A few years ago, I was wandering around Barnes and Noble in search of a new book to read. I could spend hours roaming around looking through books; which is exactly what I did. I walked up and down every isle until I came across a book that, at the time I had no idea would have such a great impact on my life.
Lone Survivor.
Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell found its way into my hands. It was a rather large book but I lost sight of that quickly. I knew nothing about The Navy SEALs. With that, this book sparked my curiosity. Reading the back cover made my interest grow deeper and I brought the book up to the register.
When I got home, I sat down in the rocking chair on my porch like an old lady and cracked opened the book. The way this story was written, I felt as if Marcus Luttrell was sitting there talking right to me. I specifically remember having my cell phone nearby because every once in a while, a military term came up in a sentence and I would have to google it. The story of Lone Survivor is a true eyewitness account of Operation Redwing told by Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell. There were four SEALs involved in Operation Redwing. They were Matthew G. Axelson, Daniel R. Healy, Michael P. Murphy and Marcus Luttrell. Many other SEALs were apart of the operation and recuse missions but most were tragedy killed. These men will forever live on as true American heroes.
In the book Marcus Luttrell discloses his journey of becoming a Navy SEAL. He then goes on about the devastating operation and his expedition to survive and return home. The book focuses much of its attention around his teams’ heroic actions. Each SEAL made tremendous sacrifices and each is honored and remember thought out the book. That is as much as I will give away because the story is truly a remarkable one and it would be the first book I would ever recommended to someone.
The story describes in vivid detail what occurred during Operation Redwing and the sacrifices these men made. At sometimes, painful to imagine. The amount of courage, strength, passion and bravery each man processed is more than I even knew existed. Reading about what they did inspired me to be a better person. It opened my eyes to the fact that freedom is absolutely not free. America is the land of the free because of the brave.
When I read the last page of the book, my outlook on not only America, but the world as a whole changed. As much evil as there is in the world, there is equal, if not more, good. I became more aware of what it meant to fight in our military. The men and women who do, are the strongest, most selfless people on the planet. When I see the American Flag flying high, I cannot help but think of all those men and women in uniform serving America and am filled with gratitude for their sacrifice. Marcus Luttrells story and fight left me speechless and motived. He never gave up; none of the SEALs did. Knowing what the men and women serving go through, gives me the strength to tackle the hardships in my own life. Mainly because they are honestly nowhere near as difficult. The story of the Lone Survivor has forever impacted my life and I would definitely recommend taking time to read it for yourself.
