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A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War
Random House
October 2012
On Sale: September 25, 2012
Featuring: Dakota Meyer
336 pages ISBN: 0812993403 EAN: 9780812993400 Kindle: B0060AY9CY Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Memoir
"The story of what Dakota did . . . will be told for
generations."—President Barack Obama, from remarks
given at Meyer's Medal of Honor ceremony In the fall of 2009, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of
Afghan soldiers and Marine advisors in a mountain village
called Ganjigal. Firing from entrenched positions, the enemy
was positioned to wipe out one hundred men who were pinned
down and were repeatedly refused artillery support. Ordered
to remain behind with the vehicles, twenty-one year-old
Marine corporal Dakota Meyer disobeyed orders and attacked
to rescue his comrades. With a brave driver at the wheel, Meyer stood in the gun
turret exposed to withering fire, rallying Afghan troops to
follow. Over the course of the five hours, he charged into
the valley time and again. Employing a variety of machine
guns, rifles, grenade launchers, and even a rock, Meyer
repeatedly repulsed enemy attackers, carried wounded Afghan
soldiers to safety, and provided cover for dozens of others
to escape—supreme acts of valor and determination. In
the end, Meyer and four stalwart comrades—an Army
captain, an Afghan sergeant major, and two
Marines—cleared the battlefield and came to grips with
a tragedy they knew could have been avoided. For his actions
on that day, Meyer became the first living Marine in three
decades to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Into the Fire tells the full story of the chaotic
battle of Ganjigal for the first time, in a compelling,
human way that reveals it as a microcosm of our recent wars.
Meyer takes us from his upbringing on a farm in Kentucky,
through his Marine and sniper training, onto the
battlefield, and into the vexed aftermath of his harrowing
exploits in a battle that has become the stuff of legend. Investigations ensued, even as he was pitched back into
battle alongside U.S. Army soldiers who embraced him as a
fellow grunt. When it was over, he returned to the States to
confront living with the loss of his closest friends. This
is a tale of American values and upbringing, of stunning
heroism, and of adjusting to loss and to civilian life. We see it all through Meyer's eyes, bullet by bullet, with
raw honesty in telling of both the errors that resulted in
tragedy and the resolve of American soldiers, U.S.Marines,
and Afghan soldiers who'd been abandoned and faced certain
death. Meticulously researched and thrillingly told, with nonstop
pace and vivid detail, Into the Fire is the true
story of a modern American hero. "Sergeant Meyer embodies all that is good about our
nation's Corps of Marines. . . . [His] heroic actions . . .
will forever be etched in our Corps' rich legacy of courage
and valor."—General James F. Amos, Commandant of the
Marine Corps
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