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The Chosen Few
- A Company of Paratroopers and Its Heroic Struggle to Survive in the Mountains of Afghanistan
- Narrated by: Gregg Zoroya
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
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The Chosen Few
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Summary
The never-before-told story of one of the most decorated units in the war in Afghanistan and its fifteen-month ordeal that culminated in the 2008 Battle of Wanat, the war's deadliest
A single company of US paratroopers—calling themselves the "Chosen Few"—arrived in eastern Afghanistan in late 2007 hoping to win the hearts and minds of the remote mountain people and extend the Afghan government's reach into this wilderness. Instead, they spent the next fifteen months in a desperate struggle, living under almost continuous attack, forced into a slow and grinding withdrawal, and always outnumbered by Taliban fighters descending on them from all sides.
Month after month, rocket-propelled grenades, rockets, and machine-gun fire poured down on the isolated and exposed paratroopers as America's focus and military resources shifted to Iraq. Just weeks before the paratroopers were to go home, they faced their last—and toughest—fight. Near the village of Wanat in Nuristan province, an estimated three hundred enemy fighters surrounded about fifty of the Chosen Few and others defending a partially finished combat base. Nine died and more than two dozen were wounded that day in July 2008, making it arguably the bloodiest battle of the war in Afghanistan.
The Chosen Few would return home tempered by war. Two among them would receive the Medal of Honor. All of them would be forever changed.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
"Historians and journalist have penned many books about what Tom Brokaw dubbed 'the greatest generation' those men who came from simple lives to the battlefields of World War II and left a sense that those kinds of men no longer walk among us. Zoroya makes the case that that assumption is entirely incorrect, that we indeed have a new generation of heroic men who fight to overcome the overwhelming odds that are thrown against them."—My Big Honkin Blog
"A searing account of war in Afghanistan...A remarkable story, whose telling raises myriad questions without resorting to polemics. It is unlikely that those who read it will ever utter the phrase, 'Thank you for your service,' quite the same way again...A gripping, exhaustively reported account of modern warfare...[Zoroya] cuts through the fog of war...Zoroya delivers the adrenaline of combat right to the reader's easy chair. His prose is direct and clear, and never upstages the action. He also brings the warriors to life, chronicling their trials and triumphs."—USA Today
"The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now producing their own volumes, and this is one of the better ones...Well-researched...The book does an excellent job of telling the entire story of the action...As one of the most highly decorated units in Army history, these men, many of them from broken families and rough backgrounds, are worthy successors to Band of Brothers from previous generations of American fighting men."—New York Journal of Books
What listeners say about The Chosen Few
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Warren Loveridge
- 06-10-21
outstanding
puts you right in the battles such a amazing book u need to here the story of these heroic people
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sean
- 27-05-18
amazing book, awesome in detail
I couldn't put this book down, so to speak
if you are interested in milltary history I highly recommend this. The lengths the author must of gone though to produce such thoughtful work in both honouring the men and their story.
It's written well, intertwining the storys together to produce a easy read must of been a huge undertaking, but has been pulled off. This has become one of the best I've read!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr H
- 18-02-20
Very honest and detailed account
Really enjoyed listening to this book.
The author provided a first hand account of all that happened delivered in a very engaging way.
Literally had to keep listening at every opportunity.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- M Johnson
- 09-11-18
excellent story telling and gripping content
heart wrenching sorrows and losses coupled with intense excitement and moment of laugh out loud snippets .
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- chris
- 19-11-18
good story , a lot of detail
a lot of background detail to get through initially , but the story soon gets going and is an insight to what the military went through not always reported by the press
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Al Hardie
- 11-05-19
Can't imagine their thoughts and nightmares now.
I just about felt the pain of multiple wounds. We will never appreciate their sacrifice.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Martin Scoley
- 19-01-19
A sad reality
I don't know who said it originally but it is a fact of life that in war people die. It's the nature of the beast and when you go to war against a highly motivated and ruthless opponent you had better make sure that you're ready to lose people in combat, because it is going to happen.
This book demonstrates within its narrative how life and death are linked with the choices that leaders make. One mistake and people will be wounded or killed. As an ex-paratrooper (British) I was saddened by the waste of young lives when they are put in harm's way by their hierarchy but proud of the way they fought for each other even to the point of dying.
This book points out very clearly that every human life despite troubled beginnings can mean something in the way it is lived and sometimes in the way that person chooses to sacrifice themselves. The Taliban know that just as well as anyone and whilst we have young people who are prepared to put themselves in harms way we will have wars like this.
I found parts of this audio book troubling and wondered how much longer we humans will choose to settle our differences by killing one another?
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Grizzly
- 15-01-19
Awesome
One of those great books, that I could not leave alone. God Bless you all.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Philip Eddington
- 11-12-18
Very brave young men
This is a book that I found hard to stop listening to and at the same time hard to listen to. The author and narrator delivers a very tough story very well. I feel like I have a great understanding of what these guys faced though in reality only they can. I feel very humble that these young men and thier families gave so much for us.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- R. J. Selwyn
- 13-02-21
Absolutely Brilliant
I think this is probably the best Audio Book I have listened to! It is a truly shocking listen and has every emotion you can imagine. The detail is second to none and extremely well composed and written and narrated to be honest. Being Ex Brit Military and having served in an Infantry Battalion and having been detached to work with an US Infantry Battalion I love all things military. I also love the US but they are often not as good as they think they are sometimes and we used to do some of the basic things much better than them in my experience. Maybe easy to appreciate why an elite unit underestimated the capabilities of an evil yet capable enemy. No question about their bravery and valour and to be fair I nearly cried more than once listening to this. i am of the opinion that war is necessary and yet needless at the same time especially when so many great guys gave up their lives protecting their mates in the Ass end of nowhere amongst a lying treacherous local population who certainly didn't deserve the blood and lives of these heroes!!!
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