Service: A Navy SEAL at War (40 page)

Many thanks to my coauthor, Jim Hornfischer, for his tireless efforts while working with me to bring
Service
out of my mind and onto the page. I know it’s been a crazy ride, my friend, but you handled it well. I can say without any hesitation that it has been an honor and a privilege not only to collaborate with you on this book, but to call you my friend.

To my teammates: It was the greatest honor to walk beside you both on and off the battlefield. To Task Unit Red Bull: Thanks for keeping me in the circle and trusting me enough to help carry the load—even to the very end, when I could barely carry myself. To the officers and chiefs of Naval Special Warfare: Thank you for allowing me to return to the line and get back some of what I lost in the mountains of Afghanistan in 2005. To the Air Force rescue squadron, the Army Rangers, the Green Berets, and everyone else who pulled me, Mikey, Danny, Axe, and the remains of Turbine 33 off the mountain. I will never forget you. Thank you for risking your own lives and for never giving up on us. May God bless you for all your days.

Many thanks to my Green brother Joe and Civil Affairs Major Clint Hanna for keeping watch over Gulab and setting up the reunion. Those days you gave me with him will hold a place deep in my heart always. Most important, I would like to thank
the Lord for giving me the strength to overcome all adversity and continue to do what I was born to do.

Finally, to my brother: Thank you for walking beside me through everything, and never once leaving my side. FTWTTT.

Marcus Luttrell became a combat-trained Navy SEAL in 2002 and served in many dangerous Special Operations assignments around the world. He is the author of the #1
New York Times
bestseller
Lone Survivor
and is a popular corporate and organizational speaker. He lives near Huntsville, Texas.

James D. Hornfischer is the author of the
New York Times
bestseller
Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal,
as well as
Ship of Ghosts
and
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors,
which won the Samuel Eliot Morison Award and was a Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. He lives in Austin, Texas.

marcusluttrell.com

jameshornfischer.com

Lone Survivor
(with Patrick Robinson)

Neptune’s Inferno

Ship of Ghosts

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

Task Unit Ramadi, Task Unit Red Bull.
(Courtesy of Brandon Scott)

Task Unit Ramadi, Task Unit Red Bull.
(Courtesy of Brandon Scott)

Brandon “Fizbo” Scott, our JTAC, outside the SEAL camp.
(Courtesy of Brandon Scott)

Inside Camp Marc Lee.
(Courtesy of Brandon Scott)

Looking south from camp down the Euphrates, toward the glass factory.
(Courtesy of Brandon Scott)

Chris Kyle and Team 3 preceded us in Ramadi and put a dent in the enemy’s numbers.
(Jim Hornfischer)

DQ. Good man. Good friend.
(Courtesy of DQ)