Leave No Man Behind: Us Special Forces Raids and Rescues from 1945 to the Gulf War

by David Isby

Book Overview

Relive a dozen of the most exciting and dangerous missions ever carried out by U.S. military forces. From the Philippines in 1945 to modern-day Iraq and the mesmerizing rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0297846744
• ISBN13: 9780297846741
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: George Weidenfeld & Nicholson
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Good SOF history and analysis for direct action mission

Most books on US special operations forces do not try and cover the whole subject, with those that do tending to be either surveys, hagiographies, or picture books. Most writers tend to focus on a part of SOF, either one unit (Robinson's MASTERS OF CHAOS), operation (Robin Moore's HUNTING DOWN SADDAM), team (Simons' THE COMPANY THEY KEEP), or operator (Durant's IN THE COMPANY OF HEROES or the generals who did books with Tom Clancy). This is understandable, as not only are there better stories and compelling characters for writers at this level, but few have the background to tell the whole story. LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND is a different way to take a slice of the SOF pie. It traces from 1945 the history of US raids to liberate good guys or grab bad guys. This provides a trip through some of the high and low points of US special operations up to the seizure of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. The narrative links the different raids together, showing the changes in SOF over the years, with the rise of SOCOM and the rejection of Clinton-era irrationality in SOF commitment polices getting high marks. LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND reminds me of another excellent SOF book that uses a series of historical case studies to make its point, McRaven's SPEC OPS (which it used as a source). LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND differs in that its case studies are limited to US examples since 1945 and after of one specific type of direct action (itself only a small part of what SOF does) rather than ranging through history and looking at other countries. It also differs in what the author brings to then history. While McRaven was a big-time SEAL, Isby is a Washington policy wonk (albeit with combat experience in Afghanistan that in wrote about in the old SOLDIER OF FORTUNE magazine). Overall LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND is an excellent book, both in its presentation of history and its use of that history as a basis for analysis. There are some minor errors and omissions, especially on the more recent stuff. There is no mention of the KESTREL PHOENIX CPX/FTX of 2000, despite its high profile, that exercised a then-current OPLAN. The treatment of the raid on Mullah Omar's house in Kandahar in October 2001 is little better than you get from Seymour Hersh. But, all in all, LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND is recommended reading for special operators and those that need to work with them, or are interested in how smart and brave guys committed to high risk missions worked (or failed) in the past.

Valuable analytical history of US special forces in action

Elite fighting men launched on desperate missions makes for good reading. LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND is a look at the reality behind many novels, movies and even today's headlines. It is serious military history, covering 1945-2004, and will repay close reading. If you wonder why special forces have not been able to grab bin Ladin, Mullah Omar, and other evil men, then the 13 case studies in this book should give you a good idea of how difficult it is to reconcile the instant reaction and detailed planning that this would require. At the end, you will be wiser than one William Jefferson Clinton, who appears herein asking an unsympathetic general why a helicopter full of "black ninjas" cannot handle the bin Ladin problem for him. While Clinton was obviously more at home with the Hollywood fantasy; this book gives you the hard reality. The focus is on how these missions interacted with either national strategy or theater war-fighting and what led to their success or failure, rather than the view from the individual raider. Most of the case studies have at least one map, which is greatly appreciated. The author's style is clear, but tends to be technical. I was glad for the extensive glossary.

US Special Operations Raids from 1945 to Iraq

Today, in Iraq, Afghanistan and other battlefields, US special operations forces are in action. Their mission is to capture terrorist leaders. Others are ready to liberate hostages that may be held by terrorists. Success in these missions can deliver a precise rapier thrust to an enemy, potentially more powerful than conventional operations or airstrikes. The capture of Saddam Hussein and the rescue of PFC Jessica Lynch are among the most dramatic successes in Iraq. But failure can have a terrible cost. But these raids in Iraq were only the latest in a series of the most dangerous missions undertaken by the US military: liberation and capture missions; the liberation of Americans being held by an enemy and seizing enemy leaders. In his new book, Leave No Man Behind, David Isby traces the history of US liberation and capture mission going back to 1945. Then, at Los Banos in the Philippines, US paratroopers arrived literally at the last minute to prevent a camp full of prisoners being massacred by their Japanese captors. Five years later, in Korea, paratroopers arrived too late to prevent the slaughter of US prisoners of war. Leave No Man Behind is about how US special operations forces - the Green Berets, Rangers, SEALS, Delta Force, paratroopers and Marines - have carried out these challenging missions. Trying to free or seize individuals rather than whole countries has proved to be the most difficult single mission that the US military has been called on to carry out. The book shows how, repeatedly, failures in intelligence and by high level command have let down the raiders. At Son Tay in North Vietnam in 1970, a perfectly executed US raid found only an empty camp where before there had been dozens of US prisoners. In the Iranian desert in 1980, a raid to free U.S. hostages being held in Tehran ended in tragedy with a fiery collision that left many raiders dead and aircraft abandoned. That raid helped end the Carter administration. The author shows that these types of raids are politically charged much more than any other military operations of their size, as the effects of the raids to liberate Jessica Lynch and seize Saddam Hussein have demonstrated. The book also looks at the politics behind the scenes of raids that did not take place, such as those planned under the Clinton administration to seize Osama bin Ladin before 9/11. Why this raid - which could have prevented the events of 11 September 2001 -- did not take place is one of the many stories in Leave No Man Behind. The difficulty of having to carry out vital raids by a US military that embraced risk averse "zero defects" policies in the 1990s has been critical in worldwide anti-terrorist actions. The actions described in Leave No Man Behind include some of the finest fighting ever done by Americans. This includes two Delta Force snipers in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993 that saved the life of a shot-down helicopter pilot at the expense of their own, who were resolv

A look at POW/Hostage rescue by the U.S. since 1945

Mr. Isby has created a great work on how the U.S. has attempted to rescue POWs and Hostages, and seize high-value enemy leaders, since 1945. He leads off with the last successful mission before the Iraq War, the Los Banos raid in the Philippines in 1945, before going on to Korea, the famous Son Tay raid in Vietnam, the seizure of the S.S. Myaguez, Iran in 1980, Grenada, Panama, Mogadishu in 1993, attempted seizure of both Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar in Afghanistan, and the three most famous raids of the Iraq War: the rescue of PFC Jessica Lynch, the killing of both Uday and Qusay Hussein, and the capture of their father. He gives praise when it is deserved, and issues proper criticism when needed. It was good to see someone from the U.K. praising instead of heaping scorn on the Lynch rescue, as he has given the most even-handed treatment of the raid outside the U.S. that I have seen so far. All in all, a good read about the missions that give those who go on them the pride that they went into harm's way and returned prisoners home to family and friends.