Product Description
Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July, 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to be very close to Bin Laden with a small army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS made it out alive.
This is the story of the only survivor of Operation Redwing, SEAL fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American Navy SEAL history. His squadmates fought valiantly beside him until he was the only one left alive, blasted by an RPG into a place where his pursuers could not find him. Over the next four days, terribly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell crawled for miles through the mountains and was taken in by sympathetic villagers who risked their lives to keep him safe from surrounding Taliban warriors.
A born and raised Texan, Marcus Luttrell takes us from the rigors of SEAL training, where he and his fellow SEALs discovered what it took to join the most elite of the American special forces, to a fight in the desolate hills of Afghanistan for which they never could have been prepared. His account of his squadmates' heroism and mutual support renders an experience that is both heartrending and life-affirming. In this rich chronicle of courage and sacrifice, honor and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers a powerful narrative of modern war.
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 Authentic Yes! Great Reading No!
I had this book recommended to me by several people and finally bought it and read it. It is not as good as its fans want you to believe; nor as bad as its detractors would make it out.
First, the book is adequately written, but is not going to make anybody's top 100 list. It should be kept in mind that much of the credit or blame for the prose should probably be placed on the co-author Robinson, not Luttrel. My own criticism was that the book often seemed heavily redundant and repetitive. In most of those places, it was the repetition of the all liberals are the stupid, short-sighted, and ignorant henchmen of America's enemies theme which gave rise to that feeling. Whether you agree or disagree with that sentiment is irrelevant. The sentiment is one which only needed to be said once or twice to make the point.
Second, despite the book's hammering of liberals (and their omnipresent media henchmen) as being responsible for preventing the military from doing their job, the book make's very clear that it was Luttrell's decision which led to the predicament that the members of Operation Redwing found themselves facing in Afghanistan. Luttrell concedes that it was his decision to turn three unarmed Afghan tribesmen loose which led to hostile Taliban forces identifying his unit's location and attacking them.
Moreover, Luttrell's telling of the story artificially limits Seal Team 10's options to three very poor decision alternatives which are all supposedly a direct result of liberal interference with the military's ability to kill unarmed non-combatants whenever military special forces units might deem such action necessary. As Luttrell would have it, his team could either: (1) let the 3 unarmed shepherds go and wait for the inevitable Taliban attack; (2) kill the 3 shepherds and report it to their superiors and go to prison for murder later; or (3) kill the shepherds and deny it ever happened, but forever wait for the other shoe to drop and go to prison for murder sometime down the road.
While personally sympathetic to the idea that U.S. rules of engagement can be unnecessarily restrictive and stupid, even I don't see any reason that Seal Team 10's options were restricted to this Hobson's Choice of kill unarmed shepherds or be killed by the Taliban.
All of this is simply critiquing the world-view of Luttrell though. As a true telling of a military operation's planning, execution, and outcome, this is a fascinating tale. It simultaneously reveals both the best and worst in our nation's military. We clearly have the best-trained, best-armed troops in the world, and the U.S. Navy SEALS are among the best of our elite forces. If you want some insight into our military's current tasks in the Middle East, and specifically Afghanistan, this book is an excellent choice, with a fascinating front seat, first hand, eyewitness
account of one operation. If you are interested in getting some insight into the training of our Navy SEALs, this may be an even better choice.
Whether or not you think this book provides any actual insight into our military policies and efforts in the Middle East, will probably depend on how much, or how little, you support President Bush. Regardless though, it is a book deserving to be read if you take the political morality play with a grain of salt.
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 Fantastic
If you haven't read this book, then you're behind the eight ball. Written really well by one of America's true heroes. Reminds us all that freedom is free!
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Inspiring Read - Buy this book! ( cnyag )
Whether you are a fan of war stories or not, this book is truly inspiring. It speaks of unfailing dedication to our country, one's friends, ethics/morals and tradition. Read this book and you will NEVER feel sorry for yourself or any hardships you may encounter. All I can say is that I am glad (and proud) that our country has a warrior class like these elite soldiers. The ones who "get the job done" while the rest of us enjoy our relative safety and freedom. Bravo Marcus...and Thank You.
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 Completely bias book ( pendrell3 )
If you think President Bush is the greatest president, insurgence are idiots, muslims are godless, the liberal elite control the military and decided military and foreign policy, and the the Navy Seals are "gods" this is a book for you. If you disagree with any of the above statements or are sick of partisan politics this is not the book for you. A few things became very obvious to me after reading Lone Survivor, Lutrell is guilt ridden and needs someone other than himself to blame for the events in Afghanistan he has little understand about military and world military policy**case in point the Geneva convention** That the Lutrell family needed money** read the book you will understand** and that Luttrell did his fellow Navy Seals and his lost friends a disservice by writing this book. After reading this book I had such distain for the military that i started to question everything i once said about the very brave young men and women who risk their lives everyday to protect and defend us, and truly that is where this book does the greatest disservice.
Honestly the best part of this book is the back cover.
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A rare, inspiring perspective. An excellent book. ( jgriz13 )
Luttrell's book offers a ground-level perspective on the kinds of operations the US Military's Special Operations Forces are engaged in all around the world, all the time. Too often this topic (Special Forces, SEALs, Delta Force, etc) is dominated by superficial books that amount to little more than anecdotes from second- or third-hand war stories. Not the case with Lone Survivor.
I suppose some intellectual types might not like the fact that there is little "contextualization" of Mr. Luttrell's story--and that of his fellow SEALs. But I would disagree with that characterization vehemently: the context is simple--Luttrell was on a mission targeting Taliban in Afghanistan. He was not working for a think-tank or camp-following for a network television network.
The story hinges upon an important decision the SEAL team votes on. The Consequences of that decision are grave, and Marcus Luttrell makes a convincing argument that these costs are high will never be paid for.
Lone Survivor offers the attentive reader a great deal of insight into the tactics Special Forces use in combat situations. More importantly, this book sheds light on the selflessness of the American sailor, soldier, and marine--one of the SEAL team's decisions, according to Luttrell, cost his teammates their lives.
To Luttrell's credit, he devotes a great amount of attention on his experiences with the Afghani tribal people who treated his wounds and protected him from the Taliban.
Luttrell's story of selflessness, sacrifice, and the tangible burden and stark loneliness of truly being the lone survivor on a failed mission is staggering. I hope even squeamish leftists who are opposed to the men and women of the US armed forces can see past Luttrell's occasional jabs at media personalities to see his story for what it is: tragic, heroic, and personal.
This is a truly inspiring book, and I am so glad I read it.
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