Review of
Summary of Red
Platoon A True Story of American Valor by Clinton Romesha
Five out of
five stars
Shortly into
this summary I was reminded of some of the accounts that I have read of the
Vietnam War. How American forces established a base in a remote area that was
often untenable, fought a ferocious battle to hold it against the enemy and
then abandoned it.
Keating was the
most remote American outpost in Afghanistan, located at the bottom of a valley
where enemy forces could easily fire down from concealed positions. When the
units containing the author arrive, they immediately recognize their
vulnerability. The inevitable happens when a major Taliban force attacks
Keating. The ground units take casualties and through their great bravery and
the intervention of American air power, manage to avoid being completely
overrun. At the end, the outpost is destroyed and all American forces leave.
While the
emphasis is on one specific battle in this summary, there is also other
information about the environment in Afghanistan. The foolishness of occupying
vulnerable positions, the unreliable nature of the Afghan forces and the role
of American forces in general. This is summed up in the sentence:
“Notably, Romesha remains uncertain as to whether the
US military did mostly good things or was a net positive force for the local
population.”
There is also
detailed mention of the tight personal bonds that develop among ground troops
in combat, the ability to adapt and even disobey orders when necessary and the
role of the air forces in supporting the ground troops.
This book
describes a battle while covering the larger context within which it takes
place. This summary covers all of that very well, from the questionable
location to the battle and the abandonment of the position at the end. There is
also mention of the high percentage of difficulties that veterans of the Middle
East conflict experience, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
This book was made available for free for review
purposes.
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