reporter: for "nightline," this is brian ross, abc news. >> our thanks to brian ross for that remarkable story. coming up next for us, we take you across the nation for explosive celebrations on this fourth of july. when folks think about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america.

as millions of americans celebrate our nation's independence day today, we leave you tonight with some remarkable sights and sounds from across the country. happy fourth of july, everybody. and thanks for watching abc news. tune in to "good morning america" tomorrow and as always, we're online at abcnews.com. good night, america. have a great weekend. ♪ >> the 98th annual nathan's hot dog eating contest. >> different styles to these eaters. ♪

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