Non-Fiction Book Review: No Easy Day
The #1 New York Times bestselling first-person account of the planning and execution of the Bin Laden raid from a Navy SEAL who confronted the terrorist mastermind and witnessed his final moments.
From the streets of Iraq to the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean, and from the mountaintops of Afghanistan to the third floor of Osama Bin Laden’s compound, operator Mark Owen of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group—known as SEAL Team Six—has been a part of some of the most memorable special operations in history, as well as countless missions that never made headlines.
No Easy Day puts readers alongside Owen and his fellow SEAL team members as they train for the biggest mission of their lives. The blow-by-blow narrative of the assault, beginning with the helicopter crash that could have ended Owen’s life straight through to the radio call confirming Bin Laden’s death, is an essential piece of modern history.
In No Easy Day, Owen also takes readers into the War on Terror and details the formation of the most elite units in the military. Owen’s story draws on his youth in Alaska and describes the SEALs’ quest to challenge themselves at the highest levels of physical and mental endurance. With boots-on-the-ground detail, Owen describes several missions that illustrate the life and work of a SEAL and the evolution of the team after the events of September 11.
In telling the true story of the SEALs whose talents, skills, experiences, and exceptional sacrifices led to one of the greatest victories in the War on Terror, Mark Owen honors the men who risk everything for our country, and he leaves readers with a deep understanding of the warriors who keep America safe.
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden Non-Fiction Book Review
Catching and killing Osama (Usama) Bin Laden was “all the rage” pre-election of 2012 and President Obama milked the headlines like a cow in heat to his advantage. Now, whether this valiant course of action got him re-elected is not for me to say. However, one thing’s for sure – the hype and media blitz that engulfed this story opened the floodgates to millions of Americans, as well as the world, with pestering questions of exactly how it all went down. What better way to get the inside scoop than hearing it from a SEAL himself? Better yet, a SEAL who was present during the operation to capture and/or kill Bin Laden or UBL. Lucky (or unlucky, depends on who you’re asking) former SEAL member Matt Bissonnette, who went under the pseudonym Mark Owen until he was subsequently identified (nothing’s secret these days), brought us his first-hand account of the events that unfolded that victorious night in his book, No Easy Day.
One would assume that the content of No Easy Day would be comprehensive minute-by-minute details of the hunt, capture, and killing of Osama Bin Laden. What we get, instead, is a day in the life or, rather, an assortment of days in the life of this particular SEAL. This account, of course, is from the perspective of one particular soldier so one can only assume that the experience varies per soldier. With that said, I have to admit that the experiences mentioned in this book were rather interesting/entertaining and certainly helped to humanize these “super” soldiers.
Often being depicted as nearly untouchable and superhuman by way of Hollywood, No Easy Day portrays for us, while in the comforts and safeties of our homes, the sacrifices and close brushes with death that these men endure for the sake of national security. It was gratifying reading about the human nature of these men. Not being a SEAL myself and not being well-educated in their culture, it is hard to decipher whether the depiction of such an elite soldier is accurate and whether or not truths were embellished or not. Either way, No Easy Day proved to be an entertaining read and if everything is as Bissonnette (Owen) describes, then it only goes to show the valor that these men engulf. Will I make a good SEAL? To be honest, probably not. I’ll leave the heroics to these men who actually seem to get a kick out of all the action.
From my understanding, there was a good deal of controversy surrounding the release of this book claiming that the book divulged secrets that were once only privy to SEAL members. Bissonnette (Owen) broke down that wall and allowed an eager public in on what goes on behind the scenes during a few training and actual operations. Not many were happy about this and I’m sure the release date of this book proved to be “No Easy Day” for Bissonnette (Owen) himself. Again, being no expert in the matter, it is hard for me to judge whether or not the secrets and intricacies of being a SEAL member were divulged in such a way that threatens the national security of our country or these men. But, one thing’s for sure, the book played out like a Hollywood action movie in waiting and if it weren’t for the recent Zero Dark Thirty, I’d say that this book would be a forerunner for the UBL raid to be depicted on the big screen.