Lone Survivor : Book / Movie Review

Let's not hide the fact that I'm a nerd at heart.    Oh, and books are my jam.    Fun Fact: My husband; however, has never read an entire book. *Gasp*   So, with all the said I want to jump into today's post: Book Review: The Lone Survivor.  

 

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I'll be honest and say that I would not have downloaded this book on my own to read.  It isn't that I don't care or want to know about what goes on in a military's life in the field; but yet more of a fear I don't have to face myself.  That sounds incredibly selfish, and it is.    But then my husband and his brother starting talking about this moving coming out called Lone Survivor, staring Mark Wahlberg.      "Did I want to see it?"  Well, duh, didn't they just say Marky Mark was in it?  I'M IN!   BUT THEN...   My husband told me to get on YouTube and look up "Lone Survivor Part One."   That alone changed the whole thing for me.  It was now more about a hero, a soldier, a SURVIVOR.  We immediately began watching the second part of the interview and were even more hooked.  That following weekend, we went to see the movie.   Speechless.    I cried over half way through the movie, I'm pretty sure.  You see this hit close to home for me.  Brian's little brother, Ben, is in the military.  Fortunately for our nerves, he is untouched as of right now.  He is at school at Ole Miss.  But once his college is over, things will be determined at the point.   No, Ben isn't a Navy Seal and No, he won't be doing "those kind of missions" but the one fact remains- he WILL more than likely be on the verge of our enemy shooting at our men and women, no matter what their rank.    If you've seen the movie, then at the end you know it shows the real lives that were lost.  To say I had a lump in my throat is an undertatement.  It made me feel SO guilty for having a "bad day" here when sometimes doesn't go my way.  And then we have men and women around the world fighting for OUR freedom and we want to claim the pity party.  I'm just a guilty as the next person.  And that movie OPENED my eyes.   So, back on topic, after seeing the movie and learning that Marcus Luttrell had a book out I knew I wanted to read it immediately.  So I downloaded it onto my Kindle and poured myself into the story.  It gives an awesome background on Marcus (and his twin brother, Morgan) and how they became the men they are today.    The details of the movie very closely portray how things really did happen and for that I'm grateful.  I think having Marcus along for the filming made all the difference in the world. This is a book I am so glad that I own now and one I can see myself reading again in the future.    We all need to stop and realize that yes, people are over there fighting a war for us every single day.  I know I read a lot of military wives blogs and it just hurts my heart to see them say goodbye to their husbands when they leave for deployment.  But I want to take just a minute and THANK each and every one of them that will never see my blog or know I even exist.  I know our freedom doesn't come for free, and for those brave men and women I am eternally grateful.    So my rating on this movie and this book?  5 Stars ALL THE WAY. It's a must see and must own.   Do yourself a favor and go see it and read it today!