Title:
First SEALs : the untold story of the forging of America's most elite unit
Author:
ISBN:
9780306821721
Edition:
First edition.
Physical Description:
xi, 290 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Contents:
Prologue: "Cavities in the Lion's Mouth": the birth of underwater combat swimming -- Area D -- The race to design a rebreather -- Combat swimmers -- Silver Springs -- Sea -- Crazy Yanks: The maritime unit's beachhead in Egypt -- Pirate Yachts and spies of the cloth -- "Haggling, bribing, fines, delays, inspections, bullshit -- Treasure Island -- The "Yankee", Operation Audrey, and the Boot -- "The Little Pearl Harbor" -- The Ultimate Rescue -- Back to Albania -- No Picnic - The Kelly Plan -- Ossining -- Swimmer Commandos -- Air -- The Dupont Mission -- "I was promised this mission, and I want it" -- Land -- Vienna Captivity -- "Decima MAS" strikes back -- The Eighth Army detachment -- Stella -- Indiana Jones -- Surviving -- Mauthausen -- Last Acts - God Bless America -- Sunset -- "This is the first time I've ever been in the movies -- Epilogue -- The First SEALs after the War.
Summary:
"The rich history of SEAL Team 6 that captured Osama bin Laden stretches back to World War II when US intelligence officials formed a team of special-operation combat swimmers. Under the leadership of Captain Jack Taylor, a California dentist, the Maritime Unit (MU) started training in 1942, learning underwater and covert operation techniques, as it developed an array of James Bond-like new equipment, including the recently invented underwater breathing apparatus, limpet mines, silent electric motors, and a collapsible eight-foot submarine. Finally deployed in 1944, the unit conducted some of the most daring, behind-enemy-lines operations of the war in Italy, where they linked up with fearsome Italian commandos. In one of its greatest coups, they captured the plans--and the architect--of Germany's famed Gothic Line, resulting in the Eighth Army's partial breakthrough. Filled with unforgettable characters, including the unit's charismatic leader, a Hollywood star, and a gritty New York City gas station owner, The First SEALs cinematically narrates one of the greatest untold stories of World War II and links their storied past to today's gloried US Navy SEALs"--
