Bristol's Bastards: In Iraq With the 2nd Battalion, 136th Infantry of Minnesota's National Guard - Rilegato

Maurstad, Nicholas P.; Holmstrom, Darwin

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0760332770 ISBN 13: 9780760332771

Casa editrice: Zenith Pr, 2008

Riassunto

Minnesota’s toughest farm boys take on Iraqi insurgents
in one of the most irreverent and outrageous memoirs to come out of the war

Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 136th Infantry Regiment of the Minnesota National Guard, composed in large part of farm kids from the Midwest who could replace a tank track on the side of the road using nothing but a crescent wrench, Zippo lighter, and a two-by-four, fought alongside the Marine Corps in Anbar province through the deadliest period of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bravo Company earned the nickname “Bristol’s Bastards” after USMC Colonel George Bristol, commanding officer of the I MEF Headquarters Group, adopted this band of fierce warriors as one of his own. Specialist Nick Maurstad, a member of Bristol’s Bastards, brings to life the experience of fighting in Iraq, kicking down doors, dodging IEDs, battling insurgents in the small towns surrounding Fallujah, and trying to help one another survive in the deadliest place on earth.

Maurstad lost three friends in Iraq, and a friendly demeanor belies his own frustrations. He has intense memories, such as disarming an insurgent who was raising a handgun to shoot while in bed with his wife and children. . . . His mental hurdle for now is visiting the graves of the friends he lost.

—St. Paul Pioneer Press,

October 28, 2007

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Nick Maurstad was a member of the Minnesota National Guard's Bravo Company, which by early 2007 was the most senior unit on Camp Fallujah. Bravo Company discovered a torture house and rescued its victims; helped reduce the amount of IEDs and indirect fire attacks by more than seventy percent; and captured twenty-six known terrorists, including seven al Qaeda operatives in one operation. The unit earned high esteem across Camp Fallujah because of the safety and security they brought to the immediate area, a dramatic contrast to the rest of Iraq.

Darwin Holmstrom has written, co-written, or contributed to over thirty books on subjects ranging from motorcycles and muscle cars to Gibson Les Paul guitars, including Indian Motorcycles, GTO: Fifty Years, Let's Ride: Sonny Barger's Guide to Motorcyclying,Top Muscle: The Rarest Cars from America's Fastest Decade, BMW Motorcycles, The Life Harley-Davidson, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Motorcycles. Darwin is the senior editor for Motorbooks. Prior to that he served as Midwestern editor for Motorcyclist magazine.

Dalla seconda/terza di copertina:

BRISTOL’S BASTARDS

Members of the Minnesota National Guard rescued three victims shackled to bloodstained walls during a raid earlier this week on a “torture house” near Fallujah in Iraq. The troops discovered shackles, chains, clubs, and a blowtorch in the raid. One of the victims had been burned and cut; his kneecaps were shattered and he was slipping into shock when the troops discovered him.

—Minneapolis Star Tribune

January 27, 2007

The troops who raided the insurgency’s torture house and rescued its victims in what was called Operation Three Swords were “Bristol’s Bastards,” Minnesota National Guardsmen of the 2nd Battalion, 136th Infantry.

Nelly counted to three and we all kicked our doors down and went in. I stormed the room, my shotgun shouldered and my heart pounding. My small flashlight provided the only light in the room. I made a quick appraisal of the inhabitants in the dim light and made out five freshly woken and terrified toddlers on the floor. When I looked left I saw the mother sitting up next to her husband. I moved toward the male who was only halfway upright, with his right hand digging under his pillow. He produced a pistol and, with three quick steps, my muzzle was within inches of his face. I stomped on his hand and kicked the gun away before he could point it at me. To this day I don’t understand why I didn’t just wax the fat bastard, but somehow I managed to refrain from pulling the shotgun trigger and spraying his brains all over his terrified family.

—from Bristol’s Bastards

From January 16, 2004, when author Nick Maurstad marched off to infantry training, to July 27, 2007, when a fleet of charter buses took Bravo Company home after their tour in Iraq, this unit went from prank-loving farm kids to hardened warriors. As “illegitimate marines” under Colonel George Bristol’s 11th Marine Regiment, they took on the fitting nickname Bristol’s Bastards.

Practically overnight, Nick Maurstad went from a being a resourceful kid from a broken home in America’s rural heartland to a member of the Minnesota National Guard’s Bravo Company, 2-136th Infantry, which by early 2007 was the most senior unit on Camp Fallujah. Because of their seniority, this infantry company saw a significant increase in missions, which included the discovery of a torture house and rescue of its victims; the reduction in the amount of IEDs and indirect fire attacks by more than 70 percent over a five-month period; and the capture of twenty-six known terrorists, including seven al Qaeda operatives in one operatio

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Zenith Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0760332770
• ISBN 13: 9780760332771
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 308