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

published	May 1st 2008 by Back Bay Books
binding	Paperback
isbn	0316067601 (isbn13: 9780316067607)
pages	416
description	Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July, 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their ta...more [close] 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. [close]
date added	02-27-08 edit book

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Taylor rated it:

(review of isbn 0316067598)

06/16/08

Read in June, 2008

I REALLY wanted to like Lone Survivor. I mean, it's theoretically about a guy who survives an ambush by the Taliban when his teammates do not, goes on to receive shelter and protection from a brave Afghan village, and then writes about the bravery of his teammates who fought to their deaths.

But... the book is essentially Marcus Luttrell patting himself on the back. For more than 100 pages, he writes about training to become a Navy SEAL and how tough he is. I'm not saying that it is...more I REALLY wanted to like Lone Survivor. I mean, it's theoretically about a guy who survives an ambush by the Taliban when his teammates do not, goes on to receive shelter and protection from a brave Afghan village, and then writes about the bravery of his teammates who fought to their deaths.

But... the book is essentially Marcus Luttrell patting himself on the back. For more than 100 pages, he writes about training to become a Navy SEAL and how tough he is. I'm not saying that it is a small thing to get through that. I could never ever ever be that tough. But these anecdotes are only about him, not the mettle shown by the rest of his SEAL class. And anyway, the book is supposed to be about the bravery of his lost teammates.

About 100 pages are eventually dedicated to his interaction with the team. And he does laud their bravery and determination in the face of horrific injuries. However, it seemed like most of his recollections are of the teammates making bad decisions when Marcus knew better, or of Marcus doing heroic things. And I'm sure he did. I'm not making light of his service to his country, his willingness to risk his life for his country. But again, he himself says the book is supposed to be about the bravery of his teammates.

The rest of the book is about Marcus bravely evading capture - barely mentioning his friends, until he comes to the end where he talks about how he very graciously tours the country comforting the families of his lost teammates. Again, it's an admirable thing to do, but it seems like he's pointing out the fact that it was an admirable thing to do.

And while he bravely evaded his trackers for one night, he is also taken in by an incredibly brave Afghan village, who protect him from the Taliban forces in the face of terrifying threats. He acknowledges the risk this village has taken, but more than anything, he complains that they gave him a dirty water bottle and that the goat's milk tasted bad. And that there was a rooster crowing outside his room.

The book is interspersed with diatribes about "the liberal media" and the liberal lies they perpetrate. He says the liberal media seeks to make Americans hate US troops. This alone seems incredibly wrong to me. It is my perception that criticism of the military by the media is nearly always directed at: a) incredible atrocities, like Haditha or Abu Ghraib or b) poor military decisions by the higher ups. Instead, Marcus also says something to the effect of, The Geneva Convention is a bunch of liberal bullshit made up by liberal politicians who have never experienced war; it's also something the liberal media uses to incriminate US troops. He says, If you don't want to see the loss of innocent life, don't go to war. By association, he thinks the "liberal media" has no right to criticize, or even report, innocent loss of life in war due to US activities.

I can see where he's coming from, to a degree. The havoc that was wreaked on his teammates spawned primarily from a decision to extend mercy to a few unarmed goatherds who happened upon the SEAL's position. The goatherds reported that position to the Taliban, who sent hundreds of men to attack the group of 4 Navy SEALs. In hindsight, it's understandable that Marcus would regret that seemingly humane decision. However, this does not mean that unarmed civilians should generally be killed. The US is not supposed to be ruthless.

Again, I really do not wish to criticize the service Marcus dedicated to his country. In fact, his valor is real. Despite his injuries, he turned around and asked to complete his deployment. His family and his country should be proud of his service. However, it just doesn't sit well with me that he is making money off of this book, selling it as a tribute to his brave teammates, when they really seem to be minor supporting characters to Marcus' lead man, providing a sympathetic plotline to enhance the like-ability of the main character. I believe that his intentions were probably good, but his severe lack of humility prevents Lone Survivor from being the tribute his team deserves.

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Vivek rated it:

(review of isbn 0316067598)

06/15/08

Read in June, 2008

Marcus Luttrell triumphed over quite an ordeal, and it would be hard not to be moved by it. He suffers through all kinds of hell but survives, and the book is made all the more interesting by the fact that it really happened and that similar challenges are faced by some of our soldiers right now.

The actual mission is only half the book however - the other half is about Luttrell's own background, and a significant portion of this is used to describe his training on the path to become a Navy ...more Marcus Luttrell triumphed over quite an ordeal, and it would be hard not to be moved by it. He suffers through all kinds of hell but survives, and the book is made all the more interesting by the fact that it really happened and that similar challenges are faced by some of our soldiers right now.

The actual mission is only half the book however - the other half is about Luttrell's own background, and a significant portion of this is used to describe his training on the path to become a Navy SEAL, which the reader comes to appreciate as immensely important for those that are in the profession.

Luttrell is a soldier, not a novelist, and although the prose would never win a Pulitzer prize, the deficiencies in writing are made up for in its authenticity. The author is telling this story in his own words and the way he wants to. This means that it is filled throughout with his views, many of which I personally feel are overly simplistic - he places a huge amount of blame on "liberals" and whines about how the media's attempt to keep our military accountable makes their job unreasonably hard. Marcus would probably loop me in with this large group that he despises if we ever met, but the book helped me understand where he's coming from, although you won't find me viewing our common Texan President with the blind admiration he does anytime soon.

In one typically ranting passage against the left, he belittles the importance of the incident at Abu Ghraib:
"Was there ever a greater uproar than the one that broke out over Abu Ghraib? In the bigger scheme of things, in the contect of all the death and destruction that Muslim extremists have visited upon this world, a bunch of Iraqi prisoners being humiliated does not ring my personal alarm bell."

Here I see my essential problem with Luttrell's views: yes, all of our soldiers have very very difficult jobs - much more difficult than those they are fighting. And that is in part because we hold them to much higher standards than the enemy. Should we simply stoop down to their level, blindly doing what it takes to ensure victory without measuring the price we pay to get there? If we won in such a manner, with no regard to how immoral the means, I believe we'd wonder how the hell we got there, and end up losing more than we could hope to gain.

In another revealing passage, he almost admits as much, resigning himself to the fact that wars shouldn't be fought if you want a fair outcome: "The truth is, any government that thinks war is somehow fair and subject to rules like a baseball game probably should not get into one. Because nothings fair in war, and occasionally the wrong people get killed."

He goes so far as to state that elected leaders should have no say in how and against whom we go to war with: "But don't tell us who we can attack. That ought to be up to us, the military. And if the liberal media and political community cannot accept that sometimes the wrong people get killed in war, then I can only suggest they first grow up and then serve a short stint up in the Hindu Kush."

I'm not a soldier, and I can see how someone like Luttrell who is, and has suffered for that trade, would dismiss my views, saying I have no idea what I'm talking about because I haven't been in those boots. But we can't throw democratic ideals out the window because it makes a very tough job harder on people that voluntarily sign up for it knowing what they are getting into.

Overall, this was a good book. The story is incredible, if not incredibly well told. And although I often found the political commentary scattered throughout tiresome, it ends up adding to the value of the book, showing how someone attempts to make sense of tragedy. For those interested in the plight of our current soldiers, I would very highly recommend Nathan Fick's One bullet away: the making of a marine officer, about a Marine who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. It is free of political opinions, I found it to be a balanced account of what that life is like (a Marine recruiter concurred with this assesment). ...less

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