Victory Point Operations Red Wings and Whalers - the Marine Corps' Battlefor Freedom in Afghanistan

by Darack, Ed

• ISBN13: 9780425232590
• ISBN10: 042523259X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-04-06
• Publisher: Berkley Trade

Summary

Now in paperback-The Lone Survivorwas only the beginning...Victory Pointis the riveting true story of the Marine missions that led to free elections in Afghanistan. In late June 2005, media reports spread the tragic story of 19 U.S. soldiers who died at the hands of Taliban leader Ahmad Shah-and of a lone survivor who was rescued in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. The harrowing events of Operation Red Wings marked the beginning of an important, yet widely misreported, chapter in the global War on Terror. Now the complete and untold story of Operation Red Wings, and the follow-up mission, Operation Whalers, is revealed. It is the story not of a mission gone wrong, but of a complex and difficult campaign that finally saw the demise of Ahmad Shah and his band of barbarous fighters. Thanks to the valor of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment in the summer of 2005, Afghanistan was able to hold a free election that fall.

Author Biography

Writer/photographer Ed Darack has followed the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment since their first pre-Afghan mountain warfare training, and has continued with them through Afghanistan and their subsequent deployment into Iraq. He is the author of three previous books.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Author's Note	p. xv
Welcome to Afghanistan	p. 1
The Battalion	p. 28
Synergy of Success	p. 48
Into the Hindu Kush	p. 63
Red Wings Takes Flight	p. 95
Ambush	p. 124
Storm of Chaos	p. 142
Redoubled Efforts	p. 172
Whalers Unleashed	p. 191
Armageddon, Denied	p. 205
One Ridge Distant, A World Apart	p. 229
Star Wars	p. 249
Kinetic Exfil	p. 263
Victory Point	p. 277
Afterword	p. 281
Acknowledgments	p. 285
Primary Weapon Systems	p. 287
Interviewees	p. 297
References	p. 299
Index	p. 303
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