Luttrell and three of his teammates were part of Operation Redwing in Afghanistan in 2005. They were on a reconnaissance mission high up in the Hindu Kush mountains and were ambushed by over 100 Taliban fighters. His three teammates were killed and Luttrell was severely injured - I think he mentioned that his pelvis was broken, at least one of his legs was broken, he had been shot in the back, and he had bit his own tongue in half after being tossed off the mountain by an RPG blast. Then he endured torture at the hands of the Taliban, who found him after he was taken in by Afghani villagers. The first rescue mission was shot down by more Taliban fighters; the second rescue mission took six days to get to him. This is the very bare bones story. The book is fast-paced, conversational, and well worth the three to four hours it will take you read it. I think I first read the book in 2007. Before I read this book, I don't know if I quite understood what a hero was. I know I didn't understand that we still have them today, in America.
Luttrell is a recipient of the Navy Cross. His fallen teammate Mike Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor. After multiple surgeries and time to heal, Luttrell actually went back for another 7 month tour in Iraq.
I had seen a clip of Luttrell on the Today Show. Luttrell understated his injuries and the trauma afterwards, as is typical of SEAL modesty and humility, and didn't elaborate any more than he had to. So I didn't expect the enthusiastic, very funny, and very affable man who took to the podium last night. I certainly didn't expect the Texas twang which flowed at a mile a minute, yet was completely understandable. I suppose he had to talk fast, to get that whole story in an hour. By the way, Luttrell also speaks Pashtun.
The man who introduced Luttrell set a great tone for the evening. He opened by saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls..." and I thought, who says boys and girls anymore? How delightful! He continued, "....and I am glad to see young people here tonight because it is important that you learn about bravery, honor, and courage. You will learn about it tonight." I was very glad to hear such....well, old school values being promoted. No worries about whether the boys and girls would be damaged by hearing such gruesome accounts, and/or by seeing a man who had killed a lot of Taliban, and proudly, and was about to talk about that in some detail. No, the attitude seemed to be that the earlier children learned about this, the better. I agree. I don't think the SEALS go in much for self-esteem benefits.
I'm not going to completely recount his talk because most of it is in the book. I'll recommend the book once again here. It really changed my perspective about what real dedication is, and how incredibly brave and honorable some people are. And that I should, um, probably quit whining about my hangnail and my really hard final exams.
But I have to share a few highlights from his talk because they are so darn funny. As I said, I hadn't expected to laugh while hearing about this very sad, and very inspiring account.
•Luttrell frequently used a phrase that I liked a whole bunch. To make sure that we were on the same page, instead of saying "Am I clear? Is that making sense?" Luttrell always said, "Y'all pickin up what I'm throwin down?" Loved it.
•He said that before starting BUD/s training, they all had to take psychiatric evaluations..."That's just to make sure that we're crazy. You really do have to be, to be in this program."
•A man walked up to the stage about five minutes in to say that they couldn't hear in the back. Luttrell switched mikes, then said "That was a bold move, sir. Coming up here like that. You bout got yourself shot." This got a big roar of approving laughter.
•His father told him and his twin brother that he expected them to be in the military for some time after college, with the reasoning that "Before yall exploit this country, yall are gonna serve it." He grew up near Huntsville, Texas.
•The attrition rate is pretty high for the SEALs training - I think he said out of a starting class of 200, only 14 made it, or something close to that. He said the best stories always come from people who didn't go through SEALS training. "I mean, I could probably kill you with my thumb, too, but it'd take a while, so I'd just rather shoot ya, you pickin up what I'm throwin down?"
•"People talk a lot about gays and the military these days....lemme tell you, there's definitely no homophobes in the SEALs. We were always so cold so we loved getting as close as possible to each other. If another guy said he had to pee, while we were in that Pacific ocean water, we'd swim over to him just to share in the warmth."
•On when he and his teammates were happened upon by some local goatherders, one of whom almost accidentally stepped on his rifle butt: "That upset me so I stood up and - you know, if you want to get someone's attention real quick and they have a big long beard - just grab that beard hard, and pull it towards you. That's what I did." This is really good advice.
•When he was being kept by the Afghani villagers (and tortured by the Taliban every night) he said his favorite part of the day was when the village elder came and gave him a big green putty ball to chew on - opium. "Look, I was pretty beat up, but when I had that stuff, I felt like I could run all the way home to Texas. Now I know how they do it - those suicide bombers. You feel like you can just fly, or do absolutely anything."
He ended his talk, somewhat abruptly, with his rescue by Army Rangers ("I can't believe I was saved by the Army"). He said after that there's a whole 'nother story but that's not what he was there to tell. He knows that veterans, and especially SEALS, normally don't like to talk about what they've been through. He just made a promise to God, while he was getting shot down the side of the mountain, that he would make sure his friends and their bravery was never forgotten. He was there last night just to tell their story.
I didn't get pictures because there were many, many, many people who had known that they had to get there early enough to buy the book and get a special letter to get a place in line. I would have had to wait until all of them had gone through the line (probably 2 hours?). It was still a great privilege to hear him speak, in person.
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