For me, there is one special book that is so interesting, moving and thought-provoking that every student at this university should read it before they graduate: Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. Lone Survivor relates the story of a special operations mission in Afghanistan in which 11 Navy SEALS and eight Army special operators were killed. Luttrell, the “lone survivor” of the mission, recounts the events of the Taliban ambush and his miraculous escape.
Alternatively memorializing his teammates and recounting the Afghanistan battle, Luttrell holds nothing back in his memoir. He describes the difficult process he and his friends undertook to become Navy SEALs. He honors his fallen comrades with the utmost respect and dignity. As he recounts the battle, I felt as if I were watching from the mountainside. He describes the dilemma of capturing Afghan shepherds (who were suspected informants) and deciding how to treat them. But most touching were his recollections of the Pashtun village that risked everything to save his life. His rescue and lamentation of his friends’ deaths is perhaps one of the most emotional stories ever written.
Luttrell’s story provides us with a first-person account of the sacrifices made every day to protect our lives and property. It puts some of our struggles in perspective, too. Perhaps as significantly, Lone Survivor puts faces to the people of Afghanistan so we may come to empathize with people from around the world, rather than just view them as a number or a distant country. As Terps, it is our duty to do what we can for struggling people around the world. Lastly, Luttrell’s story makes us think about everything from military rules of engagement to how we deal with loss. I myself cannot imagine how I would deal with this sort of loss. Lone Survivor is a human reflection about a horrible battle that caused the deaths of 19 American heroes.
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