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Into the Fire
A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War
2 of 2 copies available
In the fall of 2009, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of Afghan soldiers and Marine advisors in a mountain village called Ganjigal. Firing from entrenched positions, the enemy was positioned to wipe out one hundred men who were pinned down and were repeatedly refused artillery support. Ordered to remain behind with the vehicles, twenty-one year-old Marine corporal Dakota Meyer disobeyed orders and attacked to rescue his comrades.
With a brave driver at the wheel, Meyer stood in the gun turret exposed to withering fire, rallying Afghan troops to follow. Over the course of the five hours, he charged into the valley time and again. Employing a variety of machine guns, rifles, grenade launchers, and even a rock, Meyer repeatedly repulsed enemy attackers, carried wounded Afghan soldiers to safety, and provided cover for dozens of others to escape—supreme acts of valor and determination. In the end, Meyer and four stalwart comrades—an Army captain, an Afghan sergeant major, and two Marines—cleared the battlefield and came to grips with a tragedy they knew could have been avoided. For his actions on that day, Meyer became the first living Marine in three decades to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Into the Fire tells the full story of the chaotic battle of Ganjigal for the first time, in a compelling, human way that reveals it as a microcosm of our recent wars. Meyer takes us from his upbringing on a farm in Kentucky, through his Marine and sniper training, onto the battlefield, and into the vexed aftermath of his harrowing exploits in a battle that has become the stuff of legend.
Investigations ensued, even as he was pitched back into battle alongside U.S. Army soldiers who embraced him as a fellow grunt. When it was over, he returned to the States to confront living with the loss of his closest friends. This is a tale of American values and upbringing, of stunning heroism, and of adjusting to loss and to civilian life.
We see it all through Meyer’s eyes, bullet by bullet, with raw honesty in telling of both the errors that resulted in tragedy and the resolve of American soldiers, U.S. Marines, and Afghan soldiers who’d been abandoned and faced certain death.
Meticulously researched and thrillingly told, with nonstop pace and vivid detail, Into the Fire is the unvarnished story of a modern American hero.
Praise for Into the Fire
“A story of men at their best and at their worst . . . leaves you gaping in admiration at Medal of Honor winner Dakota Meyer’s courage.”—National Review
“Meyer’s dazzling bravery wasn’t momentary or impulsive but deliberate and sustained.”—The Wall Street Journal
“[A] cathartic, heartfelt account . . . Combat memoirs don’t get any more personal.”—Kirkus Reviews
“A great contribution to the discussion of an agonizingly complex subject.”—The Virginian-Pilot
“Black Hawk Down meets Lone Survivor.”—Library Journal
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
September 25, 2012 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780679645443
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780679645443
- File size: 7124 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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September 15, 2012
Scarifying memoir by Medal of Honor winner Meyer, proving that war is indeed hell--and the bureaucracy of war more hellish still. This cathartic, heartfelt account is not really a work of literature. Few readers would put it in the same class as similar memoirs by, say, Caesar or Ulysses S. Grant or even Anthony Swofford, and even the participation of military journalist West (The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan, 2011, etc.) doesn't keep the narrative from falling into pits of cliche and sentimentality. Earnest clumsiness aside, this is a book readers will want to study closely if they plan to go to war anytime soon, not least because of its helpful hints--e.g., in a firefight, watch your flank and pay attention to your officers, and you might just stay alive. A son of rural Kentucky and a highly trained sniper, Meyer gives a close reading of the tough and tenacious farming people he was put up against in Afghanistan: "It takes plain stubbornness to hack a living out of that flinty earth. If the villagers supported the insurgents, we were in for a long war." The villagers indeed supported the insurgents--the Taliban and their allies--in the sliver of mountain-ringed valley, hard against the border of Pakistan, into which Meyer and his fellow Marines were inserted. There they fought what has come to be known as the Battle of Ganjigal, where Meyer earned his medal even in the face of inept decisions higher up. As he writes, an investigation of various intelligence and tactical failures found "some shortcomings and 'poor battle management, ' " which he likens to saying that Lincoln was shot because someone left a door at the Ford Theatre unlocked. Combat memoirs don't get any more personal, and Meyer deserves honors for his honesty here just as much as for his experiences in the field.COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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February 1, 2012
Appropriately billed as Black Hawk Down meets Lone Survivor, this book tells what happened in September 2009 when a huge contingent of Taliban surrounded a company of Afghan soldiers and their marine advisers--including Meyer, who disobeyed his commanding officer and took over the company, saving 18 men and charging the enemy. He won a Medal of Honor, but his actions remain controversial, which should make this especially thought-provoking to read.
Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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