Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

Marcus Luttrell is an American hero. He would most likely disagree with that characterization, pointing instead to those members of SEAL team 10 as the real heroes, men who fought with him and who died on an Afghanistan mountain top in the Hindu-Kush in 2005. Nevertheless, anyone who has earned the Navy Cross (America’s second highest military honor for valor in combat and the Navy’s highest) and the Purple Heart is in my estimation and the assessment of his commanders an American hero.How Luttrell was awarded those honors in battle against the Taliban on an Afghanistan mountain, how he was trained as a Navy SEAL before the firefight with those vicious terrorists, and how he managed to escape their clutches with the significant participation of a Pashtun tribe and its leaders are the major parts of this adrenaline-fueled, terrifying book.Like the protagonist in that best of all war novels Red Badge of Courage, we get to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste a ferocious battle while experiencing the thoughts and emotions of a true warrior in a fierce firefight. The only difference is that the author, Luttrell, was in reality the main character of his story while Stephen Crane, the author of Red Badge…, only learned about the horrors of war from others.This is a political book; make no mistake. Luttrell, unequivocally, expresses his contempt of the liberal media and the political/military powers in charge concerning the rules of engagement in place for the Afghanistan conflict. The handcuffing of our armed forces is a principal frustration that he deplores, and it is the reason why those men died on that mountain. It is also a deadly moral dilemma that is at the epicenter of the story.The writing style is straightforward, even if at times employing too many clichés. The story moves quickly and poignantly ending in an appreciation for our warriors and their total commitment to America, and why we should be assisting them as a moral imperative and honoring them as an obligation that every civilized society must keep. Marcus Luttrell’s inspiring story in these pages ultimately reminds us of what John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), the British economist and philosopher, said about “better men” and war:“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”The book, which was also written by author Patrick Robinson based on interviews with Marcus Luttrell, has only one flaw and that is the stated number of Taliban who attacked. In the book, it was erroneously indicated at between 80 and 100. In the Medal of Honor citation awarded posthumously to Lt. Michael Murphy, the commander of SEAL Team 10, it states: “between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four-member team.” That is the only quibble I have with this remarkable story of uncompromising bravery in the face of crushing savagery.

Just a book that gets better and pulls you in as you read. You can feel the ordeals - almost experience.

"I tried to get a hold of myself. But again in my mind I heard that terrible, terrible scream, the same one that awakens me, bullying its way into my solitary dreams, night after night, the confirmation of guilt. The endless guilt of the survivor. `Help me, Marcus! Please help me!' It was a desperate appeal in the mountains of a foreign land. It was a scream cried out in the echoing high canyons of one of the loneliest places on earth. It was the nearly unrecognizable cry of a mortally wounded creature. And it was a plea I could not answer. I can't forget it. Because it was made by one of the finest people I ever met, a man who happened to be my best friend."In 2005, Marcus Luttrell was part of a four-man mission in the mountains of Afghanistan. A member of the elite Navy SEALs, he was tasked with killing a Taliban leader who had close ties with Osama bin Laden. This small team was hidden outside a village, surveying the area and looking for their target, when a small group of goat herders stumbled upon them. The soldiers quickly detained the two men and the teenage boy and debated what they should do. The most obvious solution and the one that would be most conducive to their mission would be to immediately execute their prisoners. But when the four soldiers put it to a vote, it was determined that they should let these people go. Morality won over personal preservation. But was it morality or fear? "Was I afraid of these guys? No. Was I afraid of their possible buddies in the Taliban? No. Was I afraid of the liberal media back in the U.S.A.? Yes. And I suddenly flashed on the prospect of many, many years in a U.S. civilian jail alongside murderers and rapists." The former prisoners quickly and inevitably reported to the Taliban leaders and the SEALs were soon fighting for their lives. Before long three of the men were dead and the fourth, Luttrell, was running for his life (though not before they killed somewhere around 100 enemy soldiers. Don't mess with the SEALs!). It was a terrible slaughter, made worse when a helicopter carrying a rescue force was shot down, killing sixteen more Americans.Lone Survivor tells the story of this mission through the eyes of Littrell, the only man who lived to tell the tale. The book was released to great acclaim and has become a fixture on the bestseller lists. While the book is in many ways a typical war story (a description of SEAL training camp, tales of combat, lots and lots of bad language and tales of remarkable heroism) it goes beyond the story to share at least a couple of very important statements about warfare today. And this is, I think, where the reader stands to benefit most.One of this book's most important statements is that the current rules of engagement soldiers are required to adhere to are irrational and are the product of politicians who are far from the action. "Any government that thinks war is somehow fair and subject to rules like a baseball game probably should not get into one. Because nothing's fair in war, and occasionally the wrong people do get killed." American soldiers are being forced to fight in situations where they are almost guaranteed to take casualties because of restrictives rules of engagement. These rules may make sense to politicians safely ensconced in their Washington offices, but they are utterly unfair and unsafe on the battlefield. Luttrell states that these rules are costing lives and that the United States should not be willing to fight wars that she cannot fight to win.The other important statement is about the role of the media in modern warfare. Luttrell's disgust for the media knows no bounds. "It's been an insidious progression, the criticisms of the U.S. Armed Forces from politicians and from the liberal media, which knows nothing of combat, nothing of our training, and nothing of the mortal dangers we face out there on the front line." "I promise you, every insurgent, freedom fighter, and stray gunman in Iraq who we arrested knew the ropes, knew that the way out was to announce that he had been tortured by the Americans, ill treated, or prevented from reading the Koran or eating his breakfast or watching the television. They all knew al-Jazeera, the Arab broadcasters, would pick it up, and it would be relayed to the U.S.A., where the liberal media would joyfully accuse all of us of being murderers or barbarians or something. Those terrorist organizations laugh at the U.S. media, and they know exactly how to use the system against us." Those of us who have watched recent wars from afar can attest that this is exactly the case. The media, and particularly the liberal media, seems to side with the bad guys. Soldiers are fighting brutal warfare, all the wonder more terrified of their own nation's press than the guys shooting at them. They hardly know who the real enemy is.Lone Survivor is an enjoyable book, typical in many of its facets, but atypical in its deeper message. It is a book Americans would do well to read and to consider.

The delivery in time. Great book to read in your break.

Nothing I can say will give credit to this book and Marcus’ story (for want of a better word). It’s a must read. What this man endured leaves me speechless. I have nothing but pure admiration for him and indeed all Navy SEALs. God bless them

Buen libro y rapida entrega

La storia della sfortunata operazione “Red Wings” raccontata dall’unico superstite. Avvincente anche se bisogna un po’ lavorare sulla traduzione di alcuni termini slang....Consigliato a chi ha amche apprezzato il film senza (come me) riuscire veramente a comprendere la decisione che ha “fatto” la storia.

This book realize me what the price of life one year before I am just a internet user and now I am a successful blogger now I am never district anywhere I watch movie and also read the book this is true inspiration for me and why us forces top in the world because of their sacrifices for world they fight for world not only for USA this brave mans have golden heart because they don't kill unarmed mans and boy if they kill them and go to base know one can find what they did but that golden and brave heart mans decide to leave them but that people are talibani and 100+ man going to kill that navy seal but they still fight and that afagani man prove that humanity still alive everywhere in the world LONE SURRVIOR this book change my life it's awesome . We never forgotten that died brave mans in Afghanistan . I love us forces I am indian but still I love us forces