Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 Author: Marcus Luttrell | Language: English | ISBN:
B000QRIGLC | Format: EPUB
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 Description
On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive.
This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days, badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers.
A six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell takes us, blow-by-blow, through the brutal training of America's warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought in the desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich , moving chronicle of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers one of the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare-and a tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
- File Size: 1651 KB
- Print Length: 390 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (June 12, 2007)
- Sold by: Hachette Book Group
- Language: English
- ASIN: B000QRIGLC
- Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
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- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Right before I bought this book, I heard all the promotional "buzz" and "word of mouth" associated with it. When I started reading it, after the first 60-70 pages, which were kind of boring, I was saying to myself, "woe, were they really talking about this book, it's kind of boring!" Then we got to Navy Seal training. Ladies and Gentlemen, (Future readers.) I recommend you fasten your seat belts, fasten your chest harness, and it probably is good advice, to put a pillow behind your neck to protect you from whiplash! This story, then rockets non-stop for the next 320 pages. I'm a U.S. Veteran, and I thought my basic training was pretty tough. But after reading this book, I realize, I probably wasn't in basic training, I was on some kind of holiday, and instead of cussing out my drill instructor every night, I should have been sending him candy and flowers. Basic Seal training is tough, but they're just getting warmed up with some basics, such as: "they just bound our ankles together and then bound our wrists together behind our backs and shoved us into the deep end (Of the pool). This caused a certain amount of panic, but our instructions were clear: Take a huge gulp of air and drop to the bottom of the pool in the standing position. Hold it there for at least a minute, bob up for new air, then drop back down for another minute, or more if you could." All along the way, the instructors are declaring that most of the potential Seals won't be here at graduation, they'll either be thrown out, or quit. (Note: Only 30 of the original 180 made it!) A number of these highly motivated seamen dropped out during basic Seal training, and now.. And now... we get to "HELL WEEK"! I will attempt to briefly summarize "Hell Week" for you.
This book was recommended to me by someone I deeply respect. I'm not a military person so I have no basis of relativity here but suffice it to say I am proud to be an American and have guys such as this doing what they do best.
I read this book in one day. Start to finish. I couldn't put the thing down. It's that intriguing. You often hear about the SEALs but never really get to hear stories (or at least I don't) about the operations they go on. Yeah, they're dangerous but that's about all you get. You hear about their training and how they've gone through hell and back and the need to prepare but you don't really understand why. Maybe that's just me being a naive civilian (I'm sure other military folks understand firsthand) but I can tell you, reading this book gave me a much different perspective on what an "operation" is.
Again, I'm not a military buff. I've thought the military is absolutely something we need but this book isn't about rah-rah-rah go America, it's about the journey of one man - Marcus Luttrell - from his pre-training days, through the BUD/S training, then right on into Operation Redwing which brought him and his team into one of the most fierce battles I've ever read or heard about.
This story makes you want to cheer and cry at the same time. I turned the last page and was awestruck. Proud to be part of a country where Service, Loyalty, Honesty and Integrity still mean something and that we have a duty to thank and remember our military service members.
Coming face-to-face with Taliban and having to survive - sometimes with a bit of luck (maybe this is a higher power watching down, who knows) - six days in the backcountry, seeing your team members KIA, I can't even imagine it.
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 Preview
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