Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell, Patrick Robinson

(New York: Sphere, 2014), 400

  • "In the SEALs, it's always your teammates." (27)
  • "The rules of engagement are a clear and present danger, frightening young soldiers, who have been placed in harm's way by their government, into believing they may be charged with murder if they defend themselves too vigorously." (39)
  • "Tough old guy, John Paul. A lot too tough for the Russians. I've always thought if he hadn't been a vicar, he'd have made a good Navy SEAL." (44)
  • "Deep down I knew there was something more required to make it into the world's top combat teams. And that was a level of fitness and strength that could only be attained by those who actively sought it. Nothing just happens. You always have to strive." (53)
  • "We never leave a man behind on the battlefield, dead or alive. No man is ever alone. Whatever the risk to the living, however deadly the opposing fire, SEALs will fight through the jaws of death to recover the remains of a fallen comrade." (81)
  • De Rei Militari by Flavius Vegetius was the Bible of European warfare for more than 1,200 years, and it still applies in Coronado, stressing constant drilling, training, and severe discipline. (101)
  • Instructor Reno: "The body can take damn near anything. It's the mind that needs training. The question that guy was being asked involved mental strength. Can you handle such injustice? Can you cope with that kind of unfairness, that much of a setback? And still come back with your jaw set, still determined, swearing to God you will never quit? That's what we're looking for." (102)
  • Instructor Burns: "If you can take Hell Week and beat it, you can do any damn thing in the world." (147)
  • Four rules of firearms:
    1. Consider all weapons to be loaded at all times.
    2. Never point a weapon at anything you do not want to put a bullet through.
    3. Never put your finger on the trigger unless you want to shoot.
    4. Know your target and what's behind it.
  • "I sang those words all night. I can't tell you how much they meant to me. I can tell you, it's little thing like that, the words of a song, which can give you the strength to go on." (264)
  • "That's Psalm 23, of course. We think of it as the Psalm of the SEALs. It is repeated at all of our religious services, all funerals. Too many funerals. I know it by heart. And I clung to its message, that even in death I would not be abandoned." (266)
    • "The navy chaplains made everyone recite the Twenty-third Psalm, just like I was doing." (303)
    • Chaplain Trey Vaughn: "Marcus needs you! And God is protecting him, and now repeat after me the words of the Twenty-third Psalm." (342)
  • Lokhay was the ancient Pashtunwalai tribal law that you must fight to the death to protect a stranger you take in from their enemies. (335-337)

Topic: Navy SEALs

Source

Created: 2023-02-15-Wed
Updated: 2025-02-22-Sat