A SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE
THE WEB'S LEADING MILITARY BLOG SINCE 2004
Why am I writing about the Texas Book Festival on my blog? Two very important reasons: Texas is the greatest state on the planet!! And, this year’s festival will feature Brandon Friedman and Marcus Luttrell, two authors on polar opposite sides of the war debate. Both served their country in combat yet came away with completely opposite views about the importance of their respective contributions. Marcus Luttrell is the sole surviving SEAL from a Taliban ambush and wrote the book “Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10“. Brandon Friedman is pissed about his boredom in both Iraq and Afghanistan and wrote “The War I Always Wanted: The Illusion of Glory and the Reality of War” (was that sarcasm dripping from my keyboard?)
C-Span is going to Broadcast the Afghan Panel from the Texas Book Festival, Monday, December 31, 2007 on C-Span 2, BookTV (DIRECTV channel 351) at 5pm EST. This should be interesting with these two individuals together.
(6) Readers Comments
Leave a Reply
![[UPDATE] The “Face” of Military Dating Scams – The Wall of Shame](http://militarygear.com/asp/wp-content/themes/LondonLive/thumb.php?src=http://militarygear.com/asp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/2.jpg&w=53&h=41&zc=1&q=100)
Anatomy of a Military Dating Scam
I got a phone call from CapitalCargoCourier@hotmail.com today at 7:48
Anatomy of a Military Dating Scam
For Rachel Green: I do believe that was a scam. Military men do not n
CG of 3rd Infantry Division Targeted in Nigerian Scams
Ladies, beware, Sgt Calvin Clerance is also Paul Graves, Sgt51 on MyDa
Miss Ladybug
I thought I’d heard something about this a while back, and that Luttrell had decided to back out because of the panel’s unbalanced nature. Or am I thinking of a different “pro-war” author of a recently released book??
CJ
Nope, that’s the same guy but he’s decided to take them on again.
Leta
Marcus had considered backing out but some changes were made and he agreed to attend. A very dear friend of mine was there and says this is a “don’t miss” opportunity. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to view this on CSPAN since I missed getting to be at the book festival.
Miss Ladybug
I’ll be at work and will have to miss it. Oh, the joys of working retail (even if only part-time)…
Leta
It will rebroadcast at 7 AM on Wed, too if that helps out those who will miss it on Monday.
Haole Wahine
To set the stage for the panel: Marcus and several of us were very heistant with the first moderator that had been selected. Jim Hornfischer, himself a WWII military historian (The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour, and The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors) and a literary agent (David Bellavia, Jack Coughlin, Ron Powere, to name three) agreed to step in as moderator. Marcus and Brandon became very comfortable with each other, in fact there were several times you could see their eyes say to each other that the rest of us were just onlookers. They were very effective at describing how battle attacked the senses, and describing their training and especially their experiences/opinions with ROE. They were very antimated, and had the respect that should be shown to all VETS. Remember, this was in Austin, TX, and the panel following theirs was a tribute to Molly Ivins, so we were not sure what to expect from the audience. But Marcus “owned the room.” and both men were respected and treated with respect as VETS. By the way, Marcus’s parents, Governor Perry, and Anita Perry were in attendance. The governor kept popping in the book signing tent, which turned out to be a wonderful, relieved, relaxed experience for those of us directly involved.