"THE MANSIONS OF THE LORD"
Words by Randall Wallace
To fallen soldiers let us sing
where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
to the mansions of the Lord
No more bleeding no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
just divine embrace, eternal light
in the mansions of the Lord
Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard tho the angels sleep
All through the ages safely keep the mansions of the Lord
This is a list of soldiers killed in Afghanistan during the U. S Military's worst day of casualties.
Petty Officer Danny Dietz (SEAL Team 1)
Petty Officer Matthew Axelson (SEAL Team 1)
Navy Lt. Mike Murphy (SEAL Team 1)
Chief Warrant Officer Corey J. Goodnature (pilot, US Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment)
Chief Warrant Officer Chris J. Scherkenbach (pilot, US Army 160th SOAR)
Sgt. Kip A. Jacoby (US Army, 160th SOAR)
Sgt. 1st Class Marcus V. Muralles (US Army, 160th SOAR)
Chief Petty Officer Jacques J. Fontan (SEAL Team 10)
Lt. Cmdr. Erik S. Kristensen (SEAL Team 10)
Petty Officer 2nd Class James Suh (SEAL Team 1)
Petty Officer First Class Jeff Taylor (SEAL Team 1 medic)
Master Sgt. Michael Russell (US Army, 160th SOAR)
Maj. Steve Reich (pilot, US Army 160th SOAR)
Sgt. 1st Class James "Tre" Ponder III (US Army, 160th SOAR)
Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric Shane Patton (SEAL Team 1)
U.S. Navy Lt. Michael McGreevy (SEAL Team 10)
Petty Officer Jeffrey Alan Lucas (SEAM Team 10)
Senior Chief Petty Officer Dan Healy (SEAL Team 1)
SSgt. Shamus Goare (US Army, 160th SOAR)
Marcus Luttrell is the lone survivor of that day, also called "The One". He survived because an Afghan took him into his home and refused to give him up to the Taliban.
This is a description of how the day started out:
Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July, 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan–Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to have a small army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS made it out alive.
This is the story of the only survivor of Operation Redwing, fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American Navy SEAL history. His teammates fought valiantly beside him until he was the only one left alive, blasted by an RPG into a place where his pursuers could not find him. Over the next four days, terribly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell crawled for miles through the mountains and was taken in by sympathetic villagers who risked their lives to keep him safe from surrounding Taliban warriors.
I want to read this book.
If you do a search for Marcus Luttrell, lots of info comes up and Blackfive also has info on "The One".
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2007/06/marcus_luttrell.html
Be sure to read about the touching memorial service:
http://froggyruminations.blogspot.com/2005/07/seal-memorial-at-punchbowl.html:
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Ya made me tear up some there, Lin! Still, I want to read the book now as well. It's one of those debts that we'll just never be able to repay.
ReplyDeleteGood post.
No, there isn't any way to repay this kind of debt. Only never forget the brave troops who gave all they had.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless you Marcus. You are a brave and noble warrior. I just started reading your book. I bought it the moment I heard your interview on Glenn Beck's radio show. I know in my hearts of heart that the Good Lord has welcomed your buddies into His home. May they rest in peace and may their families find comfort in knowing that they have served they country to the fullest.
ReplyDeleteyour comment was emailed to me. Thanks for your post of 21st. Marcus has received quite a bit of MSM atttention--yeah like one interview each. Matt's on Today one of the best. But there does not seem to be much publicity for the individual books signings. Marcus was in Houston, near home, and the book store had to go out to other bookstores to get 700 books, after the signing started. News paper article in houston was wrong. Marcus and Texas Govenor told the complete story in a radio interview the day of the Austin signings. I had been following the MSM stories, had pre-ordered the book, and was actually reading the book for the second time--and knew nothing about the Austin signing. i LIVE IN AUSTIN, TAKE THE NEWSPAPER, WATCH LOCAL NEWS, AND KNEW NOTHING. I don't know if you know about Austin, but liberal activist does not even begin to describe it. I'm always sure to tell people I live NORTH of Austin ;-) Governor Perry ferried Marcus around Austin, and introduced him at the book signing. I called and talked with a staff memeber on the registers -- media consultant for B&N would not take my call, just gave the checker the website for the publisher to give to me. The checker said they had sooo many people, they had to stay open late, and there were soooo many people in that LITTLE room, they had put them in, it got very hot. Success for a true hero must have pissed off that liberal little #%#%#%# media gal. Sorry, I digress. Soooooo, I am trying to get the schedule out, so no one else is as disappointed as I was when I heard about too late. It is actually a short tour. Are you aware where the proceeds of the book are going? Go to http://www.kvet.com/pages/onair_sambob.html and listen to the Governeor & Luttrell interviews. for the answer from the gov. and marcus. They actually wound up giving them another extra time slot. DON'T FORGET TO LOOK AT THE PICTURES LOL.
ReplyDeleteIs anyone a little concerned that there are facts in the book that are in error, are there any "operaters" out there that know this guy and can confirm that the errors in the book are editorial rather than fiction. I hope someone that swims with these guys has read the book.
ReplyDeleteRanger Bonnell
"Rangers Lead The Way"
I cannot recommend this book enough. This should almost be required reading for U.S. citizens. I am not one to read military books, but this was recommended to me by my sister whose son is a friend of Marc Luttrell's. Thank God for such brave soliders as were these and many others who are serving our Country in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are doing what myself and many, many others would never have the courage to do. I applaud every solider and their family for their commitment to a country who ties the hands of the soldiers so they, unfortunately, become the victims of war such as these young men who served with Marc. Too bad our leaders either do not read this or close their ears to the truth of what they are doing to our soldiers.
ReplyDeleteI served with both Luttrells and can assure you that the facts, as presented, in the book are true. They don't vary one bit from the story Marcus told me on his ranch a couple of weeks after he got back. The story is extraordinary, but so were the men on the mountain that day.
ReplyDeleteI also served with both Luttrell Brothers and promise what you read is accurate and "As Briefed."
ReplyDeleteTruth is stranger then fiction. I didn't think for a second that the info. as presented were not the truth. Who could live with themselves if it were fabricated. This son from the great state of Texas has much to be proud of as do all our active and retired military. They do so much that we can't or won't do. To KansasFrog and Frogman234, thank you for keeping my family safe. SEAL's apprear to be a very humble group of men. Maybe it's a SF trait. May the Luttrell men stay safe. God watch over and bless our military. Comfort those who suffered loss on that fateful day.
ReplyDelete[...] http://bama2.itsapundit.com/2007/06/21/lone-survivor/ [...]
ReplyDeleteLone Survivor has got to be one of the poorest reads I have managed to make it through in quite a while, totally full of jingoistic dogma which I find offensive and way off mark – really, really distracts.
ReplyDeleteAs with the other reviews one will find on this book I do not wish to denigrate the lost souls of Seal Team 10 - these guys put up a helluva fight and I have the utmost respect for them – truly highlights the superior training, however, having said that the book boils down to maybe seventy pages - from the insertion to full contact compromised, and the loss of the Team, the rest of the book is wasted pulp – blather!!.
Those seventy pages left me filled with questions relating to the Team’s SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) such as why a four man team was used when the intel was telling them there were up to a couple hundred hostiles in the area. The six man team has repeatedly been shown to be more effective – two more guns may have made the difference, especially if a SAW and a grenade launcher had been included (google Squad Automatic Weapon & M 203 grenade launcher), a few white phosphorous rounds definitely would have bought some breathing room.
Marcus describes the reconnaissance point as a promontory which is the last place where someone hiding wants to be, they were on a ridge with at least one high speed trail, there was at least one hut in the area, the way it is written when they turned the goatherds loose they nonchalantly followed them up the mountain to another hide in full view of any observer. This whole section made me think fubar. SOP dictates the Team leader to do a fly over rather than just a photo and map study – this may have been out of the question for one reason or another, regardless there was no mention of an E&E plan (escape and evasion) and why did comms fail? Blah blah blah – one thing after another that may or may not have been done properly but the book definitely reads like it wasn’t. Why is there no mention of Mako-30 and Neil Roberts? the skeptic in me wonders if the media is scrambling for another Jessica Lynch story coming into an election year.
One thing that the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts have in common is the difficulty in remaining undetected during reconnaissance missions (Bravo Two Zero for instance 1st gulf), patrol technique has got to be highly modified, one would think this may have been addressed in detail or at least hypothetically somewhere in the book, maybe this is possibly classified - one would do well to study the movements of the snow leopard, camouflage is critical - not a mention? The pattern exists for alpine rock –google roggenwolf.
I don’t know, the way the book reads is smelly to me –not killing the goatherds was the proper choice - it appears that SOP was not adhered to. We have many experiences to learn from – Soviet in particular but the British experience in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well – both were losers, we in turn shall be a loser - they and we do not understand and appreciate the tribal mentality - we are the bull in the china shop. Please read the Seven Pillars of Wisdom and Gertrude Bell -Queen of the Desert, also many accounts from climbing expeditions to this area have good insight into the Pashtun mentality.
Prosit absent Companions,
RH
What a mind blowing drama accentuated by raw courage and bravery. These warriors, their peers, and the organization they represent will always have my utmost respect. My heart aches for the families and friends who lost so much from this ordeal. Overall, the book has some negatives but this is not important. It was Marcus's story and it was important for him to tell it.
ReplyDelete'Bubblehead'... have some more kool-aid and please pardon us jingo's. No one is too concerned about you being offended. Next time just keep it pithy and save your fuzzy ideology and ill-conceived prophecy for the coffee shop.
From a tactical perspective it leaves so many questions I wish the author would have elaborated on or even mentioned. 'Bubblehead' does bring up some valid points of a tactical nature, which I too was asking myself as I read the book. Six vs. four man team, weapon selection, the E&R plan, SOP.
Someone tell me the E&R annex was thoroughly planned or at least templated? What of the '60% Solution?' If a team can answer 60% of it's PIR from the current site w/ a lower risk of getting busted then take it. There will be another day! It was primarily a Surv. mission w/ TGT Acquisition potential. But as soon as a team is compromised the dominos are set in motion...QRF, CSAR, the entire theater is affected and the team is reduced to nothing more than a liability and as a result even more men were lost.
What of the commo? Was there a 'no commo plan'? Abort criteria? Site selection next to a relativley high speed ave of approach? Soft vs. Hard Compromise?
I have read blogs where guys said they have read the official aar, trained, and or worked with Op. Red Wing team members. Can anyone provide insight on some of these questions? There had to be a deviation from approved TTP's, SOP, and the plan.
Maybe mistakes were made? I am sure there are few, if any, who have been on a mission where there weren't mistakes. But we're talking about pros here and some of this stuff is so basic I just can't imagine any of it was over-looked. Respectfully.
First I would like to say that the courage of the the Team members is without question. The fighting spirit is in keeping with the highest traditions of the SOCOM history. With that being said, I was struck with the (seemingly) incredible blunders that were made during this operation. Once the covert mission was compromised, it was over. Being vastly outnumbered in hostile territory, IMHO an immediate exfil is required -- get as far away as fast as you can. Then the commo failed...but the team leader was able to use his backup cell phone?!?!? Why didn't he use it earlier? No back door for a quick disengagement?? When he finally did contact HQ, why didn't he tell them that they were not at or near the predetermined exfil site?!?!? That lack of info unnecessarily cost the lives of many 160th SOAR and SEAL personnel including the best-friend and roommate of my son (who was killed later) who was in the other MH-47. Again, their courage is unquestionable, but the leadership decisions are suspect at best.
ReplyDeleteNo Kool-aid here, just looking at the operational and historical angles. Who knows what the burn rate is for all the conflicts we are attempting to finance, Iraq alone is 5k a second give or take - current strategy is not sustainable simple as that http://www.acus.org/docs/012808-AfghanistanbriefwoSAG.pdf.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone researched what has happened to the Afghan that helped the Seal??? Very sad story.
ReplyDelete