Beyond Hell and Back
How America's Special Operations Forces Became the World's Greatest Fighting Unit
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
An inside look at seven of the most harrowing and significant Special Operations missions ever.
Courage beyond reason. Loyalty beyond faith. Perseverance in the face of overwhelming adversity. These are just some of the qualities of the members of the U.S. Special Operation Forces. BEYOND HELL AND BACK details the seven defining Special Ops missions that have made the Special Operation Forces the best fighting unit in the world, including:
*THE RESCUE OF BAT-21: The largest and longest Combat Search and Rescue mission in the Vietnam War lasted 17 days and cost the lives of 13 Americans—all to rescue one man and the invaluable knowledge he alone possessed.
* TASK FORCE NORMANDY: Planned in secrecy and executed with flawless efficiency, Task Force Normandy was an Army/Air Force Special Operations joint op that fired the opening shots behind enemy lines in Operation Desert Storm.
*OPERATION EAGLE CLAW: The devastating Special Forces operation mounted to retrieve 52 American hostages in Iran resulted in the deaths of
eight members of the rescue team. This failure ultimately led to the creation of Special Operations Command.
*BASHER 52: Captain Scott O'Grady was shot down over the "no fly" zone above Bosnia, and his daring rescue was one of the Marine Corps' finest operations ever.
These are a few of the dramatic true tales that represent the defining moments that helped shape the operational methods, planning, and deployment for all future Special Ops missions. BEYOND HELL AND BACK is the greatest collection of Spec Ops missions ever assembled.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Looking at seven landmark U.S. military Special Operations missions, from 1970s Vietnam to Iraq in the 21st century, military writers Zimmerman and Gresham (Special Forces: A Guided Tour, with Tom Clancy) detail how the secretive, oft-misunderstood Special Ops forces have developed into "the best in the world" at carrying out high-risk/high-reward, and often highly classified, missions. Both successes (like the "Immaculate Mission" during Operation Iraqi Freedom) and failures (like the 1980 attempt to rescue U.S. Embassy personnel in Iran) are documented in exhausting detail, and cogent analysis spells out the consequences; for example, a raid on a POW prison in Hanoi didn't bring anyone home, but did drive the North Vietnamese to treat its prisoners more humanely, and pushed them toward peace talks in Paris. Zimmerman and Gresham excel at distilling incredibly complex mission planning and execution, making this a great read for military buffs, as well as for casual readers interested in the underlying issues that have fueled recent U.S. military conflicts.
