The eyewitness account of Operation Redwing and the lost heroes of SEAL Team 10

Memoirs are hard to review, because, while a reader can react to an author’s writing style or interpretation of events, he can’t really argue with a writer’s experiences. Those are personal and unchanging.

When it comes to memoirs, the author’s integrity is what’s most at stake. I can think of memoirs that tried to repaint the past, pretending perhaps that 20×20 hindsight was available at the time of such-and-such event. Political memoirs are notorious for this type of nonsense, yet to be fair, I think we can all attest to the fact that memories blur over time, and it’s often hard to recall the details of past events. Thus, part of the integrity issue in a memoir is this: how well does the author pretend to remember, and how honest is he about the foggy details?

In this regard, I felt that Marcus Luttrell has gifted his readers (and especially the surviving families) with a fantastic record. His integrity shines in his recalling the details of his BUDs training for the Navy SEALs (reminiscent of what’s written in Extreme Ownership), his openness about his own role in Operation Redwing which went haywire, and in his doing due research on these events and telling his readers bluntly, “At least that’s how I remember it” or “Those weren’t the exact words, but…”

Now all this may seem a mite shaky to some readers, but to me it’s a badge of authenticity. It says that I can trust Marcus Luttrell as a soldier-turned-writer (not a writer making himself out to be a pretty fantastic soldier). So when he gets passionate about an issue in his book (which he does quite often, especially about a few certain topics), I know I can trust that he means it and that he’s got the experience to stand as an authority on these issues.

The gist of Operation Redwing is that 4 members from Seal Team 10 were sent to reconnoiter a region of Afghanistan in search of a particularly slippery member of the Taliban. Despite all 4 members feeling oddly uneasy about this drop, they went in. When some shepherds found them hiding in the rocks, they were forced to make a decision: kill them as enemy combatants (though at the moment they were unarmed) or obey the rules of engagement (ROE) and give them the benefit of the doubt (that they’re innocent civilians) and let them go free. Luttrell overemphasizes how stupid it was to choose the latter and how he’s regretted his decision every day since, though he explains well their reasoning, Not long after those shepherds ran off to the village, though, they returned with 80-150+ armed members of the Taliban bent on surrounding and murdering the American invaders.

As a result of this onslaught, three men were killed: SGT2 Matthew Gene Axelson, Lieutenant Michael Patrick Murphy, and Petty Officer Danny Dietz. In response to this team’s call for reinforcements, another group of SEALs were killed when the Taliban attacked their helicopter in broad daylight. Only Marcus Luttrell survived, because he was exploded off a mountain, maintaining enough sense to run and hide and then run some more.

Thirst brought him to a point where he fell off another mountain (in full view of a village) in his desperate attempt to reach a water source. When the villagers found him, they ultimately chose to rescue him, a Pashtun act called lokhay, which offered not only hospitality to but also protection of their guest, even to the death, and even against the Taliban.

The remaining pages of the book describe Luttrell’s time in this village, his ill treatment by the Taliban, the protection he received from the villagers, the friends he made among the children and others, and the rescue operation underway, and operation bent not only on saving Luttrell but also on recovering the bodies of his fallen brothers. Also intermixed in these pages is the story of his family, friends, and neighbors back in Texas keeping a vigil alive for days on end, because “missing” doesn’t always mean “dead.”

This book was an amazing read, and despite its “sailor’s language,” I know I’ll be recommending it and passing it on to others whenever I can. And while I know it’s not at all a spiritual treatise, I did appreciate his memorization of and emphasis on Psalm 23. In fact, I just read this psalm tonight for family devotions and used Luttrell’s experience as a solid illustration! Verses 5 and 6 are so poignant to his story and to the story of the believer:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my scup overflows.

Psalm 23:5-6 (ESV)

The illustration is twofold. First, protection: not only will we all face this “valley of the shadow of death” at some point, physically or spiritually (or for Luttrell quite literally!), the Shepherd is there to guide and comfort. Second, hospitality: this ancient practice of hospitality to and protection of the weary traveler is legit! We’re not sitting at the table breaking bread with our enemies, as the verse might seem to imply in our modern context and language. No, the enemy’s not present at the table but present beyond that wall of hospitality, prowling outside the tent, ready to maim or destroy us—yet here we sit, safely inside the tent, protected by our Host, our Lord, our Shepherd. It’s powerful stuff!

I can’t quote much from this book, because it’s mostly “you had to be there” or “you just gotta read the book” stuff. But there are a few paragraphs I do want to share about his feisty opinions against the “liberal media” and the government’s dangerously impractical Rules of Engagement. After all, this is a man who watched these self-binding rules get all of his friends killed, so you can understand his anger (and sarcasm): “How do you know that’s an enemy combatant? Abdul’s probably just taking his TNT for a walk.” (That’s not a direct quote, but you get the idea.) The following are just three of the sections where he lays it all out for the world to see:

How about when a bunch of guys wearing colored towels around their heads and brandishing AK-47s come charging over the horizon straight toward you? Do you wait for them to start killing your team, or do you mow the bastards down before they get a chance to do so?
That situation might look simple in Washington, where the human rights of terrorists are often given high priority. And I am certain liberal politicians would defend their position to the death. Because everyone knows liberals have never been wrong about anything. You can ask them. Anytime. (41)

In the global war on terror, we have rules, and our opponents use them against us. We try to be reasonable; they will stop at nothing. They will stoop to any form of base warfare: Torture, beheading, mutilation. Attacks of innocent civilians, women and children, car bombs, suicide bombers, anything the hell they can think of. They’re right up there with the monsters of history.
And I ask myself, Who’s prepared to go furthest to win this war? Answer: they are. They’ll willingly die to get their enemy. They will take it to the limit, any time, any place, whatever it takes. And they don’t have rules of engagement. (195)

The Navy SEALs…can deal with any enemy, but not if someone wants to put is in jail for it back in the U.S.A. And we sure as hell don’t want to hang around in the mountains waiting for someone to cut our throats, unable to fight back just in case he might be classified as an unarmed Afghan farmer.
But these are the problems of the modern U.S. combat soldier, the constant worry about overstepping the mark and an American media that delights in trying to knock us down. Which we have done nothing to deserve. Except, perhaps, love our country and everything it stands for. (197)

This is an emotion, powerful, truthful account of “the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history” (back cover). It’s well worth your time if you’ve got a love for history or an ounce of patriotism. The War on Terror sucked, we can all agree. All wars do. But the courageous acts of the men and women who’ve given their lives in such wars should not be forgotten, and it’s we who read their words (or I guess watch their movies!) that will never forget.

©2023 E.T.