Marcus Luttrell Event Q & A

Luttrell joined the United States Navy in March 1999.

On June 28, 2005, Luttrell and three other SEALs were assigned to Operation Red Wing, a mission to kill or capture Ahmad Shah. The SEAL team was made up of Luttrell, Michael P. Murphy, Danny Dietz and Matthew Axelson.

A group of goat herders stumbled upon the SEALs. Luttrell believed they immediately betrayed the team’s location to local Taliban forces and within an hour, the SEALs were engaged in an intense gun battle. In the ensuing battle, the rest of the SEAL team members were killed.

An MH-47 Chinook helicopter was dispatched with a force consisting of SEALs and 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment “Nightstalkers” to rescue the team, but the helicopter was shot down by an RPG. All 16 men on the Chinook were killed. Luttrell was the only survivor. Badly wounded, he managed to walk and crawl seven miles to evade capture. He was given shelter by an Afghan tribe, who alerted the Americans of his presence, and American forces finally rescued him six days after the gun battle.

Following his physical recovery from Operation Redwing, Luttrell returned and completed one more tour before being medically retired. He wrote the book, Lone Survivor, to share the amazing story of his brothers who paid the ultimate sacrifice. In 2013, Lone Survivor became a major motion picture staring Marc Wahlberg. Luttrell’s second book, Service, answers questions remaining from Lone Survivor and gives honor and praise to other members of the military.