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The history of a near-century of combat search and rescue, with an account of how the discipline was created and how it is administered—or neglected—today.
A story of courage, perseverance, and patriotism behind the 75th Ranger Regiment's rescue mission following one of the deadliest Special Ops incidents in Afghanistan—a grueling search for twelve Navy SEAL casualties and eight downed Night Stalkers . . . but just one lone survivor On June 28th, 2005, a four-man Navy SEAL reconnaissance team under Operation Red Wings was ambushed in northeastern Afghanistan—as depicted in the book and film Lone Survivor. A quick reaction force was dispatched. Turbine 33, carrying eight Navy SEALs and eight members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, was struck by a rocket propelled grenade—careening the dual rotor Chinook toward the rugged peak of Sawtalo Sar. The result was the single deadliest incident in Special Operations history at the time. Commanders called on the largest element of US Special Forces, the 75th Ranger Regiment. The rescue mission: Operation Red Wings II. Author Tony Brooks gives a first-hand account of the daring recovery of Turbine 33 and the subsequent search for the remaining compromised Navy SEAL recon team—one of whom was Marcus Luttrell, the lone survivor. The Rangers were up against lack of intel, treacherous terrain, violent weather, and an enemy that was raised to fight. Tony Brooks lived—and many of his fellow Rangers died—by the axiom, “Leave No Man Behind.” He is the first to tell the story other books and films have omitted, one of overcoming overwhelming odds to accomplish a mission: to bring every American soldier home.
Leave No Man Behind is the powerful story of Garnett "Bill" Bell's quest, at great personal cost, to find and bring home the POWs and MIAs of the Vietnam War. With his encyclopedic knowledge of the Vietnamese Communists and his fluency in various regional dialects, he penetrated the system the Communists had created to exploit American POWs for diplomatic concessions, or their remains and personal effects for financial rewards. From his days as a young infantryman on covert missions, to receiving American POWs as part of "Operation Homecoming," being one of the last Americans to get on a helicopter as Saigon fell, slogging his way through forlorn, malaria-ridden camps to interview refugees, returning to Vietnam as the first US government POW/MIA office Chief, and testifying in front of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA affairs, Bell shares his perspective as a witness to history as it unfolded.
On November 18, 1965, U.S. Navy pilot Willie Sharp ejected from his F-8 fighter after being hit while positioned over a target in North Vietnam. With a cloud layer beneath him, he did not know if he was over land--where he would most certainly be captured or killed by the North Vietnamese--or over the Gulf of Tonkin. As he ejected, both navy and air force aircraft were already heading toward him to help. What followed was a dramatic rescue made by pilots and other airmen with little or no training or experience in combat search-and-rescue. Told by former military flight test engineer Eileen A. Bjorkman, this story includes nail-biting descriptions of air combat, flight, and rescue. Bjorkman places Sharp's story in the larger context of the U.S. military's bedrock credo--No Man Left Behind--and calls attention to the more than eighty thousand Americans still missing from conflicts since World War I. She also explores the devastating aftershocks of the Vietnam War as Sharp struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder. Woven into this gripping tale is the fascinating history of combat search-and-rescue missions that officially began in World War II. Combining the cockiness and camaraderie of Top Gun with the heroics of Sully, Unforgotten in the Gulf of Tonkin is a riveting tale of combat rescue and an unforgettable story about the U.S. military's commitment to leave no man behind.
Follow along a Navy SEAL's firsthand account of American heroism during a secret military operation in Afghanistan in this true story of survival and difficult choices. On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive. This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days, badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers. A six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell takes us, blow by blow, through the brutal training of America's warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought in the desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich, moving chronicle of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers one of the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare -- and a tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
'Mick Dawson's gripping Never Leave A Man Behind, effectively two adventure stories for the price of one, can be justifiably described as "unputdownable". Dawson is a man you would want on your side, whether in battle or tackling waves as high as houses should you ever consider rowing the Pacific.' Sports Book of the Month 'An excellent read, it puts you in the boat, understanding what it's like to be in an extremely challenging environment while maintaining composure, cheerfulness and respect for your fellow men. I cannot recommend it highly enough' Keith M. Breslauer, Trustee of The Royal Marines Charity 'Breathtaking - builds tension from the very start with life-and-death challenges throughout. Courage and comradeship at their very best, showing how mental and physical disabilities cannot and are not allowed to define or undermine the human self. Leaves you in awe and respect for one man determined to help his muckers win their battles whatever it takes - at great personal cost' Jonathan Ball, Director, The Royal Marines Charity The stories of two veterans - one traumatised, one blind - who rediscover themselves with the help of a friend in the course of two epic ocean adventures, kayaking around the Falklands and rowing across the Pacific. Mick Dawson tells the story of kayaking around the Falkland Islands with friend and fellow Royal Marines veteran Steve Grenham, who was struggling to cope with the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and the extraordinary tale of his 2,500-mile voyage in a rowing boat with his friend and former Royal Marine Commando Steve 'Sparky' Sparkes, who was not only a rowing novice, but also blind. Sparky and Mick succeeded in rowing across the finish line after a truly epic voyage of over 2,500 miles from Monterey Bay in California to Waikiki, Hawaii. They'd hoped to break the record for a two-man rowboat and finish in less than fifty-five days, but a hurricane interfered with their plans. It took them eighty-two days, sixteen hours and fifty-four minutes to complete the race, but it was an even greater achievement for that, and Sparky became the first visually impaired person to row across the Pacific. The race with Sparky was the second expedition of an organisation Mick had set up a few years earlier, The Cockleshell Endeavour, designed to help another former Royal Marine and friend, Steve Grenham, by kayaking with him around the Falklands, where both former commandos served during the 1982 conflict with Argentina.
If the big wars of the 20th century were about saving civilization and countries, small wars are about saving people. Instead of defeating Hitler, they are concerned with the capture of international pariahs like General Noriega, Radovan Karadic or Colonel Aideed ¿ or the rescue of hostages or prisoners-of-war. This is the two-fold mission of the US Army¿s Special Forces, the ¿Green Berets¿. David Isby investigates their most famous missions from POW rescues at the end of the Second World War to the extraction of shot-down pilots from under the noses of the Bosnian Serb militia in 1995. Leave No Man Behind is a collection of vivid battle narratives, but it does more than tell dramatic war stories. Based on the latest evidence released under the Freedom of Information Act, it reveals why some missions were such great successes while others turned to tragedy. It compares them to other rescue operations, e.g. the British Army¿s recent action in Sierra Leone. As the author observes, raids and rescues will be more typical of warfare in the 21st century, so it is vital to understand the successes and failures of the Green Berets.
In late June 2005, media sources recounted the tragic story of nineteen U.S. special operations personnel who died at the hands of insurgent / terrorist leader Ahmad Shah- and the lone survivor of Shah's ambush-deep in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan. The harrowing events of Operation Red Wings marked an important-yet widely misreported-chapter in the Global War on Terror, the full details of which the public burned to learn. In Victory Point, globally published author and photographer Ed Darack reveals the complete, as-yet untold, story of Operation Red Wings (often mis-referenced as "Operation Redwing"), and the follow-on mission, Operation Whalers. Together, these two U.S. Marine Corps operations (that in the case of Red Wings utilized Navy SEALs for its opening phase) unfurl not as a mission gone terribly wrong, but of a complex and difficult campaign that ultimately saw the demise of Ahmad Shan and his small army of barbarous fighters. Due to the valor, courage and commitment of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment in the summer of 2005, Afghanistan was able to hold free elections that Fall. Here is the inspiring true account of heroism, duty, and brotherhood between Marines fighting the War on Terror.
This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the Afghanistan mountains in 2005, that led to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history.
David Murrow's book, Why Men Hate Going to Church, has heightened awareness of an epidemic--Patrick Morley offers the solution. No Man Left Behind is the blueprint for growing a thriving men's ministry that has the power to rebuild the church as we know it, pulling men off the couch and into active involvement as part of the body of Christ.
