The Right State

I have just finished reading the most incredible book I have ever read.  It is called, Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10 written by Marcus Lutrell.  This is an incredibly harrowing account of four highly trained Seals going up against over two hundred fanatics.  In the end, one Seal was left alive while the Taliban group may have lost half or more of their number.

Tommorrow, October 22, 2007 Lt. Michael Murphy will be presented posthumously with the Congressional Medal of Honor for his truly heroic acts during the battle of what Lutrell calls, the Battle for Murphy’s Ridge while fighting off the Taliban in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan.  The team was trapped, wounded and the radio was kaput.  After being shot in the stomach Lieutenant Murphy left his cover and walked out into the open to use his cell phone to call for help.  It was there that he was mortally wounded with a shot in the back, but returned to his comrades and resumed fighting when he eventually succumbed to his injuries.  This is a true hero who deserves to be recognized for his bravery.

Many first hand accounts leave the reader with a feeling that the writer is inflating his own actions, but not in Survivor.  Latrell’s intentions are obvious, he wants the world to know of the heroic actions of the four man Seal team.  Throughout the book, this tall Texan (6’, 5”) purposefully minimizes his own efforts in the battle while praising the actions of his friends.

The book starts out by Latrell describing how he always wanted to be a Seal.  Finally he joins up with a full third of the book dedicated to the incredibly rigorous training to become a Seal, the most highly trained combat specialist in the world.  Of the 180 men who started out, only 32 were able to finish.  Then the rest of the book describes the lead up to Operation Redwing and afterwards. 

The four man crew was tasked to take out a Taliban leader but was discovered by some goat herders.  The team followed the Rules of Engagement and let the men go free who promptly informed the Taliban where the team was located.  What followed could only be described as Custer’s last stand.  Over two hundred hate filled men carrying AK-47s attacked the Seal team over and over again.  The Taliban fighters ran towards the team firing wildly only to be mowed down by four men who made their shots count.  But the team was out numbered 35:1.  Eventually, the team had to retreat, and then retreat again.  Slowly but surely the firing of the Taliban’s Ak-47s, RPGs, and grenades began to take their toll on the four man team.  One by one they all were felled until only Latrell was left.  Severely wounded and sought by the Taliban fighters, the one remaining survivor crawled seven miles (Holy Cow!), seven miles before being taken in by some Afghan tribesmen who protected him from the Taliban at great risk to themselves.

This is also the story of the power of prayer.  Time after time, Marcus Latrell found himself falling down a cliff or blown back by RPGs, he lost his med kit, his canteen, and even his rifle, but every time Marcus would find his trusted weapon right beside him.  His family prayed for him continuously and miracles happen.

Marcus Latrell along with two of his comrades were awarded with the Navy Cross for their heroism.  And Marcus’s best friend, Lt. Michael Murphy will be awarded with the CMH.

This book is riveting from the beginning to the end.  And as I said, it is the best book I have ever read.

Tags: Books //