First published 2016
In 2009, Command Outpost Keating sits isolated in the mountains of Afghanistan, a base so vulnerable that soldiers joke about its impossible position. Clinton Romesha and Red Platoon know they are preparing to abandon this remote outpost in Nuristan province. The army has finally admitted what troops understood from day one: Keating cannot be defended. But on October 3, before the shutdown can happen, the Taliban launches their biggest assault yet. What follows is a fourteen-hour firefight that will test every man at the base. Romesha leads both the desperate defense and the counterattack that pushes the enemy back. Eight soldiers will not survive the battle. This is Romesha's account of that day, written by the man who earned the Medal of Honor for his actions during one of the war's most intense engagements.
Genres: biography, military-fiction, action, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: based-on-true-events, heroic-sacrifice
Setting: Afghanistan, Nuristan Province
Period: 2009
378 pages · Hardcover · Dutton
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, war