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The Odyssey of an American Warrior
St. Martin's Press
October 2010
On Sale: October 12, 2010
576 pages ISBN: 0312599056 EAN: 9780312599058 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir
Whether serving under a Democratic president or a Republican
president, General Shelton was never afraid to speak out and
tell it like it is. Shelton chronicles his incredible
journey from a small farming community in North Carolina to
the highest level of American military and political power
at the Pentagon and White House. As one of the nation’s elite Special Forces soldiers,
Shelton served twice in Vietnam, commanding a Green Beret
unit and then an airborne infantry company. He was awarded a
Bronze Star for valor and a Purple Heart for a wound
suffered when a booby trap drove a poisoned stake through
his leg. Shelton rose up the ranks and was assistant division
commander of the 101st Airborne Division as they invaded
Iraq in the Persian Gulf War, then led the 20,000 American
troops tasked with restoring Haiti’s deposed President,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to power. Promoted to 4-star
General, he became Commander in Chief of U.S. Special
Operations Command (including Delta Force, Navy SEALS and
other top secret Special Mission Units). But it was while serving as Chairman during both the Clinton
and Bush administrations that he faced his biggest
challenges, including his role as chief architect of the
U.S. military response to 9/11. General Shelton speaks
frankly of how decisions were made behind the scenes in the
inner sanctum of the E-Ring and Oval Office, and reveals key
military operations and meetings that have not yet been
revealed, including: * High-ranking Cabinet member proposes intentionally
allowing an American pilot to be killed by the Iraqis to
have an excuse to retaliate and go to war. * Details of a contentious Camp David meeting among
President George W. Bush and his National Security Council
immediately after 9/11, where internal battle lines were
drawn---and Shelton (along with Colin Powell) convinced
President Bush to do the right thing. * How Rumsfeld persuaded General Tommy Franks to bypass the
Joint Chiefs, leading to a badly flawed Iraq war plan that
failed to anticipate the devastating after-effects of the
insurgency and civil war.
* Attempts to kill Usama bin Laden that were shot down by
our State Department. * CIA botched high-profile terrorist snatches, leaving
Shelton’s Special Operations teams to clean up their mess. * How Shelton “persuaded” Haiti’s dictator to flee the country. * And much more. Yet it's Shelton’s amazing personal story that puts his
military career in perspective. It began with a fall from a
ladder in his backyard, resulting in total paralysis from
the neck down---and a risky experimental procedure, so
dangerous that if it didn’t cure him, chances are it would
kill him. Revealing, compelling, and controversial, this is the story
of a man whose integrity and ethics were always above
reproach, and who dedicated his life to serving his country.
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