ROTC MS II
CPT. McNeil
October 15, 2014
Lone Survivor
Lone Survivor is a book based on a true story. The story begins in the year 2005, just a few years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City. In this book, Marcus Luttrell, the co-author and main character of Lone Survivor, tells us of his horrific experience on his deployment to Afghanistan. I chose Lone Survivor because that was one of the army-related books I had yet to read and heard there was an amazing new movie to back it up.
The beginning starts off by portraying how torturous and intense the training is for the Navy SEALs. It actually takes over 30 months to train a Navy SEAL to the point where he is ready for deployment. The SEALs that complete the training are capable of performing pretty much any task thrown at them, including diving, combat swimming, navigation, demolitions, weapons, parachuting, and many more. Marcus Luttrell regards the Navy SEAL training as, “An unrelenting desire to push yourself further than anyone could ever think possible.” In addition, Lone Survivor seemed to especially stress the bonds and friendships that were formed from the extreme Navy SEAL training – or as they’d like to call it - a band of brothers. Throughout the entire movie, you can tell that the SEALs’ bonds were a lot stronger than that of average, everyday friends you would see walking down the street. I cannot know for sure but maybe it comes from putting their lives on the line as a close-knit brotherhood for the United States of America, just maybe.
The setting of Lone Survivor begins at the Bagram Air Base, which is an airfield in Afghanistan. Bagram Air Base is where Petty Officer Macrus Luttrell, Lieutenant Michael Murphy, Petty Officer Danny Dietz, and Petty Officer Matt Axelson receive their Operation Orders to do reconnaissance on Ahmad Shah. The mission became known as Operation Red Wings Operation Red Wings was a joint military operation during the War in Afghanistan in the Pech