Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

“I will never quit. My nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down i will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my enemies and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.” - Marcus Luttrell

Lone Survivor is Marcus’ memories and inside story of a mission in Afghanistan where he was the only survivor of his four man team. After the first chapter, it was obvious to me that he did not write this story to get famous or gain money, but to tell a story about the bravery of his three partners who didn't make it back to tell it themselves. As the only survivor of the failed mission, Marcus made sure that the world would never forget about his brothers-in-arms anytime soon. Lone Survivor is a great book choice for any reader looking for an emotional, insightful memoir by a true American hero with a story worth telling, whether you are into the army or not.

Lone Survivor is not just the story of the mission, Operation Redwing. One of the reasons it was such a good book for me to read is that Marcus keeps you going with the suspense of what they are gonna do next. He gives his own personal opinion on how the war should be fought based upon his own experiences serving the most elite military unit in the world, the Navy SEALS. Today Americans often see only one side of the war through newspapers and internet, and therefore a lot is not understood by those who haven’t been there. Yet Marcus gives the other side of the war and the negative aspects of the media, which is why I loved this book so much. 

His style of writing kept the book interesting and fresh so that by the end, I read about his life from birth to the present, literally. The book jumps around to different parts of his life. For example, the book starts with Marcus and his team on a plane flying to their mission in Afghanistan, and then transitions to Marcus’ childhood, then to SEAL training before the mission and back to the plane to Afghanistan. Throwing in his insights and opinions, the story is written very well. The style is very conversational, as if Marcus is just talking to a friend and recounting things as they come to mind, and by the end, I really do feel as if I am good friends with him.

Lone Survivor took me on an emotional rollercoaster where one page had me smiling at one of Marcus’ humorous comments or a story about one his friends. But by the next page, I had tears rolling down as he wrote about his fallen comrades and the tough job he gave himself of visiting each and every one of their families and loved ones after he came back from the mission. The way Marcus writes about his partners’ last acts and words made me think of my own family and loved ones. It is amazing that a battle hardened Navy SEAL can write with such affection about his fallen brothers. I would never be able to. 

I categorized Lone Survivor into a group of autobiographies by people who truly have accomplished or experienced something worth writing and reading about. Today, it seems as though anybody who has done something even remotely out of the ordinary will write his or her memoirs in order to make money and gain some fame, but books don’t compare to this amazing, inspirational story by an American hero. I definitely enjoyed this book more than A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Lone Survivor is a must read for anyone who wants the side of the War on Terror not shown by the media, or wants to be happy and sad in the same day.