Lone Survivor: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

One of the first things Luttrell establishes about SEALs is that they don’t display strong emotions—for example, they don’t get sappy when they’re saying their goodbyes. The passage also emphasizes the SEALs’ talent, strength, and singular confidence in their ability to use deadly force.

Luttrell likens the inhabitants of Bahrain to Nazis. The point he seems to be making is that a significant chunk of the Arab world is murderous, extremist, and committed to the destruction of America—a viewpoint that many would consider Islamophobic. (Since, to name just one reason, the Jews hadn’t previously been bombing the Nazis for years, as America had the Arab world.)

The SEALs are trained to be competent in almost any military situation, whether it’s on land, sea, or the air. Partly because of their talent, and partly because of the overall code of machismo to which they subscribe, the SEALs never complain—they bite their lips and get the job done, whatever it might be. Note Luttrell’s early conflation of his job with “God’s work” and his idolization of Bush as a “godly” military commander.

Here, Luttrell paints America’s enemies with a very broad brush. The different groups Luttrell names aren’t always collaborating with one another (and in some cases, they’re actively opposed to one another). Like many right-wing figures during the War on Terror, Luttrell argues that Middle Easterners are fundamentally different than Americans, largely because of their Islamic faith (even though Islamic morality is similar to Christian morality in many ways, and both celebrate the Old Testament, including the Ten Commandments).

The American invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, was generally supported by Republicans and Democrats. However, the invasion was also criticized for its tenuous link to the 9/11 attacks—it was argued that the al Qaeda operatives who planned 9/11 weren’t primarily based out of Afghanistan at all. Luttrell simply brushes these criticisms aside and insists the invasion was justified.

The SEALs are tough, highly trained, and, under the right circumstances, brutal killers. But Luttrell distinguishes them from their opponents in the Middle East by describing their kindness and their love for their families—humanizing them, while continuing to see his opponents as evil and inhuman.

Mikey gives up a promising career as a lawyer in order to defend his country, a clear sign of his commitment to the SEALs. He’s also portrayed as a loving boyfriend to Heather, and a good friend to Luttrell himself.

Luttrell’s other friends among the SEALs are distinguished by two things: 1) their extreme competence as soldiers for the American military, and 2) their kindness and friendliness as private citizens. In short, the SEALs are tough but not heartless—they’re still good friends and family men.

This section establishes the “frame” for the next few chapters, in which Luttrell describes his early life, much like a flashback in a Hollywood movie.

President Bush was widely criticizing for claiming that the War in Iraq was “over” (and for displaying a banner saying, “Mission Accomplished” when there was still a lot of work to do in Iraq). He was also criticized for alienating Hussein’s military and police instead of trying to cooperate with them, as many of his Pentagon advisers had suggested. The result was that soldiers like Luttrell spent years rooting out corruption and opposition in Iraq even after the fall of Saddam Hussein and America’s supposed “victory.”

Luttrell attacks the terrorists for their cowardice and greed. In this way, he contrasts the terrorists’ behavior with the bravery and self-sacrifice of the American SEALs who risk their lives to raid houses and track down Iraqi terrorists. Luttrell here also vaguely addresses the idea that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”—but he entirely scorns this view, rejecting any empathy for the other side and presenting all of the insurgents as cowards and savages.

By “fight like terrorists,” Luttrell seems to mean that he and his fellow troops tried to shock and intimidate Iraqi civilians into cooperating. However, the passage disturbingly foreshadows some of Luttrell’s remarks about disliking the rules of engagement designed to keep American soldiers from killing innocent people.

The American soldiers in Iraq weren’t perfect, but, according to Luttrell, their mistakes were mostly harmless and didn’t violate the ethics of warfare. If anything, Luttrell’s anecdote implies, the only people who were really endangered because of the American troops were other American troops. But in fact, many Iraqi civilians were killed, sometimes accidentally and sometimes on purpose, because of American troops’ actions.

Fighting terrorists made Luttrell a tougher soldier (in his own description), and he learned not to show any mercy to his opponents in Iraq. Of course, once again he is portraying all of his enemies and perceived enemies as fundamentally the same.

Luttrell again emphasizes the deviousness and corruption of the Iraqi side in the war, contrasting it with (what he sees as) the idealism and lofty Christian morality of the American troops.

This is one of the many times in the book when Luttrell editorializes about the politics of the war in Iraq. Many Americans on both the left and the right believed that the Bush administration manipulated the facts to hasten an invasion of Iraq, strongly implying that Saddam Hussein had nuclear missiles (or any kind of “WMDs” at all). Luttrell takes the Bush administration’s position, arguing that, WMDs or not, Hussein was an evil man who had to be stopped. (And Hussein was indeed a brutal, sometimes genocidal dictator—the question is whether America has any kind of power or moral high ground as the “world’s policeman” to simply depose of any leader they disagree with.) Luttrell also doesn’t mention the possibility, widely discussed during and after the War on Terror, that America invaded the country to ensure access to Iraq’s lucrative oil reserves.

The ROE that Luttrell discusses are in large part the result of the Geneva Conventions following World War Two. During these talks, many Western countries agreed to abide by certain rules of war and refrain from killing or torturing civilians in times of conflict. Luttrell has nothing but contempt for these rules, which were put in place to protect innocent lives. He seems to wish that the American troops could act like terrorists themselves, killing on even the suspicion of wrongdoing, for the greater good of protecting America—a disturbing proposition to say the least.

Although Luttrell claims that he isn’t a political person, here his self-proclaimed patriotism could be read as a political opinion, as it at least implies that he favors the U.S. over other countries. His comment that he would be charged with murder if he shot bin Laden "in cold blood" further speaks to his belief that soldiers like himself risk their lives only for terrorists like bin Ladin to be treated too leniently. (Of course, bin Laden was later killed by other Navy SEALs at the command of the President Obama.)