Lone Survivor (book)

Lone Survivor

Author	Marcus Luttrell (Author) Patrick Robinson (Contributor)
Original title	Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10
Genre	Non Fiction
Publisher	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date	June 12, 2007
Media type	Hardcover, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback, eBook
Pages	390
ISBN	9780316067591
OCLC	151067825
LC Class	2007921207

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10 is a work of non-fiction written by Marcus Luttrell with assistance from novelist and ghostwriter Patrick Robinson and published in 2007 by Little, Brown and Company. The narrative takes place in Afghanistan where the reader follows Marcus Luttrell and a group of Navy SEALs.

Plot

At the beginning of the book, Marcus Luttrell describes his childhood and his training to prepare for the Navy SEALs with Billy Shelton. After joining the U.S. Navy and completing SEAL training, Luttrell describes his posting in Afghanistan, in the Hindu Kush mountains of the Kunar province. With him are the rest of SEAL Team 10, except Shane E. Patton, for whom Danny Dietz was substituted. Their mission, Operation Red Wing, was to stake outside a village and capture or kill a leading Taliban member thought to be allied with Osama Bin Laden. One night in June 2005, while hiding out, the team encountered three Afghanistan shepherds, including a boy. The team debated sparing or killing the three shepherds but after a vote, Luttrell had to make the decision. To uphold the Rules of engagement, Luttrell let the shepherds go. About an hour later, the four SEALs were surrounded by more than a hundred Taliban warriors. The two parties engaged, the odds drastically against the SEALs, all of which died saving Luttrell. The New York Times sums up the story: "Mr. Luttrell was the only one of four men on the mission to survive after a violent clash with dozens of Taliban fighters. Eight members of the Seals and eight Army special operations soldiers who came by helicopter to rescue the original four were shot down, and all aboard were killed. Mr. Luttrell was then rescued by a group of Afghan Pashtun villagers who harbored him in their homes for several days, protecting him from the Taliban and ultimately helping him to safety."

Critical reaction

Critics have praised the book [need citation] and right-wing pundits Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin have spoken their support. More mainstream news media, such as NBC's The Today Show and CNN also showcased the book. The Washington Post writes "If you're looking for a true story that showcases both American heroism and Afghani humanity, Marcus Luttrell's Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Red Wing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 (Little, Brown, $24.99), written with Patrick Robinson, may be the book for you." The book became a New York Times Bestseller. The New York Times review was laudatory, but also noted, "Along with the tragic story about how Mr. Luttrell lost his comrades, the book is spiked with unabashed braggadocio and patriotism, as well as several polemical passages lashing out at the 'liberal media' for its role in sustaining military rules of engagement that prevent soldiers from killing unarmed civilians who may also be scouts or informers for terrorists."

Movie

Universal and Peter Berg are developing a movie about the book's events. According to Luttrell's Facebook page, he has flown to Los Angeles to "oversee" filming. The expected release date is sometime in 2013.

Criticism

The book describes "hundreds" of Taliban. Luttrell himself stated that there were no more than 20 to 35 enemy in his after action report. While analysis of intelligence later revealed a number somewhere in the range of 8 to 10, the Navy used a number more in line with Luttrell's original after action on the official Medal of Honor citation for Lieutenant Murphy: "BETWEEN 30 AND 40 ENEMY FIGHTERS...."

Initial intel, prior to the launch of Red Wings, put Shah's force at up to twenty ACM. This intel came not from one source, nor one type of source, but from multiple, cross referenced sources. Furthermore, the small villages of the Korangal Valley / Sawtalo Sar / Shuryek Valley region--throughout the mountains of the Kunar, for that matter--cannot sustain numbers larger than twenty for very long; it is a logistical impossibility. The locals there can barely survive, much less feed and house a small army. Among Shah's group were two men who each carried, in addition to a weapon, a video camera. Two videos of the ambush were made--one showing footage of the ambush and then the weapons and gear pillaged from the SEALs, and another, both were authenticated by the military--even without that nod, their authenticity is obvious. The highest number of men that can be counted at any one time (including videographers) is six.

Lone Survivor was written in its entirety by Patrick Robinson (a British writer who primarily pens military fiction titles, many of which portray U.S. Navy SEALs), based on unrecorded interviews of Marcus Luttrell by Robinson. The writing was done while Luttrell was subsequently deployed to Iraq.

In Lone Survivor, and countless articles written about Red Wings, Lieutenant Michael Murphy supposedly put to vote whether to kill unarmed Afghan civilians who soft compromised his team. This ended up being a central pillar to the overall story, and hence, countless blog and online discussion board posts (and print and online articles) on rules of engagement and morality in warfare. Murphy placing something like this up to vote almost certainly did not happen. Marines who were interviewed and had intimate knowledge of Luttrell's after action report stated nothing said anything about a vote. The mere suggestion of a vote infuriated a number of the other men involved in the Operation. Of note, the portrayal of Murphy putting to vote the execution of unarmed civilians not only outraged members of the military, but didn't sit well with his family. When asked about the suggestion of a vote, Murphy's father has been quoted as saying "That directly contradicts what he(Marcus Luttrell) told [Murphy's mother] Maureen, myself and Michael's brother John in my kitchen, he said that Michael was adamant that the civilians were going to be released, that he wasn't going to kill innocent people ... Michael wouldn't put that up for committee. People who knew Michael know that he was decisive and that he makes decisions.

The "narrative" of a four-man SEAL team being inserted and taking on an army of dozens or hundreds under the leadership of the top lieutenant of the most wanted individual in modern history makes for a great story line, but the reality of Operation Red Wings is far more complex, far less "hollywood," and involves many more entities than is portrayed in Lone Survivor.

The true story of what really happened can be read here Operation Red Wings, misquoted in the novel by Patrick Robinson as "Operation Red Wing"

The bottom line with respect to the four-man SEAL team is that they were vastly outgunned and out positioned, by an enemy that had excellent cover from the thick forest surrounding the Northeast Gulch, who knew the terrain well, and who coordinated a fierce combined arms attack utilizing a variety of powerful weapons systems. Whether eight to ten or eight hundred to one thousand, it didn't matter. This was an overwhelmingly powerful ambush, especially given the RPG and PK fire, and the steep, narrow, funnel-like terrain.

Luttrell has been publicly quoted as saying, "No Texan, let's the truth get in the way of a good story"

He has also been shunned by the Navy SEAL community and is no longer welcome amongst there circles.