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To: LindyBill who wrote (10)	11/15/2007 4:54:34 PM
From: goldworldnet	Respond to of 9623

The skipper was standing bareheaded and bare-chested. His helmet and all but the shoulders of his shirt had been blown away; the hair on his chest was singed, and blood was gushing from his left hand where two fingers had been shot away. Shell fragments had ripped his neck and face. The doctor rushed to his aid, but the skipper waved him back saying, "Don't bother me now. Help some of those guys who are hurt." The skipper then wrapped a handkerchief around the stumps of his fingers and carried on. Awesome story, Thanks! * * *

To: LindyBill who wrote (10)	11/16/2007 1:38:29 PM
From: goldworldnet	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9623

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 (Hardcover) by Marcus Luttrell (Author) amazon.com A Great Tribute to the American Warrior Spirit!, August 16, 2007 Review By Thomas P. Weikert From a war nearing the start of its seventh year comes yet another story of extraordinary valor in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Indeed, the tale of Marcus Luttrell and his three SEAL buddies savagely fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda high in the mountains of northeastern Afghanistan rivals the very best of contemporary war stories, including Mark Bowden's Blackhawk Down and Andy McNabb's Bravo Two Zero. Ironically, it is the humanity of these highly trained warriors that leads to their desperate battle with the Taliban near the border with Pakistan and, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. Few words can adequately describe the courage of this small SEAL team operating deep in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and searching for a dangerous Taliban warlord. Once the team's position is compromised, Taliban fighters pour out of mountain redoubts and descend on them like locusts. Badly outmanned and outgunned and defending a tiny piece of treacherous mountain terrain, they fight on against a stubbornly brutal enemy. As the SEALs come under withering fire, they engage the enemy in vicious close combat with deadly effect. Their massed firepower, fire control and discipline, and extreme accuracy result in close to 100 Taliban killed! With three of their team mortally wounded, the SEALs dig in and prepare for the enemy's final assault. Luttrell's breathtaking account of his buddies' actions in those last furious minutes will forever remain etched in the minds of Lone Survivor readers. For those actions, two of the SEALs were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, and the third is a candidate for the Medal of Honor. Luttrell expresses a deep and abiding respect, admiration, and even love for his fallen comrades whose bodies he later helps retrieve. As the only surviving witness, Luttrell himself is ineligible for the Medal of Honor; he instead receives the Navy Cross from President Bush in a ceremony at the White House. The reader is only left to wonder whether medals do not somehow diminish or trivialize the supreme sacrifice of these great Americans. For their actions in this engagement, they belong in the pantheon of great American combat heroes such as Alvin York and Audie Murphy. But, remarkably, these SEALs are not the only heroes in this amazing story. A testament to the loyalty of this rare breed of men, another team of SEALs without hesitation mounts a dangerous reinforcement mission. Tragically, the helicopter bearing these reinforcements is shot down attempting a risky insertion in the mountains near Luttrell's position, and there are no survivors. Sixteen special operators perish in the operation, and the team's remaining members, now completely surrounded, realize they will fight on alone. Luttrell survives the final battle with the Taliban fighters, and the balance of the book details his efforts to escape and evade capture. The hunter becomes the hunted in the remaining chapters, and, incredibly, Luttrell is granted "lokhay", or refuge with a sort of grace and honor, by the Pashtun village tribesmen who find him badly wounded and struggling to survive. The care he receives from these Afghani tribesmen and their efforts to safeguard him from his Taliban and Al Qaeda tormentors are probably the most astonishing part of Lone Survivor. Thanks to Luttrell's efforts to build rapport and trust with his newfound Afghani friends he is eventually repatriated to special operations forces searching for any surviving SEALs. Patrick Robinson's gifted writing puts the reader in the middle of the action and enables him to experience the combat scenes almost on a visceral level as Luttrell's team fights a thinking, determined enemy. Additionally, the reader is treated to an insider's view of SEAL (BUD/S) training on the beaches of Coronado Island and rugged hills of San Clemente Island, California. Luttrell's indomitable will to survive is beyond most readers' comprehension. Above all else, Lone Survivor is the account of one man's devotion to duty, honor, country and his unshakable belief in the SEAL warrior ethos. Through Luttrell's thoughtful and thought-provoking commentary, we are able to understand what inspires these great men and why they do what they do. To know the thoughts of a true warrior such as Marcus Luttrell during the height of the global conflict with Islamic extremism is to understand why Americans continue to join this cause. Through Marcus Luttrell's account of Operation Redwing, we learn that men ultimately fight so as not to let their buddies down. Lone Survivor also compels us to think deeply about why we continue fighting in such a remote, unforgiving part of the world that would seemingly hold such little value for us as Americans. As doubtless Marcus Luttrell would agree, it is finally about honoring those who did not survive the battle deep in the Hindu Kush as well as other battles in the Global War on Terror that we remain steadfast and determined in this fight. The SEALs who died in Operation Redwing deserve nothing less... Truly a great tribute to the American Warrior Spirit! * * *