Clifton leggo AP Lang Per 4 Mrs Mckay 12 September 216 Critical Review FD Seal Team Six Memoirs of an Elite Navy Seal Sniper Book Review “When the navy sends their elite, they send the SEALs. When SEALs send their elite, they send SEAL Team Six, the navy's equivalent to the army's Delta Force --- tasked with counterterrorism and counterinsurgency, occasionally working with the CIA. This is the first time a SEAL Team Six sniper's story has been exposed. My story” (3). This captivating quote starts off Seal Team Six, a timely memoir about former Navy SEAL Sniper Howard E. Wasdin. The first paragraph starts his story and how he grew up to be one of the top snipers in the world. Although this is an amazing memoir, nothing is perfect. The first half of the book has the reader glued to the pages learning about Wasdin's life, but towards the end of the memoir the stories tend to get repetitive. Through Wasdin, the reader sees that SEAL life isn’t the glitzy ride-to-the-rescue life we see in movies. It’s more likely to be days of numbing boredom broken up by minutes of your hair being on fire. Wasdin started with SEAL Team Two, tested into SEAL Team Six, then challenged himself further by becoming a SEAL sniper. His Wasdin was beaten if he didn’t do chores perfectly, declared guilty of actions he thought he wasn’t, received no appraisals for a job well done, and forced to act like an adult long before he was old enough. Many might disagree with this parenting style, however Wasdin admits that his unique survival skills were nurtured in and flourished because of these lessons and became the foundation for the amazing success he experienced as a SEAL sniper. He credits these early lessons with the reason the most difficult words in his vocabulary were, “I
The book Outlaw Platoon written by Sean Parnell is a soldiers’ tale of his platoon in one of the most dangerous places on earth. This book is a non-fiction riveting work that tells the story of a platoon that spent sixteen months on an operating base in the Bermel Valley, the border of Pakistan. This mission the men were sent on was part of a mission called Operation Enduring Freedom. This book is extremely relevant to the war that we are still fighting in Afghanistan and the humanitarian work that continues. We still have men in this area fighting and losing their lives everyday. It is the focus of ongoing political debates and the purpose of our involvement there is an ongoing question in the minds of many Americans. In writing this book, Parnell makes it clear in his author’s notes that he indeed was not trying to pursue one political agenda over another. His goal as not to speak of all members of the platoon and expose their identities and the types of soldiers they were but instead to showcase some of the men’s bravery and abilities during the war. Parnell believed that he owed it to the men to write something that would show the world what these men go through during combat in an honest and raw account. Another purpose of Parnell’s in writing this book is an attempt at making sure these men are given a place in American war history.
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. Print.
In Craig Lesley’s novel The Sky Fisherman, he illustrates the full desire of direction and the constant flow of life. A boy experiences a chain of life changing series of events that cause him to mature faster than a boy should. Death is an obstacle that can break down any man, a crucial role in the circle of life. It’s something that builds up your past and no direction for your future. No matter how hard life got, Culver fought through the pain and came out as a different person. Physical pain gives experience, emotional pain makes men.
Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York: Farrar, Straus and
of Seal Team Six, which he served as for three years. This elite unit has went
As the reader can distinguish throughout the book, both men went in completely different paths after starting in the same position. The difference between both of their stories is the author’s positive role model and the other effects of the military academy. It does not have to specifically be the military academy to shape someone to be successful, but discipline and a father-like figure can make the difference. My father is fortunately in my life, and has shaped me into the person I am today. He has taught me numerous lessons that have gotten me to this point in my life. I am privileged enough to also have close successful cousins who often give me advice on how to become as successful as they are. With the help of a positive role model and a positive environment, the ability to become a good person, as well as successful can be obtained.
When Adam entered the Navy he was the oldest in his group. This did not stop him from being one of the top performers in his class and by far one of the most popular. He received many reports from his commanding officers while he was in SEAL training praising how well he was doing. “He scored OUTSTANDING on the most recent command inspection and SEAL PRT. Brown is on track to become a stand out performer. He has unlimited potential and is dedicated to excellence” (Blehm 159). Adam performed very well on his SEAL training and he could do anything because he never took the easy way out. Adam was so determined to be a Navy SEAL that he always was the first to do everything and do it right. Reports like these were very common for Adam. He never got a bad report, and they all praised his work ethic and willingness to do anything to help somebody. After he became a SEAL and he was working his way through the ranks of the military, he was shot in the eye with a practice bullet while training. This caused him to lose vision in that eye. He loved the Navy and wanted to keep trying to make his way to SEAL Team SIX, the most elite military group. He could have been dismissed from the military and gotten paid for getting hurt in action, but he decided to make some changes and go back and fight with his team. He started by switching over to shooting left-handed and went to Sniper School. One of Adam’s classmates in Sniper School commented on how astounding it was for Adam to go through the course. “To lose vision in your good eye within a year prior to that class and say ‘Screw it, I’m going to Sniper School -- oh, and by the way, I’ll do it all left-handed, that’s hard core. I don’t think it’s ever been done in the history of sniper schools in the world” (183). To go blind in your dominant shooting eye and complete Sniper School, arguably one of the hardest advanced combat course in the Navy, is unheard of and
The Ugly American was written in 1958 and was meant to be an indictment on the U.S. government’s failures in foreign policy. The book provides valuable lessons that we can learn from today as special operators. I will use several stories and characters in this book and my own personal stories to explore if the Special Operatives (SO) Imperatives were applied and analyze if we as Special Operations Forces (SOF) are applying them well today. We, as SOF, should never be afraid of learning new principals or examining principals from the past to see if they are applicable. The Ugly American is a good example of a work from the past, even though it is fiction, which we can learn from today.
Tim O’Brien book really shines light on how little everyone knows about the Green Berets. The Green Berets are the elite, they hold a very mysterious origin, and the folklore is outrageous. The propaganda about the Berets that was told to the American public was all a public relation stunt to gain support for the Vietnam War. Now many decades later we can grasp who the Green Berets are, but it’s astonishing that we still know very little about them.
In 2013, Peter Berg made a movie version of Marcus Luttrell’s novel Lone Survivor. Both the book and the movie are set in Afghanistan and tell the story of Operation Redwing. In both versions, four Navy SEALs head to northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader. Throughout the film version of Lone Survivor, what happens to Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell is very similar to what happens to him in the novel. However, the movie is different from the book because it leaves out certain details, is told mostly through dialogue instead of narration, and ends in a different way.
...unt for Red October, Clancy was suddenly a celebrity. He was invited to the White House for a private meeting with President Reagan and was met by military enthusiasts around the country. Now he had the opportunity to gain firsthand experience with the military operations and hardware he had known only from books and technical manuals. Clancy observed joined in training exercises and spent a week at sea on a mishearing frigate, and another on a submarine. Despite the detailed descriptions of life aboard a submarine in The Hunt for Red October, Clancy had never set foot on one until after the novel was published.
I think everyone has wanted to be a Navy SEAL in one point of their life, but as they get older their dream of being the best of the best fades away. Marcus Luttrell has had that dream of being a SEAL since the age of seven, and his determination and will to survive the hardest training in military history, gave Luttrell the title of a Navy SEAL.
A human being develops and grows throughout their life through many challenges and sometimes it takes an event in one’s life to change a person. In the novel “The Caine Mutiny” by Herman Wouk, is a novel about Willie Keith, a chubby and well educated son from an upper class family who joins the Navy. Willie goes into the Columbia University School of Journalism, which has been converted for the war effort. He is almost rejected because of his physical reasons of not being fit, but his Princeton background saves him from being rejected. As soon as he stepped in this navy life and went through a long journey with the navy crew , Willie became more independent, responsible and courageous.
His persuasive book sounds a clear warning to all who would circumscribe their Although Mark?s early hearing acuity, stubborn determination, excellent educational opportunities and strong family support helped him to find a measure of success, he regrets the slow progress of his emotional and spiritual development. He says that at age 22, "the real me, the fully-actualized Mark Drolsbaugh, was only about one or two years old." Now he says, "I am proud of who I am, proud of what I?ve overcome, and proud of ...
In conclusion, director Peter Berg does an excellent job at directing this film by implementing so many different and creative techniques to tell a story that might otherwise be incorrect. This real life memoir was presented to tell the tale of Four Navy SEALs that put their lives on the line to defend their country. The uniqueness of the elements and the way they are used brought out the realistic nature of morality, brotherhood, and honor. These elements showcase the mental and physical hardship that soldiers endure.