First SEALs
Subtitle: the untold story of the forging of America's most elite unit
By: Patrick K. O'Donnell
Edition: First Da Capo Press edition.
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 290
ISBN-13: 9780306821721
Subjects: United States. Navy. SEALs; Commando operations; United States; World War, 1939-1945; Commando troops; History; United States. Office of Strategic Services; Campaigns; Amphibious operations; United States. Navy. Underwater Demolition Teams; United States. Navy
Description: "The rich history of SEAL Team 6 that captured Osama bin Laden stretches back to World War II when US intelligence officials formed a team of special-operation combat swimmers. Under the leadership of Captain Jack Taylor, a California dentist, the Maritime Unit (MU) started training in 1942, learning underwater and covert operation techniques, as it developed an array of James Bond-like new equipment, including the recently invented underwater breathing apparatus, limpet mines, silent electric motors, and a collapsible eight-foot submarine. Finally deployed in 1944, the unit conducted some of the most daring, behind-enemy-lines operations of the war in Italy, where they linked up with fearsome Italian commandos. In one of its greatest coups, they captured the plans--and the architect--of Germany's famed Gothic Line, resulting in the Eighth Army's partial breakthrough. Filled with unforgettable characters, including the unit's charismatic leader, a Hollywood star, and a gritty New York City gas station owner, The First SEALs cinematically narrates one of the greatest untold stories of World War II and links their storied past to today's gloried US Navy SEALs"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.