Lions of Kandahar

by BRADLEY, RUSTYMAURER, KEVIN

• ISBN13: 9780553807578
• ISBN10: 0553807579
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-28
• Publisher: Bantam

Summary

One of the most critical battles of the Afghan War is now revealed as never before. Lions of Kandahar is an inside account by an unparalleled warrior, the only active-duty U.S. Army Special Forces soldier ever permitted to write, publish, and promote a book with full Army and Special Operations support. Southern Afghanistan was slipping away. That was clear to then-Captain Rusty Bradley as he began his third tour of duty there in 2006. The Taliban and their allies were infiltrating everywhere, poised to reclaim Kandahar Province, their strategically vital onetime capital. To stop them, the NATO coalition launched Operation Medusa, the largest offensive in its history. The battlefield was the Panjwayi Valley, a densely packed warren of walled compounds that doubled neatly as enemy bunkers, lush orchards, and towering marijuana stands, all laced with treacherous irrigation ditches. A mass exodus of civilians heralded the carnage to come. Dispatched as a diversionary force in support of the main coalition attack, Bradley#x19;s Special Forces A-team and two others, along with their longtime Afghan Army allies, watched from across the valley as the NATO force was quickly engulfed in a vicious counterattack. Key to relieving it and calling in effective air strikes was possession of a modest patch of high ground called Sperwan Ghar. Bradley#x19;s small detachment assaulted the hill and, in the midst of a savage and unforgettable firefight, soon learned they were facing nearly a thousand seasoned fighters-from whom they seized an impossible victory. Now Bradley recounts the whole remarkable story as it actually happened. The blistering trek across Afghanistan#x19;s infamous Red Desert. The eerie traces of the elusive Taliban. The close relations with the Afghan people and army, a primary mission focus. Sperwan Ghar itself: unremitting waves of fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades; a targeted truck turned into an inferno; the death trap of a cut-off compound. Most important: the men, Americans and Afghans alike-the #x1C;shaky#x1D; medic with nerves of steel and a surgeon#x19;s hands in battle; the tireless sergeant who seems to be everywhere at once; the soft-spoken intelligence officer with laser-sharp insight; the diminutive Afghan commander with a Goliath-sized heart; the cool maverick who risks all to rescue a grievously wounded comrade-each unique, all indelible in their everyday exercise of extraordinary heroism.

Table of Contents

Glossary	p. ix
Author's Note	p. xi
First Contact	p. 3
That Sewer Smell	p. 7
Picking a Fight	p. 23
Welcome Back	p. 29
Bingo Red One	p. 42
Operation Medusa	p. 63
Rat Lines	p. 81
A Cat-And-Mouse Game	p. 94
The Red Sands	p. 104
The Notebook	p. 115
The Voice of an Angel and Death	p. 131
ôShoot into the Bushes, Daddy!ö	p. 144
Black on Ammo	p. 155
Seven Two-Thousand-Pounders	p. 171
Put Your Mouthpiece In	p. 182
Friends for Life	p. 191
ôThese Jokers Just Don't Give Up!ö	p. 205
Holding On at all Costs	p. 219
Today Is Not Your Day	p. 229
A World of Hurt	p. 239
The Dragon's Back	p. 248
Firebase Sperwan Ghar	p. 259
Epilogue	p. 271
Acknowledgments	p. 277
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