Product Description

The riveting untold story of the Marine missions that led to free elections in Afghanistan.

In late June 2005, media reports recounted the tragic story of nineteen U.S. military soldiers and Marines who died at the hands of Ahmad Shah-and the lone survivor who was rescued-in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan. The harrowing events of Operation Red Wings marked the beginning of an important-yet widely misreported-chapter in the Global War on Terror.

Victory Point reveals the complete and untold story of Operation Red Wings, and the follow-up mission, Operation Whalers. It is the story not of a mission gone wrong, but of a complex and difficult campaign that finally saw the demise of Ahmad Shah and his band of barbarous fighters.

Thanks to the valor of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment in the summer of 2005, Afghanistan was able to hold free elections that Fall. Here is the inspiring true account of heroism, duty, and brotherhood between marines fighting the War on Terror.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #130166 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780425226193
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Writer/photographer Ed Darack has followed the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment since their pre-Afghan mountain warfare training, and has continued with them through Afghanistan and their subsequent deployment into Iraq. He is the author of three previous books.

Customer Reviews

Superb Insight into Operations in Afghanistan
READ THIS BOOK! Mr Darack spent two months with 2/3 in Afghanistan in 2005. That time period was the genesis for the book. He spent a great deal of time interviewing the Marines and sailors and lived at Camp Blessing with the Marines, sailors, and Afghan Security Forces. The book was well reviewed by Bing West, Dalton Fury, and others. The battalion achieved victory not by technology dependent special operations that are so lionized by Hollywood and the press these days, but by time-tested boots-on-the-ground, small unit counterinsurgency tactics, tactics codified by the Marine Corps. Read it if you want an honest view of the challenges on the ground for a unit engaged in the COIN fight at the Edge of the Empire. Mr. Darack witnessed first hand the success of the batallion, and how it was achieved through working closely with locals, spending as much time outside the wire as possible, proving our intentions for a unified and pacified country, and of course, always being ready for the tough fight. VICTORY POINT brings the reader into all aspects of what it took to win a difficult counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan, conveying the no-nonsense, classic, and time proven methods of this type of warfare, from the dividends yielded from passing out school supplies to children, to helping build roads and other infrastructure, to the necessity of undertaking a high intensity combat.

Great book!! Compelling story against an interesting background
This is the story of an operstion the Marines performed in Afghanistan that allowed a successful and free election. It has a lot of history and background to set the stage and tells a compelling story that shows the good that the Marines were doing at that time in Afghanistan.

With everything that is still going on over there it was great to get some insight into it all. The story of these Marines is very compelling and I flew through this book.

I highly recommend it.

Highly Recommended
This book was educational, enlightening, and exhilarating. I found myself up way past the midnight hour engulfed in the fight with the Marines and their military joint forces battling against the insurgents. Ed Darack does a brilliant job of retelling this story with detailed straight talk, vivid descriptions, and raw verbiage of the gut-wrenching fire-fights. Thanks to this great read I now have an even greater respect and appreciation for those who are engaged in a war where the terrain is unforgiving and the enemy has the home court advantage. A highly recommended book.