Lone Survivor: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

In March 2005, Luttrell and his SEAL team are sent to join SEAL Team 10, led by Lieutenant Eric Kristensen. Team 10 is “top of the line,” and so the assignment Luttrell faces is very challenging. He and the other SEALs will fly into the mountains and fight Taliban soldiers, curbing the influx of new terrorists. On the mission, the Taliban fire upon the SEALs. Luttrell returns fire and avoids being hit.

On a second mission, the SEALs proceed through the mountains to continue hunting Taliban. Everyone is in peak physical condition, but the mountains are so hot and unpredictable that it takes hours to move a few miles. In the early hours of the morning, SEAL Team 10 enters a village, interrogates some of the people who live there, and eventually arrests a Taliban fighter. The man stares at Luttrell, and Luttrell senses, “if he could have killed me, he would have.”

The ROE (rules of engagement) dictate that SEALs can’t shoot unarmed Afghan civilians. Luttrell is angry that SEALs can’t shoot other dangerous people, such as spies, and Taliban operatives smuggling chemicals used to make explosives. He quickly becomes frustrated when he realizes that the Taliban know the ROE and know how to manipulate them to their advantage. The Taliban think nothing of murdering innocents, but the SEALs are forced to abide by constraining ROE, or else be “crucified” by the American media. Luttrell concludes, “Any government that thinks war is somehow fair and subject to rules like a baseball game probably should not get into one.”

On one mission, Luttrell remembers, the SEALs are attacked by a group of “Afghan wild men” armed with rockets. The SEALs fire back, and later learn that the Taliban had sent soldiers armed with knives to kill SEALs in their sleep. A liberal, Luttrell thinks, would say that the Taliban soldiers’ intentions can’t be proven, meaning that they shouldn’t be shot. But of course, the Taliban are trying to kill Americans.

When trying to hunt down Taliban soldiers, the SEALs know to look for the odd man out—the Pashtun herdsman who doesn’t belong. Many Taliban soldiers aren’t as “rough” as the other Afghans in the area, and in fact, some of them have been educated in America. Sometimes, Luttrell feels unreal knowing that he’s in the place where the plan to destroy the World Trade Center was born.

The Pashtun dwellings are “primitive with a capital P,” Luttrell says. They reek of urine, and some are hundreds of years old. Luttrell and the SEALs go from village to village, searching for Taliban soldiers and photographing various people in the hopes that the images will prove useful later on. In his spare time, Luttrell volunteers in a Bagram hospital, helping wounded soldiers. During his time in the hospital, he cares for many Afghans, all at “the American taxpayer’s expense.” Luttrell values his time in the hospital, since one day he hopes to be a doctor.

Senior Chief Dan Healy is responsible for assigning the SEALs to their missions. He’s also responsible for assembling lists of suspected Taliban terrorists. One prime suspect is named Ben Sharmak (for security reasons, Luttrell will use this invented name). Sharmak is believed to command over a hundred Taliban fighters. He’s highly educated, and rumored to be one of Osama bin Laden’s closest associates.

Healy begins to prepare a mission for the SEALs, known as Operation Redwing, which revolves around the capture or killing of Ben Sharmak. Luttrell relishes the thought of putting a bullet through the head of this dangerous enemy of America.

Luttrell, Mikey, Shane Patton, Matthew Axelson listen to their assignment. The biggest change is that Patton will be replaced by Petty Officer Danny Dietz, a close friend of Patton. Luttrell is glad to have Danny on the team, though he finds Danny “a little reserved.” The team’s assignment is to stake out the place where Sharmak is believed to live and wait for a clear shot. But later—literally while the SEALs are climbing into the helicopter—Operation Redwing is called off: Sharmak has moved locations.

On June 27, 2005, military intelligence locates Sharmak again, meaning Operation Redwing is a go. The community in which Sharmak is believed to be residing is small, and Luttrell senses that the SEALs will be unable to land their helicopters without being seen and fired upon. Without a doubt, there will be hundreds of Taliban soldiers scanning the horizon for SEAL helicopters. Nevertheless, Luttrell and the other SEALs prepare for their mission. As they board the helicopter, Luttrell, Mikey, Axe, and Danny all sense that something’s wrong.

The helicopter carrying Luttrell and the other SEALs flies over the mountains. It’s accompanied by a second helicopter, carrying five other SEALs to the city of Asadabad. Luttrell’s helicopter lands at the designated site late at night, and the SEALs jump out of it and rush into the darkness.

For the next fifteen minutes, Luttrell and the three other SEALs don’t make a sound. In the distance they can see two fires. Eventually, they make their way up a hill toward the flame. As they move, they notice that the helicopter has dropped a big rope, presumably for the SEALs to use. This was a big mistake—had the SEALs not recovered the rope, it would have signaled to Pashtun herdsmen that the Americans were here. The SEALs hide the rope. Using his radio, Luttrell checks in with the AC-130 Spectre gunship (the helicopter), which is hovering miles above him, providing support in case of an emergency. This is the last time Luttrell will speak to the gunship.

The SEALS proceed toward the village, climbing down a steep mountain. Conditions are awful, but it’s too cold to rest. In the end, the SEALs find a trail, which the Taliban have been using. After half a mile or so, the SEALs smell goat manure: there’s a farmhouse nearby. Luttrell realizes that he and his teammates are clearly visible: the moon is shining so brightly that they cast long shadows on the ground. “Holy shit,” whispers Mikey.