The writing style here is not unlike that of his buddy Chris Kyle who referenced this work in his own autobiography. Did they use the same ghost writer? Luttrell does spend more time describing his fellow Seals, the fact that all are dead allowing him to mention them by name in effect memorialising them. He also gives better historical background.
When a four-man Navy Seal Team calls for backup the situation is truly desperate, so bad indeed the 16-man backup team died when their helo crashed into a mountain.
Lutrell survived because he was blown into a crevasse from which he eventually crawled badly wounded 7 miles to seek aid. His physical wounds may have healed but the mental ones are not as easy to assuage. He suffers from the dislocation from civil society common to most returning vets with the added stress of his terrible loss and not a little survivor’s guilt. It is sad that a society that finds it necessary to train men to be such warriors feels uncomfortable about having them around. They are both lionized and feared.
The movie version of this action is in wide release as of January 10, 2015. Both the movie and the book are macho and jingoistic. Lutrell decries politicians and desk jockeys who set rules of engagement that endanger the lives of men in the field and make their task more difficult. Much has been made of the ‘fact’ that similar rules of engagement made the war in Vietnam unwinnable. Lutrell goes as far as to blame the rules of engagement for the loss of his team. In Afghanistan War Lords have held power and fought civil wars for millennia. The locals are loyal to whatever power is seen to be in control at the time. In that sense there are no non-combatants. In that sense the troops are being asked to fight a war that cannot be won and have their hands tied in the process.
The reader can understand that this writer is bitter about Rules of Engagement he sees as being directly responsible for the loss of his team. Beating his readers over the head with it repeatedly does not strengthen his argument. What I really hear him saying is that an elite fighting squad should not have been deployed in a war zone if you didn’t want dead bodies. Unfortunately soldiers do not get to pick their wars and rear-echelon desk jockeys don’t have to face battlefield conditions. This reader still wonders if deploying any troops in Afghanistan was a wise move. Luttrell’s own historical background argues against it.
When a four-man Navy Seal Team calls for backup the situation is truly desperate, so bad indeed the 16-man backup team died when their helo crashed into a mountain.
Lutrell survived because he was blown into a crevasse from which he eventually crawled badly wounded 7 miles to seek aid. His physical wounds may have healed but the mental ones are not as easy to assuage. He suffers from the dislocation from civil society common to most returning vets with the added stress of his terrible loss and not a little survivor’s guilt. It is sad that a society that finds it necessary to train men to be such warriors feels uncomfortable about having them around. They are both lionized and feared.
The movie version of this action is in wide release as of January 10, 2015. Both the movie and the book are macho and jingoistic. Lutrell decries politicians and desk jockeys who set rules of engagement that endanger the lives of men in the field and make their task more difficult. Much has been made of the ‘fact’ that similar rules of engagement made the war in Vietnam unwinnable. Lutrell goes as far as to blame the rules of engagement for the loss of his team. In Afghanistan War Lords have held power and fought civil wars for millennia. The locals are loyal to whatever power is seen to be in control at the time. In that sense there are no non-combatants. In that sense the troops are being asked to fight a war that cannot be won and have their hands tied in the process.
The reader can understand that this writer is bitter about Rules of Engagement he sees as being directly responsible for the loss of his team. Beating his readers over the head with it repeatedly does not strengthen his argument. What I really hear him saying is that an elite fighting squad should not have been deployed in a war zone if you didn’t want dead bodies. Unfortunately soldiers do not get to pick their wars and rear-echelon desk jockeys don’t have to face battlefield conditions. This reader still wonders if deploying any troops in Afghanistan was a wise move. Luttrell’s own historical background argues against it.
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