Synopses & Reviews
It seemed like an impossible mission right from the start.
A Special Forces team planned to land in an enemy-held valley, scale a steep mountain in Afghanistan to surprise and capture a terrorist leader.
But before they found the target, the target found them...
The team was caught in a deadly ambush that not only threatened their lives, but the entire mission. The elite soldiers fought for hours, huddled on a small rock ledge as rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine gun fire rained down on them. With total disregard for their own safety, they tended to their wounded and kept fighting to stay alive.
When the battle finally ended, ten soldiers had earned Silver Stars- the Army's third highest award for combat valor. It was the most Silver Stars awarded to any unit in one battle since Vietnam.
Based on dozens of interviews with those who were there, No Way Out is a compelling narrative of an epic battle that not only tested the soldiers' mettle but serves as a cautionary tale: Be careful what you ask a soldier to do because they will die trying to accomplish their mission.
Review
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Weiss and Maurer (coauthor, Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds)--who in the past five years has embedded six times with the U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan--detail the team's ill-fated 2008 mission in eastern Afghanistan's Shok Valley, a place "isolated and surrounded by a wall of mountains." The soldiers had been tasked to capture Haji Ghafour, a high-ranking commander of an extreme militant group. Through interviews with the men involved, the authors provide captivating individual perspectives on the undertaking. Captain Kyle Walton believed the assignment was flawed from the beginning; the authors write that "Not only did the basic tactical plan of attacking up a mountain not work, but it was unclear how they would evacuate casualties." Staff Sergeant John Wayne Walding--who had joined the army just months before 9/11 for "a job where you can ‘lay down your head at night and be proud of it'"--would ultimately lose part of his leg. It was his first and last deployment with Special Forces. Like many of the men in his unit (also profiled in the book) Walding would be honored with a Silver Star. In this compelling, multi-dimensional account, Weiss and Maurer remind us of the extraordinary risks soldiers take and the sacrifices they make every day both for their country, and for each other. B&W Photos & maps. (Mar.)
Review
Take a post-9/11 version of Black Hawk Down, put it in the hands of two gifted writers like Mitch Weiss and Kevin Maurer and here’s what you get: an adrenaline-fueled narrative that will forever enhance your appreciation of U.S. Special Forces. What’s it like to fight an ill-conceived mission against well-trained insurgents who command the high ground? What’s it like to lower colleagues with life-threatening bullet wounds down an Afghan cliff? With meticulous reporting and powerful writing, Weiss and Maurer put us there. It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to know how modern battles are fought – and how they should be.
Review
It was simultaneously fascinating and disturbing, and an adrenaline rush to hear it first-hand from the operator's perspective... They are fiercely loyal to each other and our nation, and offer the enemy no quarter when the bullets start flying. You have captured all these with your words. Combat vets will read it and "get it" right away. Americans who have no connection with such men of valor ought to read it to understand what intense combat can be like.
Review
and#8220;This story brings to life the unique men who form the ranks of the Green Berets and the Herculean tasks they must accomplish.and#8221;and#8212;Rusty Bradley, author of
Lions of Kandahar
and#8220;[A] powerful look at Special Forces and the daily grind of tracking down the Taliban, terrorists, and other bad guys in Afghanistan.and#8221; and#8212;Mitch Weiss, Pulitzer Prizeand#8211;winning journalist and critically acclaimed author of Tiger Force and No Way Out
and#8220;Humorous, stark, and honest, Gentlemen Bastards shows the reality of the war in Afghanistan.and#8221; and#8212;Nathan Edmondson, author of The Activity
Review
and#8220;This story brings to life the unique men who form the ranks of the Green Berets and the Herculean tasks they must accomplish.and#8221;and#8212;Rusty Bradley, author of
Lions of Kandahar
and#8220;[A] powerful look at Special Forces and the daily grind of tracking down the Taliban, terrorists, and other bad guys in Afghanistan.and#8221; and#8212;Mitch Weiss, Pulitzer Prizeand#8211;winning journalist and critically acclaimed author of Tiger Force and No Way Out
and#8220;Humorous, stark, and honest, Gentlemen Bastards shows the reality of the war in Afghanistan.and#8221; and#8212;Nathan Edmondson, author of The Activity
Synopsis
A hard-fighting soldier's story-from the trenches of America's first battle in the Cold War. From the devastating counterattack at Unsan to the thirty-four months he spent in captivity-a period of years in which giving up surely meant dying-Col. Bill Richardson's instinct for leadership and stubborn will to survive saw him through one valley of death after the next. Valleys of Death is a stirring story of survival and determination that offers a fascinating, intimate look at the soldiers who fought America's first battle of the Cold War in the unvarnished words of one of their own. Richardson endured many long months of starvation, torture, sleep deprivation, and Chinese attempts at indoctrination, yet maintained defiance under conditions designed to break the mind, body, and spirit of men.
Synopsis
A hard-fighting soldier's story-from the trenches of America's first battle in the Cold War. From the devastating counterattack at Unsan to the thirty-four months he spent in captivity-a period of years in which giving up surely meant dying-Col. Bill Richardson's instinct for leadership and stubborn will to survive saw him through one valley of death after the next. Valleys of Death is a stirring story of survival and determination that offers a fascinating, intimate look at the soldiers who fought America's first battle of the Cold War in the unvarnished words of one of their own. Richardson endured many long months of starvation, torture, sleep deprivation, and Chinese attempts at indoctrination, yet maintained defiance under conditions designed to break the mind, body, and spirit of men.
Synopsis
He survived combat zones around the globe. Now this ex-Delta Force warrior tells civilians what he?s learned. As a commander of Delta Force?the most elite counter-terrorist organization in the world?Pete Blaber took part in some of the most dangerous, controversial, and significant military and political events of our time. Now he takes his intimate knowledge of warfare?and the heart, mind, and spirit it takes to win?and moves his focus from the combat zone to civilian life.
With each mission, from extreme physical and mental training to the darkest of shadow ops in Colombia, Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, Blaber returned with a powerful life lesson?lessons readers can use to achieve more, win more, and live more. As the smoke clears from exciting stories about never-before-revealed missions executed all over the globe, people will emerge wiser, more capable, and more ready for life?s personal victories than they ever thought possible.
Synopsis
The Green Beretsand#151;a legendary corps of soldiers whose exploits made military history. But now, its very identity and role as a fighting force may be forever changed . . . Until the war in Iraq, Special Forces were the militaryand#8217;s counterinsurgency experts. Their specialty was going behind enemy lines and training insurgent forces. In Afghanistan, they toppled the Taliban by transforming Northern Alliance fighters into cohesive units. But since that time, Special Forces units have focused on offensive raids.
With time running short, the Green Berets have now gone back to their roots.
Award-winning journalist Kevin Maurer traveled with a Special Forces team in Afghanistan, finding out firsthand the inside story of the lives of this elite group of highly trained soldiers. He witnessed the intense brotherhood, the rigorous selection process, and the arduous training that makes them the best on the battlefield. Here, Maurer delivers a compelling account of modern warfare and of a fighting force that is doing everything in its power to achieve victory.
Synopsis
The Green Beretsand#151;a legendary corps of soldiers whose exploits made military history. But now, its very identity and role as a fighting force may be forever changed . . . Until the war in Iraq, Special Forces were the militaryand#8217;s counterinsurgency experts. Their specialty was going behind enemy lines and training insurgent forces. In Afghanistan, they toppled the Taliban by transforming Northern Alliance fighters into cohesive units. But since that time, Special Forces units have focused on offensive raids.
With time running short, the Green Berets have now gone back to their roots.
Award-winning journalist Kevin Maurer traveled with a Special Forces team in Afghanistan, finding out firsthand the inside story of the lives of this elite group of highly trained soldiers. He witnessed the intense brotherhood, the rigorous selection process, and the arduous training that makes them the best on the battlefield. Here, Maurer delivers a compelling account of modern warfare and of a fighting force that is doing everything in its power to achieve victory.
About the Author
Mitch Weiss is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist for the Associated Press. In 2003, he was assigned to an investigative series that uncovered the longest string of atrocities carried out by a U.S. fighting unit in the Vietnam War. In recognition of the series "Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths," which led to an investigation by the Pentagon, he was awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. Weiss currently works for the AP on investigative projects, and an investigative series he wrote about corrupt real estate appraisers won several national awards in 2009. He also was part of a team of AP reporters that won a George Polk award in 2010 for their coverage of the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Kevin Maurer has covered special operations forces for eight years. He has been embedded with the U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan six times in the last five years and spent ten weeks with a team of Green Berets in Afghanistan in 2010. He has embedded with American soldiers in Iraq, east Africa and Haiti. The author of four books, he co-wrote a memoir of a Korean War veteran and a book about the 2006 Battle of Sperwan Ghar.