The words to describe my feelings towards this book are very hard to express. Though, other than my grandfathers who both served in WWII, I have no immediate family members who are in the military, but I was raised to love my country and respect and honor those who protect it. I've always held these values very close to my heart. With that part said my pride and respect for Marcus Luttrell and his fellow SEALs can never be expressed with mere words.

Lone Survivor is not my normal reading genre. In fact other than the common reading of things like The Diary of Anne Frank as a kid and maybe Confessions by Madonna, I've had had little to no interest in any kind of biography or Non-fiction books, ever. My friend gave me Lone Survivor, and because she had suffered through reading the fluffy romance books I've given her in the past I gave it a shot. It smacked me in the face, hard.

Like a lot, and I hesitate to say most Americans, I live in my own little world. I expect things like being able to go to the grocery store to buy a gallon of milk, being able to purchase for $7.99 a paperback book which contains things like sex, religion, and fuzzy bunnies. And I expect to be able to form my own opinions on those things. I can say anything I want about the President of the United States, Oprah Winfrey and the US Military, as this is my right as an American. I don't fight for these rights, they are mine by birth and nationality. I go to work, I pay taxes, I deserve these things. But with all my naivety, way deep down in there somewhere, I know there is or was a soldier somewhere on a line, with a gun and fear in his heart who gave his life so I could live in my blissful ignorance. All this book did was smack me upside the head and say "remember! you are an American. There are brave men and women who defend your sacred rights that you take advantage of every day!".

Marcus Luttrell and the other members of SEAL team 10 are not like other Americans. They aren't even like other military men. They are a special force of individuals who train through torturous conditions, put their lives on the line every day just so I can do something as simple as drive to work in a gas guzzling SUV and complain that my taxes are too high. We live in a society where most of us feel we DESERVE, and have the RIGHT to certain things. We are removed from the simple fact that we EARNED our American way by individuals like Marcus Luttrell and his fellow SEALS who risked an gave their lives for our way of life.

The events that were described in Lone Survivor were those which occurred to Marcus Luttrell from his teenage years through the horrific Redwing mission. He describes in detail the loss of his friends who were blown apart right in front of him, the help that he received in the most unlikely of places by a village located in the heart of his enemy's lair and the aftermath of this horrific event. It is a story of ultimate heroism and survival. What kind of person could survive not only physically but emotionally through the hell in which Marcus came through? Only a US Navy SEAL. These men are built tough, trained to be tougher and actually volunteer to go through an exercise labeled "Hell Week". They are warriors in the ultimate sense of the word, and we should be proud they are there to kick someone's ass when we need them to.

It takes men like this to defend us. They have to be tough, sometimes they have to be ruthless, they have to be extraordinarily intelligent, but above all they have to be self confident. Marcus Luttrell conveyed all of these attributes in his book. What it takes to be a SEAL and the lengths our military warriors are willing to go to to keep us all safe.

Marcus's book is out there for information. A way for him to inform his fellow Americans that there are still heros on the front lines protecting us and our way of life. Sometimes this takes a strong hand. And we can't always drift through life in a la la land filled with fluffy clouds, rainbows and worrying about the greenhouse effect. Sometimes it takes blood, sweat and tears to maintain our freedom. And just because it isn't your own blood, or the blood of your loved one that is spilling, doesn't mean it isn't happening and we don't have to fight hard for it. I thank him for telling his and his fellow soldiers story of ultimate sacrifice and heroism. I am grateful to them all for the little world I live in that they fight for me to maintain.