Marcus Luttrell (Lone Survivor)

[RMAC757]

I don't want to get into a big discussion on PTSD, but I see many of the books, most of them great reads as a way for them to remember the friends they have lost and a constructive way of dealing with the baggage of the job.

Case in point right now I am reading a book called "The Outpost" it is more of an analysis of events in and around Kamdesh Village. It doesn't read the same because it is not a personal perspective so much as it is an accounting of the men who fought and died there from a different view. Essentially, the book makes you sincerely understand why so many people come back with demons. I've never been in war or held a friend as they bled out. This book puts you there, and gives you perspective.

All of that said, because I think these guys are vocal not because they are hounding for a spotlight, but because they miss their buddies, and they have an opportunity to immortalize them in the minds of the masses instead of having their only memorial be a name on a map of some shitty outpost that very few people have ever heard of.

Not a fast read, but well worth it. I set that book down pissed off.

[Cylinder Head]

All of that said, because I think these guys are vocal not because they are hounding for a spotlight, but because they miss their buddies, and they have an opportunity to immortalize them in the minds of the masses instead of having their only memorial be a name on a map of some shitty outpost that very few people have ever heard of.

We've had a lot of people come and speak at company events, and I can tell you that Marcus is the farthest thing from a famewhore. We have had many famewhores on that stage. He wants to tell the story of how the greatest men he had ever known died, and died horribly. That is it. No message.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Another "quiet" professional SEAL.

Lone Survivor is a superb book. My impression was Luttrell was trying to honor his lost comrades and let people know WHY they lost their lives, not be a gloryhound. I suspect just writing it was cathartic for him as his team very probably could have gotten out to extraction without harm if they had done something many people would have regarded as a "war crime". IIRC, a very very large part of the book is spent talking about his team members. Luttrell doesn't seem to me to have been a Jesse Ventura; he gets pulled into the spotlight and speaking engagements because he has a compelling story.

[StagLefty]

Lone Survivor is a superb book. My impression was Luttrell was trying to honor his lost comrades and let people know WHY they lost their lives, not be a gloryhound. I suspect just writing it was cathartic for him as his team very probably could have gotten out to extraction without harm if they had done something many people would have regarded as a "war crime". IIRC, a very very large part of the book is spent talking about his team members. Luttrell doesn't seem to me to have been a Jesse Ventura; he gets pulled into the spotlight and speaking engagements because he has a compelling story.

That's what I got out of his book.

[drift_g35]

Lone Survivor is a superb book. My impression was Luttrell was trying to honor his lost comrades and let people know WHY they lost their lives, not be a gloryhound. I suspect just writing it was cathartic for him as his team very probably could have gotten out to extraction without harm if they had done something many people would have regarded as a "war crime". IIRC, a very very large part of the book is spent talking about his team members. Luttrell doesn't seem to me to have been a Jesse Ventura; he gets pulled into the spotlight and speaking engagements because he has a compelling story.

Agreed. I just decided to start listening to the audiobook again.

[kidicarus13]

How about that Lone Survivor?

[Bailey Guns]

This isn't gonna end good, either.

[TEAMRICO]

Soooooo, what revives this thread?

[<MADDOG>]

I guess I better read this book, as the opinions are like the US congress...

[10mm-man]

Maybe I can get in on this before it "locks".... Finally in on one.... YES!