Marcus Luttrell: Lone Survivor

In June 2005, American special forces in Afghanistan suffered the largest loss of life in a single day ever in their history.

A four-man SEAL team, searching for a high-priority terrorist target in Northeast Afghanistan was found and attacked by a large Taliban force.  The rescue helicopter sent to rescue them was shot down as well, killing all sixteen men aboard.

Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell was the sole survivor of this operation, and Lone Survivor is his story of becoming a SEAL and what happened on that mission.

I was privileged to hear Luttrell speak and shake his hand last week, so I knew many details of the story before I read the book.  Still it is by turns inspiring, frustrating, and harrowing.  Luttrell represents the bravado and ethos of the Navy SEALs well.  It's hard to believe that people can survive the SEAL training - I know I couldn't.  The frustration comes of understanding the dilemmas our men in the field face, especially in relation to the rules of engagement they must obey.  The story of the battle itself and his subsequent evasion of the Taliban are the stuff of legend.  Scenes from Afghanistan are intercut with scenes from the Luttrell ranch in Texas, where nearly 300 people kept watch with the Luttrell family as they awaited news of Marcus' fate.

The book is well worth reading, and I highly recommend it.  It is deeply moving, especially for its depiction of the deep bonds of brotherhood that unite the men who serve in the most elite of American military forces.  It makes me proud that we have men like Marcus Luttrell defending this country.  We owe them all more than we could ever know.  We also owe the lost men of the Operation Redwing patrol - Lt. Michael Murphy, and Petty Officers Matt Axelson and Danny Dietz.  Those men are true heroes, and Luttrell does them a great honor by telling their story.