A Book Recommendation: Lone Survivor

I recently finished reading Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell. It is the true story of a Navy Seal team dropped in Afghanistan to scout and kill a Taliban leader. Shortly after they are dropped, a couple of young Afghan goat herders discover them. The Seals are then faced with the moral and ethical question of do we let them go and risk being discovered or kill them and perhaps face murder charges and public disgust back home?

Marcus Luttrell is a Christian and ends up being the deciding vote in the team. He votes to let them go and that decision ends up costing the lives of the remaining members of his team. Not one hour after letting them go, 200 Taliban attack the Seals and in the end kill the other 3 members of Marcus' team. Marcus ends up badly wounded but avoids capture before a small group of local tribesmen take him in. He finds out later they made a sacred pact with him by taking him in and refuse to turn him over to the Taliban despite many threats made to the village by the Taliban fighters.

This is truly a fascinating book and it has become one of my favorites that I have read recently. Mr. Luttrell shows the side of war that most of us civilians don't see in the news. The decisions he made ended up impacting the lives of his friends and himself, but even in a desolate place such as Afghanistan, kindness can be shown.

I highly recommend this book and add Marcus Luttrell to the list of people I would like to meet some day.