The Royal United Services Institute of New South Wales

 
Book Review - Lone Survivor

By: Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson (543.3/35716)
Publisher: Little Brown and Company ISBN: 0-316-06759-8

On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al-Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less than twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive.

This is the story of team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains that led ultimately, to the largest loss of live in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days, badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al -Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers.

Six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell takes us, blow-by-blow, through the brutal training of America's warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought on the desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich, moving chronicle of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare-and a tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

October 2007

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