Clinton RomeshaReseñas

Instead of reading this battle memoir I listened to the audio version which brought the noise of battle and blood to my ears on each morning I listened to it.

I am not a frequent reader of such books. But this one really had me hanging on every chapter.

In addition to the raw drama memorialized here, I found myself quaking at the sheer enormity of the machines of death that found their way into these pages: the high caliber guns, rocket-propelled grenades, drone bombers and reconnaissance, helicopter gun ships, F-15 fighter jets, even B1 bombers enlisted to scrub the hiding places where Taliban launched their deadly assault on a remote outpost in Afghanistan.

The author gave his enemies their due: they were well led, pretty well armed, and attacked as they had been trained. But once word of the attack got out and the rest of the American military complex enjoined the battle the only question was how many of the original defenders would survive.

Presumably, the Taliban’s objective was to rid themselves of these meddlesome Americans. Ironically, if they had waited another week the Americans had concluded that the base was almost completely indefensible and were planning to leave on their own.

The battle was really, completely, unnecessary. So much pain and suffering and gruesome murder for nothing.

What soldiers do in combat situations can never be understood by us civilians. The author does a great job at trying to help us understand. Amazing story, amazing people.

I do not envy the combat, but I do envy the brotherhood they have! Unlike any other relationship a person can have.

'It doesn't get better.'

Molto coinvolgente, l'ho letto tutto d'un fiato

"The Battle of Kamdesh"

I watched "The Outpost" (Scott Eastwood, Caleb Landry Jones, and Orlando Bloom) when it was released this summer then later knew of this book. Red Platoon reads like an action thriller, but it's a true story of real life heroes.

Combat Outpost Keating/Kamdesh was in mountainous Nuristan province near Pakistan border. Whose great idea to have a Combat Outpost (COP) at the bottom of a deep valley surrounded by mountains? The narrow roads along the steep mountains were unsafe with frequent ambush by Taliban insurgents. They stop using this road for resupply after 1st Lt Benjamin Keating drove a LMTV on said road and it collapsed. Keating died from his injuries (2006). Since then supplies were delivered at night by air. COP Keating wasn't fully supplied and considered indefensible. Due to diplomacy and politics at the time, evacuation and closing keep getting postponed.

On October 3, 2009 just before 6 am roughly 300 heavily armed Taliban attacked COP Keating from all sides. Later, they received air assault support but visibility was bad from smoke of burning barracks. Eight soldiers were KIA, one later from PTSD, 27 wounded. Many medals were awarded including two Medals of Honor for Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha and Specialist Ty Carter.

What soldiers do in combat situations can never be understood by us civilians. The author does a great job at trying to help us understand. Amazing story, amazing people.

I do not envy the combat, but I do envy the brotherhood they have! Unlike any other relationship a person can have.

Loved it! Great book. Open, honest and well written. he talks about real people. They have faults, they make mistakes. They are not all perfect. Including himself. Quite the story. Amazing what all the characters acheived. Get recommend enough. Real good insight into a samll unit under fire.

A good read, all things considered. At first, more of a novelized after-action report, but the story grows in the telling and ends up with a literary tone in the epilogue. Nicely done and hats off to the brave souls who didn't come home and again to those who returned to tell their story and live their lives in peace. Three stars.

Hands down the most well-written book I've read by a boots on the ground soldier. The descriptions of these men bring them back to life before breaking your heart when they are suddenly taken from you. There is no way for a civilian to truly understand what a soldier experiences in the heat of battle.....but Romesha brings it to you in all its glory and pain and grit. God bless you Clinton Romesha.....for your service, for your survival, and for sharing it all with us.

This is not a story. This is not fiction. This is a recounting of the battle of Command Outpost Keating. This is war in all its gruesomeness and valor. The men depicted are ordinary guys thrust into a fight for their lives. Clinton Romesha does not make these men out to be heroes. He tells what they did and how they did it. He shows their moments of fear and failure. He shows where they over came their faults and demonstrated extraordinary courage. Romesha received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his action during the 14 hour battle. Yet he gives the lion's share of the praise to his commanding officer and the men he fought with. He gives high praise to the pilots and airmen whose actions played a key role in preventing Command Outpost Keating from being over run by the Taliban. Although Taliban are portrayed as killers, Romesha gives them grudging respect for their strategy and tactics. Romesha is less kind with our Afghan allies.There is an epilogue which tells what happened to the men of Red Platoon after their tours of duty. Romesha does not make any comment on the politics of the Afghan War. His focus is on the men and their experience. He shows in graphic detail the human cost of this battle. The mistakes made. The hard cost of victory. In plain spoken text he tells what they saw, what they did and who they cared about. By doing this Romesha makes the reader understand the psychological cost war extracts from those who fight it, and the sense of brotherhood and purpose it gives in return

The author is a Medal of Honor recipient for a battle to hold a useless outpost in Afghanistan. He is not experienced author but he has put together one of the most penetrating books on battle that I've ever read. He starts out by describing the principle players in everyday language. and then he doesn't just describe the battle, he actually puts the reader into the action He allows the reader to cry out against incompetence, missed opportunities and just plain bad luck. A certain fatalism seems to pervade the whole narrative yet it is also clear no one wants to die. Without articulating it, he clearly would support the idea that soldiers do not die for liberty, country or patriotism; rather he makes it clear they are devoted first to each other and then all the other things for which human beings fight in battles. In that regard, this is almost a text book. Still, there is also the blood and gore of savaged bodies.

If anyone wonders what it is like to truly be in a battle for one’s life, this is the book for you. Medal of Honor recipient Clinton Romesha brings the reader into what it was like when Command Outpost Keating in Afghanistan came under attack where they were both outnumbered and outgunned by Taliban fighters in one of the most organized attacks ever put into play by our enemy. Romesha brings the reader right into actual combat describing almost by the minute what everyone involved was thinking and doing as the battle progressed. The courage and skills that these young men brought out in themselves and each other is a testament to what is right with our country. However, the simple fact that can’t be ignored is the sheer stupidity of building this outpost where it was. It was in a valley surrounded by high mountains on all sides. It was accessible by only one road deemed too dangerous to navigate so all deliveries had to be done by air. Making these air deliveries almost impossible were the mountains hiding offensive weapons that could easily bring down helicopters when properly placed and the other fact that the landing zone was across a river, making it had to defend from attacks from above. Even I know that the advantage in a military attack goes to the ones on higher ground, so why the “brilliant” strategists thought to build a post in such a virtually indefensible and remote place would result in anything but a bloodbath is beyond my comprehension. Therefore, while I admire and respect the men who fought so valiantly that day against almost insurmountable odds, especially those who gave up their lives in defense of COP Keating, I am also both amazed and horrified by those military leaders who put them in the position of having to do so.

I am a fan of military books. They are probably the number one type of nonfiction book that I read. Most of the books however have been about the past wars. Red Platoon is the most recent book I have read in a while focusing on a more current war. At first I was not into this book, which disappointed me due to the subject matter. Yet, because of this subject matter I tried to stick with the book. The second time I opened up this book it was like I was reading a different book, I was more focused and engaged in Clinton Romesha and his fellow comrades of the Black Knight Troop. This is probably one of the most realistic military books I have read in a while. There really was no holding back from the poo barrels to life in the barracks to the graphic details of the men getting hit and their brains spilling all over the dirt. If you are a fan of military stories than you are used to the language. Which for me I am used to and accept as part of the story. It was like I was there with Clinton and the rest of his comrades as they were taking heavy fire. It is people like Clinton and his comrades that fight for the rest of us and are willing to share their stories that we can have movies base don these books like the most recent movie, 13 Hours. This is a must, must read.

This is a great read. The best Combat Narrative since "We were Soldiers Once ... And Young". Romesha tells the story of Oct 3rd 2009 when his unit fought a determined Taliban to hold a worthless piece of earth in Afghanistan. His truthful reflections remind us of the young Patriots that keep America free and whose sacrifice is often neglected by the majority. Ooh-Rah! Black Knight Troop.

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Price 6.99 GBP