Book
Warrior soul : the memoir of a Navy SEAL
Record details
- ISBN: 9780891418634 (mass pbk)
-
Physical Description:
print
402 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. ; 18 cm. - Edition: 1st mass market ed.
- Publisher: New York : Ballantine Books, 2005, c2004.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | United States. -- Navy. -- SEALs -- Biography United States. -- Navy -- Officers -- Biography Military -- Navy Seals |
| Genre: | Memoir |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Sitka.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Other Formats and Editions
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazelton Public Library | 359.9 Pfa (Text) | 35154000101562 | Adult Non-Fiction - Main Floor | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2003 November #2
Had the author written his memoir in the 1980s, when he was an officer in the U.S. Navy's special-forces organization, he might have been busted to the fleet or thrown in the brig. Even now that his stories can be told, Pfarrer masks many of the names of his fellow "operators," a plain label that carries the highest cachet in the world of the SEALs. Earning and maintaining that designation is the theme that unites Pfarrer's memoir, as he relates his training, relations with comrades and superiors, and discharge. The values of the operator are crystal clear in Pfarrer's account: intolerance for mistakes and mastery of fear--with disdain for operators who can't command courage. These martial values are necessary for survival, and their enforcement by in-group psychology is amply illustrated by operations in Honduras, Beirut, and an unnamed Arab country, which are among the stories Pfarrer recounts. A must for military affairs readers, Pfarrer's recollections, allied with those of another SEAL (One Perfect Op by Dennis Chalker, 2002), vividly portray the elite warrior's arduous, perilous calling. ((Reviewed November 15, 2003)) Copyright 2003 Booklist Reviews - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2004 January
Recollections of a Navy commandoChuck Pfarrer feels no remorse for the men he has killed. "There are some people who need to go to hell and stay there," he writes. In Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy SEAL, the former commando recalls lethal encounters in clandestine assaults against enemy forces throughout the world. His observation that "operations very seldom go as you think they will" was affirmed in Lebanon, where his unit was assigned to a purportedly safe mission as peacekeepers but instead found that "violence was the overwhelming reality." He quickly abandoned atheism.
Pfarrer gives shell-by-shell and grenade-by-grenade accounts of firefights in Beirut, where in a six-month tour of duty he and his men participated in more than 100 rescue and reconnaissance missions. He was only 500 yards from the terrorist explosion that killed 241 Marines in what arguably ranks as the most humiliating U.S. military loss since Pearl Harbor. He recollects the grim aftermath of the disaster, which Ronald Reagan in his autobiography termed the "greatest sorrow" of his presidency.
In detailing the training program of the SEALs (an acronym for Sea, Air, Land), Pfarrer says it is designed to flunk applicants so that only the toughest men—mentally and physically—can survive. One requirement: trainees must swim 400 yards, retrieve a face mask from the bottom with their teeth, and then tread water for 40 minutes—all while their hands and feet are tied together with parachute cord.
Especially absorbing is Pfarrer's handling of Stan, a platoon member who was on the verge of freaking out and thus imperiling the safety of his buddies. In dealing with Stan, Pfarrer finds himself confronting his own fear. Pfarrer also discusses his marital infidelities and his bout with cancer, which ironically struck after he—sensing he had "used up all of my luck"—left the military. He became a prominent Hollywood screenwriter, with The Jackal, Hard Target and, not surprisingly, Navy SEALs among his credits. This book demonstrates that he writes just as well for the printed page as he does for the movies. Copyright 2003 BookPage Reviews
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2003 October #1
An eye-widening, fascinating memoir of a young man's sentimental education in the fine arts of infiltrating "denied areas," blowing things up, slashing a few throats, and otherwise visiting mayhem on the bad guys.Now a Hollywood screenwriter (The Jackal, Hard Target, and, of course, Navy SEALS), 40-something Pfarrer had the usual longhaired, dope-smoking, misspent youth of the '70s. When his Navy officer dad exiled him to military school, he became born-again tough, and, after trying his hand at civilian life, decided to sign up for the service with the demand that he be put on a SEAL team. For his sins, he got the assignment, enduring training meant to weed out all but a small percentage of applicants. Those who survive spend the rest of their careers being constantly tested, evaluated, and sent into dangerous places. Pfarrer explains that SEALs are something like the Army's Green Berets-only, of course, tougher and better in every way-but far fewer in number: "although the exact number of SEALs operational at any one time is classified," he gamely writes, "I can say that our organization is considerably smaller than the Hells Angels." (Later he writes that the total number of SEALs to have served since WWII is under 10,000.) The operations Pfarrer participated in and here describes are certainly hair-raising, whether storming the airplane carrying the Palestinian hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro (and nearly provoking a firefight with Italian troops in the bargain) or working behind the lines in "Wallyworld," slang for Lebanon, where, he writes, "we took what pleasure we could in not being shelled every day." Pfarrer writes proudly but without false bravado, even as he admits that he feels no guilt for having killed. "There are some people," he grimly notes, "who need to go to hell and stay there."Frank, well-written, and memorable. A companion to Anthony Swofford's Jarhead as a warts-and-all, unromantic look at life under arms. Copyright Kirkus 2003 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2004 January #1
Pfarrar, a navy SEAL in the 1980s, has since become a screenwriter with several high-profile movies to his credit (e.g., Red Planet; Darkman). This highly selective look back at Pfarrar's life describes the intensive navy SEAL selection and training process and tells the story of some of the operations he participated in. Pfarrar is an excellent action writer who brings a strong sense of immediacy to his combat stories. He takes us from Lebanon in 1983, where he narrowly missed being in the explosion that killed 240 U.S. Marines; to the Achille Lauro hijacking; to trading shots with a Sandinista gunboat; and then to fighting terrorists in the Middle East. Along the way, he barely mentions three wives and devotes all of two pages to a serious bout with colon cancer. He does take time to express contempt for the clueless politicians, both U.S. and foreign, who risk soldiers' lives. Long on meditations about the soldier mind-set and spirit, this book is likely to be a popular choice in public libraries and subject collections.-Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. - PW Annex Reviews : Publishers Weekly Annex Reviews
Pfarrer, a former Navy SEAL assault element commander and now a Hollywood screenwriter (The Jackal; Navy SEALS; Darkman, etc.), looks back on his time in the special forces in this adrenaline rush of a memoir that grabs readers from the first page (in which he readies for his finalùand nearly fatalùjump). Writing with the efficient clarity and brawn of one of the U.S. militaryÆs most special operators, Pfarrer describes the rigorous, nearly sadistic SEAL training that propelled him toward covert operations in the 1980s and early 1990s. He recounts his missions to various Cold War hotspots in Central America and the Middle East, where he patrolled BeirutÆs bombed-out streets as part of a multinational peacekeeping force during LebanonÆs ravaging civil war. PfarrerÆs somersaults through Navy service and personal challenges, including failed marriages and a bout with cancer, expose an introspective tug-of-war between disciplined combatant and human spectator, scruffy team leader and reluctant hero. Although chock full of military jargon (thankfully Pfarrar also includes a glossary of terms) and detailed descriptions of special operations, the story remains solidly human, highlighting this ôFrogmanÆsö facile combination of self-control and survival smarts in the face of adversities that most readers can only imagine. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
