Brutal, no mercy. Why did we have to put it that way instead of just shooting him once and being done with it? War is hell. It always makes me laugh when I read about "the proud freedom ?ghters in Iraq." This is the town where the American base was and where Gulab's dad went to find help for Marcus. The four Navy SEALs on the ground including Axelson went missing after a furious firefight, during which they were encircled by heavily armed Taliban. I'm not allowed to speak of this highly classi?ed operation, save to mention the pair of them were killed when U.S. Special Forces ?attened the entire building. I learned precisely how seditious and cunning an enemy could be. If our team had ultimately found Saddam in his hidey-hole, we'd probably have shot him dead for a lot of reasons but especially on the strength of those wasted desert runs. Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. Suh was one of 16 troops killed when a MH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan on June 28, on a daring daylight mission to reinforce an outnumbered four-man SEAL reconnaissance squad in 8,000-foot mountainous terrain. ( Just joking.). Fuck. Over and over during training, we were told never to be complacent, reminded constantly of the sheer cunning and unpredictability of our terrorist enemy, of the necessity for total vigilance at all times, of the endless need to watch out for our teammates. I know the directors cut., Luttrell added, Theres so much we kept from the story that if I told you, you wouldnt believe me., Rogan asked Luttrell, What it was it like to have a movie about one of the worst experiences of your life? The retired SEAL responded, Thank you for asking it like that. He was a super photographer and a skilled mechanic and engineer; he'd single-handedly restored and customized two old Volkswagen Bugs. James, like his close buddy Shane, was another inordinately tough SEAL, a petty of?cer second class. However, the whole movement received a severe blow to its morale on July 22, when Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, who were at least as evil as their dad, were ?nally nailed at a house in Mosul. It was amazing no one was killed or hurt out there. According to Luttrells account dramatized in vivid, often bloody, detail in the movie in the early hours of the operation, he, Axelson, Dietz and Murphy were still waiting for daylight when three goat herders stumbled upon their location. Three of the four were killed, but thanks to an Afghan herder, Hospital Corpsman Marcus Luttrell managed to survive to tell the story. US Navy SEAL, Team Leader, SDV Team 1, Alfa Platoon. American-supported Afghan president during much of the Bush Presidency. Sometimes names of other ringleaders. "It's just so cool, man," he replied, terminating further discussion. In an article on OnViolence.com, Michael and Eric Cummings detail many of the creative liberties the movie takes with its portrayal of the mission. Action & Adventure, Drama, History, War & Military. Would love your thoughts, please comment. For me, it began in Iraq, the ?rst murmurings from the liberal part of the U.S.A. that we were somehow in the wrong, brutal killers, bullying other countries; that we who put our lives on the line for our nation at the behest of our government should somehow be charged with murder for shooting our enemy. "That went really well, didn't it?" Synopsis: Set during the War in Afghanistan, the film dramatizes the United States Navy SEALs mission Operation Red Wings, in which a four-man SEAL team was tasked to capture or kill Taliban leader Ahmad Shah. They didn't even know he was in Afghanistan until after the fatal fight was over. Thus far, those mountain men had been kicking some serious a** in their skirmishes with our military. Good-byes tend to be curt among Navy SEALs. I am not a political person, and as a Navy SEAL I am sworn to defend my country and carry out the wishes of my commander in chief, the president of the United States, whoever he may be, Republican or Democrat. Fortunately, the SEALs found Shahs men. I'd been in the country for less than twenty-four hours. Never Do that, do this. I will not fail. I'll wine, dine, intertwine, and sneak out the back door when the refueling is done. The goal of /r/Movies is to provide an inclusive place for discussions and news about films with major releases. A friend recounted that Suh wanted to defend a country he loved so much, and that his father took the decision better than James had expected. Two MH-47 Special Operations Aircraft, two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and two AH-64 Apache attack choppers were sent to the area. It was gut wrenching to hear Marcus Luttrell talk about it. Shahs men shot down one of the MH-47s, killing all 16 onboard. There was no situation for which he could not summon a really smart-a** remark. However, in the room downstairs, where the Iraqis were by now in surrender mode, we'd look for the ringleader, the guy who knew where the explosives were stored, the guy who had access to the bomb-making kit or the weapons that would be aimed straight at American soldiers. The guys who traveled from Bahrain with me were remarkably diverse, even by SEAL standards. Business class this wasn't. But frogs don't travel light, and they don't expect comfort. Petty Officer _____ wasn't even 30 yet. You probably remember the incident. We'd cut south of the Strait of Hormuz, staying well away from the superhighway of world oil and gas tankers moving to and from the massive loading docks of the Gulf of Iran. Right now these very same guys, the remnants of the Taliban and the last few tribal warriors of al Qaeda, were preparing to start over, trying to ?ght their way through the mountain passes, intent on setting up new training camps and military headquarters and, eventually, their own government in place of the democratically elected one. Much has been made of the accuracy of Lone Survivor, which has been widely praised for its realism and even named one of the most realistic war movies of all time. To provide much of its authenticity, writer-director Peter Berg worked closely with Marcus Luttrell, the Navy SEAL played by Mark Wahlberg in the film, and the author of the memoir of the same name. As the primary communications operator, I had Shane as my number two. If not the actual guys, then their blood brothers, the lunatics who still wished us dead and might try it again. The sixth member of our group was James Suh, a twentyeight-year-old . The primary authority on Muslim belief and practice. He then went on to create the Lone Survivor Foundation a service organization for veterans. When this was under control, with the A-guidance, we would question the ringleader, demanding he inform us where his terrorist cell was operating. Four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative must make an impossible moral decision in the mountains of Afghanistan that leads them into an enemy ambush. As Russell Watson alluded to above (4 years ago in response to a ridiculous article), he was not among the 4 soldiers on the ground who were the core of movie's story. Attached to Team 5, we were known as straphangers, extra muscle drafted in for particularly dangerous situations. The four SEALs were helicoptered in on the night of June 27, 2005: Navy Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, Petty Officer Second Class Danny P. Dietz, Petty Officer Second Class Matthew G. Axelson and Navy Hospital Corpsman Second Class Marcus Luttrell. And that riled him. They failed. Luttrell makes this very clear in the memoir: Later, Ahmad Shah and his men actually find Luttrell and Gulab on a flat field on the edge of the village. Used for tanker, special operations, reconnaissance, airborne command post, special missions. The SEALs on the hill that day were overwhelmed by an enemy force with superior numbers and superior firepower that held the high ground. Mikey was an inveterate reader. Awarded to persons serving with the Navy or Marine Corps that distinguish themselves with heroism not justifying the Medal Of Honor (MOH). Fired on from the rooftops, watching for car bombs, we learned to ?ght like terrorists, night after night, moving like wild animals through the streets and villages. His second book, Service: A Navy SEAL at War, was released in 2012. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. Tells the harrowing story of a soldier and his team out on a mission in which only one survives. These are drawn up for us to follow by some politician sitting in some distant committee room in Washington, D.C. And that's a very long way from the battle?eld, where a sniper's bullet can blast your head, where the slightest mistake can cost your life, where you need to kill your enemy before he kills you. Above: (L to R) Navy SEALs Matthew G. Axelson, Daniel R. Healy, James Suh, Marcus Luttrell, Eric S. Patton, and Michael P. Murphy in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the ACM was waiting. James Suh _____was 28-years-old. That's what I'm all about.". Suhs sister remains so grief-stricken she was unable to see the movie; after taking part in annual barbecues with SEAL families the first few years after James died, she had to bow out of those, too. One of our guys jumped into the Tigris! I am hopeful that one day soon, the U.S. government will learn that we can be trusted. I never had to tell him anything. We worked usually in a very small unit of four SEALs. "You're always bringing up that old s**t. Tell you what. All rights reserved. He was very popular on the base. A quick backslap, a friendly bear hug, no one uttering what we're all thinking: Here we go again, guys, going to war, to another trouble spot, another half-a**ed enemy willing to try their luck against us . and he came straight toward me, hit me with the full force of his body, and the pair of us rolled into the middle of the street. . Especially Iraq. As part of the mission, a four-man SEAL reconnaissance and surveillance team is tasked with locating Shah. Not that we imagined some trigger-happy Iranian missile director might take a pop at us with some fast heat-seeking weapon. Luttrell makes this very clear in the memoir: They wanted me, but they. Refine any search. Marcus Luttrell was born on November 7, 1975 in Houston, Texas. He wanted to be a member of the navy jump team, as his father had once been. Sorry, I meant dude. Follow the Heavy on Joe Rogan Facebook page for the latest on his podcast and more. According to Luttrell, they decided to set the goat herders free. That's where we got our name. He was devoted to his wife and his parents and his brother. But in many ways I'm grateful for the experience. Because of the secretive culture of the SEALs, Murphy never told his family what he was doing. And that's the issue: Was Saddam spinning for uranium-235, and if so, where did he get the uranium in the ?rst place? Marcus had put his gun down and was covering his ears cause he couldn't stand listening to him die. And while this process happened, the SEAL team secured the property, which means, broadly, making darned sure the Iraqis under this sudden house arrest had no access to any form of weaponry whatsoever. It was the single deadliest mission in Afghanistan for US Navy SEALs. Has killed over 15 million people (most lethal weapon in the world). No one ever thought he did. He loved reading and was an experienced soldier. We used to hang out together half the night, and I can truthfully say no one ever made me laugh like that. Luttrell emptied his clips, determined to go down fighting despite his injuries, till he fell into a river and lost consciousness. And I know one thing for certain. Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Author and lone surviving navy seal from the book Lone Survivor. There was SGT2 Matthew Gene Axelson, not yet thirty, a petty of?cer from California, married to Cindy, devoted to her and to his parents, Cordell and Donna, and to his brother, Jeff. Watch on. Lieutenant Michael Patrick Murphy / Mikey, read analysis of Lieutenant Michael Patrick Murphy / Mikey, read analysis of Petty Officer Danny Dietz, read analysis of Matthew Gene Axelson / Axe, read analysis of President George W. Bush. The rest of us settled back into seats that were also made of netting. Moments later, our EOD guys blew it up. The Korengal and Shuryak valleysthe geographic region of Operation Red Wingsare sparsely populated and could not support an enemy force of 200 people. Murphy, Dietz, and Axelson were killed. Each one of us had grown a beard in order to look more like Afghan ?ghters. He was close to Shane and was a tough SEAL. I enjoyed the f*** out of it, and I hope you do too., The 2 hour and 25 minute episode sparked questions and conspiracy theories among some Rogan fans and listeners. I simply do not want to see some of the best young men in the country hesitating to join the elite branches of the U.S. Armed Services because they're afraid they might be accused of war crimes by their own side, just for attacking the enemy. Even the president of the United States was a dude, according to him. For people wondering why the podcast cut off abruptly after Marcus went to take a leak we decided that perhaps he had consumed a little too much to continue talking., Rogan added, in retrospect, I believe that was the correct decision. They'd sell their own mothers for ?fty bucks. The most important reason why the Taliban didnt attack? I'm a lover, I'm a fighter, I'm a UDT Navy SEAL diver. Built on a shared patriotism, shared courage, and shared trust in one another. Marcus was found by the villagers at this location. Teachers and parents! What Luttrell didnt know was that their radio transmission had been picked up, so a search and rescue team was dispatched. These were dangerous days at the conclusion of the formal con?ict. Each of the six of us in that aircraft en route to Afghanistan had constantly in the back of our minds the ever-intrusive rules of engagement.