13 Hours (Book)

The Book in 1 Sentence

Narration for the incredible story that presents true descriptions of all the aspects of the "Fog of War."

Brief Review

This narrative telling of the actions of a few men doing great good is heart wrenching, frustrating, and harrowing. I think what this book does really well that others like it fail to do, is be upfront about the intent of the book, who profits from the book, and what information is shaded, obfuscated, or intentionally withheld.

Why I Read this book

The movie based on this book is a household favorite. I wanted to read it to get a less dramatized story about what happened on that date.

In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)

Mitchell Zuckoff does a fantastic job of setting the pace for this book. What I mean is exactly what I mentioned in the "Brief Review" above. There is some political statements made, but are presented with the other sides belief into what/why they did what they were doing. I feel that in this situation where this series of events are still so contentious even after 12 years, that nothing beyond the real events that took place on the ground or what was presented in Congress during the investigation.

I think the primary military lesson you get in this book beyond the tactical lessons presented in the book is the idea of "Fog of War." This lesson is more about the mental aspect not the idea of the smoke on the ground. This biggest confusion in this fight was the enemy was everyone and no one. It was their allies. It was the world where money and power did more than agreements that were in place. When I was deployed to Afghanistan our pre-deployment training consisted of how to identify threats. They do not wear uniforms, the culture and religion CAN suggest that Americans are evil due to our belief and excess. With this in mind, you can't look at an individual and know for sure if they are keeping their word or working to betray you as they do not see lying to infidels as a bad thing to do. So working with people is more about your ability to read situations and judgment of those you interact with. These contractors do a fantastic job of thinking 2 steps area to read what could happen and that probably saved more lives than if it had just been the staffers in the building.

Zuckoff also does a great job of taking the story and telling all the angles from the GRS guys. The flipping from perspectives does not take away from the book and pacing. It is really well done.

How my life / behavior / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.

I have been thinking about this. It has been a conversation in my house in the last year about whether I could/should return to the military. I think that is something that this book really drove home into me is the idea that I need to do something with a sense of purpose. Being in the military is the best job I've ever had as there is no way to go home without knowing you are doing something. I know some 4-year E3 is going to say that I am wrong, but I promise that if you took time to care for those next to you, then that sense of purpose is the easiest to achieve in this course of action.

Rating

This is what a book of this type should be. Straight facts about the actions taken against the enemy. Something that is capable of being reviewed for future generations to think through the actions to make in real time. I think that this book provides a clear example of a tumultuous time. It's a 9.

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