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

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

If you’re looking for a true story that showcases both American heroism and Afghani humanity, Marcus Luttrell’s Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 (Little, Brown, $24.99), written with Patrick Robinson, may be the book for you. In June of 2005, Luttrell led a four-man team of Navy SEALs into the mountains of Afghanistan on a mission to kill a Taliban leader thought to be allied with Osama bin Laden. On foot, the team encountered two adult men and a teenage boy. A debate broke out as to whether the SEALs should summarily execute the trio to keep them from alerting the Taliban. Luttrell himself was called upon to make the decision. He was torn between considerations of morality and his survival instinct, and he points out that “any government that thinks war is somehow fair and subject to rules like a baseball game probably should not get into one. Because nothing’s fair in war, and occasionally the wrong people do get killed.”

Luttrell opted to spare the Afghanis’ lives. About an hour later, the Taliban launched an attack that claimed nearly a hundred of their own men but also the lives of all the SEALs except Luttrell, who was left wounded.

Not long after that, the Taliban shot down an American rescue helicopter, killing all 16 men on board. Luttrell is sure that the three Afghanis he let go turned around and betrayed the SEALs.

But if nothing is fair in war, neither is anything foreordained. Luttrell was found by other Afghanis, one of whom claimed to be his village’s doctor. Once again, Luttrell had to rely on his instincts. “There was something about him,” Luttrell writes. “By now I’d seen a whole lot of Taliban warriors, and he looked nothing like any of them. There was no arrogance, no hatred in his eyes.” Luttrell trusted the man and his colleagues, who took him back to their village, where the law of hospitality — “strictly nonnegotiable” — took hold. “They were committed to defend me against the Taliban,” Luttrell writes, “until there was no one left alive.”

The law held, and Luttrell survived, returned home and received the Navy Cross for combat heroism from President Bush.

Copyright 2007, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Lone Survivor
Great military book. I couldn’t put it down. In fact I read this book in two days! That’s a first!!

5 Stars Lone Survivor – Marcus Luttrell
I have just finished this book and not sure I can put anything to words to describe the awe and love I have for Marcus Luttrell and some of the bravest men that have protected our great country. I’m talking about the men (Marcus’s friends\family) that died on Murphy’s Ridge and during the rescue.. Marcus if you read this all I can say is that you gave them the greatest respect and love through your story that defines the men they were and that the US Navy Seals have always been and will continue to be. I appreciated your candor concerning the liberal media and how it contributed to negatively effect the decisions made in war. Thank you for your love and respect for a great president and your focus throughout the book on God is truly inspiring. God Bless You brother!

5 Stars Lone Survivor
Picked it up and did not put it down until I was done. American Heros make a decision in war based on what America’s “Liberal Media” will do and it ends up costing many lives. The “Lone Survivor” makes it through only by the grace of god…

5 Stars Excellent read!
This book was awesome. It really touched me and made me realize how truly brave the American military is. It’s horrible that deaths occur like this but that is how war is. Extremely well written by a man who lived through it all. Touching and leaves you feeling in-debted to the Navy Seals. They guys of Seal Team 10 and others who died in the helicoptor gave it all and asked for nothing in return.

This is a sure read!

5 Stars AMAZING
This book is amazing. It has just the right amount of history to bring you where you need to be to hear this story. Many of the men of the 101st Airborne Easy Company (WWII paratroopers that Band of Brothers is about)state that they are not the heroes, the heroes are the men who died fighting. I can see their point, however, I think those men like Marcus Luttrel are also heroes because they certainly acted VERY heroically. To act heroically must make one a hero.

This book was VERY well written and could not have told the story any better. I cried, even though I knew what the outcome would be. I cried for the SEALs who died, and I cried for Marcus Luttrel for all he went through to survive.

READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!

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