Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 Paperback – May 1, 2008

Marcus Lutrell is the epitome of the best of America, right out of Texas. He is the warrior, the hero every little male kid would like to grow to be, full of valor, honor, selflessness, and above all, love for America and freedom. God made Marcus big and strong for a reason. His time came during the Afghani mission he talks about here. The last man standing in a battle against all odds that tested his physical as well as mental endurance. But his loyalty to his God and his nation never felt shaken; on the contrary, Afghanistan was the soil that proved to him that our Christian God is much worthier than the god of hate-mongers and nihilist westerners, and more powerful than all the propaganda of the liberal media and its partners in the Islamic media.This is no professor talking politics, no anti-militarist journalist preaching peace, this is a navy Seal, a man out of Texas who believes in the values his country stands for, and accordingly offers his life and all his strength to defend it, wherever he is needed. No self-pitying, no bashing, no complaints. He tells his story and that of his few Seal buddies on a mission to infiltrate Taliban territory and kill an enemy leader. The story starts with biographical sketches of Marcus and his family, combined with his early passion for the outdoors. City youths, like modern cave dwellers, really are missing the meaning of America while living in those beehive buildings. Long live the the American spirit though, with Texans like the Lutrell family it certainly will.The story is fast paced and very visual, told in colloquial style, but poetic, even epic in the matter that is conveyed, the heart and soul of this man comes out as he tells it. And he minces no words. He speaks boldly and beautifully, as any American who is not yet a slave of government, or indebted to welfare, can do. He has no constituency as politicians have. He speaks his mind. If with respect and love, because he is a respectful and lovable man. If with some profanity and impetuousness, because he is no fake, no cynic, no hypocrite, and no pharisee. Marcus Lutrell is a Christian and a patriot, he does not claim to be a saint or philanthropist, but I wouldn't dare to say a bad word of a man who did what he did. I envy Lutrell, and other soldiers like him, whose heroic selfless acts go unnoticed against the foreground of the anti-American media. It's a marvelous opportunity that we have to read -and listen- to a man who lives like a true American should: free, victorious, hate-free, proud to be American and Texan.I had a wonderful time with this audio book. Truly worthy to be compared with Thermopylae's 300.

Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell and co-author Patrick Robinson have penned the true story of what may come to be regarded as the quintessential combat book taken from the fields of valor in Afghanistan.Told in first person narrative by Luttrell, the book begins with his life-long desire to be a Navy SEAL while growing up on a ranch in the plains of Texas. I have read several books that deal with SEAL qualification training - BUD/S and beyond. However, none that I have encountered as of the writing of this review has captured the grueling nature of the ordeal in the way it's presented in `Lone Survivor'.Once fully qualified Luttrell is then dispatched overseas where he is part of a six-man SEAL team, which itself is part of a larger Special Warfare Command unit. The topography, culture and rhythm of a foreign land and deployment are well-defined as Luttrell allows the reader `into his head'. His powers of observation are keen. Of course, this is a reflection of his training.There exists a brotherhood of sorts in the uniformed services. I felt it when I was in the USAF. Among the SEAL community this bond runs extraordinarily deep. Its foundation likely rests in the hazards associated with the tasks at hand and the truism that your life literally depends on the person next to you.When things went to hell in the USAF we referred to it as a `cluster f***'. Luttrell and his SEAL team members had a sense that things would not go well on their last mission before they were `inserted'. Sadly, their premonition proved correct. It was the SEAL version of a `CF'.The story that unfolds is one that will be retold countless times by those in and out of uniform. In book form it is the contemporary equivalent of `The 13th Valley' by John Del Vecchio. The latter captured the essence of a patrol gone very badly in Viet Nam.Simply, I could not put this book down. As a reader I felt incredibly close to Luttrell and the members of his team, who, one by one, died valiantly defending themselves and each other under the withering fire of Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists. The author is the Lone Survivor. At the time I recall hearing the news report of a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan downed by enemy fire. We learned later it was full of SEALs on their way to rescue Luttrell and his team.To say that the hand of the Lord guided Luttrell seems to this reviewer an accurate characterization. That he lived to recount an engaging and compelling story of bravery, devotion to duty and the SEAL brotherhood is simply remarkable.