An Cosantóir

s | 37 book Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 By: Marcus Luttrell (author) & Patrick Robinson (contributor) Publisher: Little, Brown & Co (June 2007) / eBook by Sphere (January 2010) ISBN: 978-0316067591 ASIN: B0035YDM4Y Price: €6.10 PB / €4.50 eBook Pages: 390 Lone Survivor is a factual, behind-enemy-lines action thriller on a par with Bravo Two Zero (1993) and Pathfinder (2012). In June 2005 a four-man US Navy SEAL team occupied an OP overwatching a Taliban stronghold on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. Their mission, Operation Redwing, was to capture or kill a notorious al-Qaeda leader, who commanded 150+ seasoned Taliban mountain fighters and was known to have been responsible for lethal attacks on US marines. Petty Officer First Class Marcus Luttrell joined the US Navy in March 1999 and became a Navy SEAL in January 2002, becoming secondin-command to his best friend, Naval Lieutenant Mike Murphy, with whom he established a bond only soldiers know – a never-leave-a-manbehind creed bled into them on the battlefield. An explanation of this bond of brotherhood and a full insight into the US Navy's BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) training is included at the start of the book before we get into the main body of the tale, a battle for life against overwhelming odds. This comes about when the Operation Redwing team, consisting of 'Axe', Danny, Mikey and Markus, are rumbled by three shepherds and their herd of goats. Modern war operates under Rules of Engagement and the Law of Armed Conflict so the SEAL team cannot eliminate these shepherds, but setting them free will lead to mission failure and more likely a fight to the death against a well trained force in their backyard. What ensues is a last man standing in the most gruelling battle for life I have ever read, losing his team one by one, with severe injuries Marcus manages to evade the enemy by crawling for days out of the area. He is eventually found by a Pashtun tribe who risk their very existence to protect him from the ever pursuing Taliban. Lone Survivor, a tale of how an experienced SF operator survives against unbelievable odds, with the help of a local populace with whom he couldn't communicate so that he could eventually bring his battle brothers dying moments home to their loved ones. WF About the Author: PO 1st Class Marcus Luttrell born Huntsville, Texas in 1975. He joined the US Navy in March of 1999, and he has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. His next book: Service: A Navy SEAL at War with James D. Hornfischer, was published by Back Bay Books, May 2013, ISBN: 978-0316185387 and priced €9.50. Patrick Robinson is known for his best-selling US Navy-based novels and his international best-selling autobiography of Admiral Sir Sandy Woodward, One Hundred Days. He lives in England and spends his summers in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he and Marcus wrote Lone Survivor. s DVD/Movie lone survivor Director/Writer: Peter Berg Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Alexander Ludwig and Eric Bana Runtime: 2hrs Certificate: 16 Cinema Release: 31st January 2014 Based on US Navy SEAL Markus Luttrell's book Lone Survivor, starring Mark Wahlberg in the lead role as Petty Officer 1st Class Markus Luttrell during the faithful mission on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border called 'Operation Redwing' in 2005. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious Taliban leader. After confirming his identity and setting up an OP they were disturbed by local shepherds who they had to set free. This led to the SEALs trying to out-run an enemy force of 150+ who were in close pursuit through the mountains of Afghanistan resulting in the deaths of three members of SEAL Team 10. Lone Survivor is a true story of how a Special Forces operator survives against outstanding odds even after suffering the deaths of his other team members, Axe (Foster), Dietz (Hirsch) and team leader and best friend Lt Mike Murphy (Kitsch). Although the film doesn't stand up to how PO 1st Class Luttrell survived behind enemy lines injured and dehydrated for four days and the action and realties of war portrayed in the book. I do understand that film production was aimed at producing a two hour action movie, and as a standalone movie it is action packed and truly enjoyable and I'm pleased that Markus's story receives a wider audience as a true warrior should. WF www.military.ie the defence forces magazine

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