Mitchell Zuckoff

13 Hours claims to be a truthful account of what "really happened" in Benghazi. Zuckoff says upfront that he simply tells the course of events over 13 hours and will not discuss the later political controversies. It removes the focus from Clinton, Obama, Republic naysayers etc.. and puts the spotlight on the people who were there. It's based mainly on interviews with about 6 of the security team members who did most of the fighting, portraying them uncritically and as heroes, all former or show more active US military (Seals, Marines etc). So this isn't a history, rather a group-memoir by the security team who are listed as the co-authors. It reads as adrenaline literature, once the shooting starts early on Zuckoff doesn't let off the gas pedal. Although the main text of the book is over 300 pages the audio edition is under 8 hours so it's not very long, there must be large font, line spaces or margins padding it out.

On finishing my impression is this was an unfortunate incident that could have been much worse, the small security team did an excellent job ensuring that only 4 Americans died that night when it could have been 30+. There was a lot more military-style combat than I realized. Surely other books will come out with other perspectives, but this is unlikely to be surpassed in drama. Just don't expect much context or perspective beyond the handful of security operators. It still makes a good story on its own and is rightly something to celebrate and separate from the political controversies which overshadow Benghazi. Zuckoff's telling is so cinematographic I won't forget it anytime soon. I wouldn't be surprised if someone films it during the lead-up to the 2016 elections, or made into a video game. show less

A Quote from the author that I found on Goodreads:

Nearly five years ago, it became apparent to me that a clear and troubling gap existed on the crowded shelf of 9/11 books. Many of the books already published were excellent, but no one volume told the complete narrative of the day itself, covering key events, issues, and timelines (all four hijackings, the immediate results of the crashes, and the initial chaotic military and government response). I also thought it particularly important to show more do so in a way that focused on individuals at the center of these events. When I combined those realizations with the knowledge that an entire generation had no independent memories of 9/11, the task became clear. Almost as soon as I began my research, I recognized that some people who had never been ready to tell their stories had reached a point where they considered it important to do so. As a result of those factors (along with several others, but that would be a much longer reply), I became convinced this was not only the right time to write this book, but also that it would be much richer than it would have been if I had begun my work a decade earlier. Mitchell Zuckoff

Every year in September I try to find a book to read with 9/11 as the subject. It is just my own personal way of holding true to "Never Forget". Out of all of those books this one and (The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland) are the very best on the subject. [a:Mitchell Zuckoff|328012|Mitchell Zuckoff|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1369073880p2/328012.jpg] was a reporter for The Boston Globe on September 11, 2001. Along with the help of 6 other reporters, after the attack, he wrote a narrative entitled Six Lives . That article is the basis for this book.

What is different about this book? The book is divided into to 3 sections. The Sky (Fall From The Sky ), The Ground (Fall To The Ground) and the Aftermath (Rise From the Ashes). A lot of the stories, of people who lived through this, we have all heard before. Trust me when I say there are things you did not know, people you have not heard from. Trust me when I say, you will gasp as you read, you will cry. Another difference in this book: It is about the families who suffered the greatest loss imaginable-Politics never enters the narrative. President George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are only bit players here. There were resources (The trial of Zacarias Moussaoui one of the conspirators of the attacks. Testimony from families and heartbreaking interviews) that were not available earlier. Zuckoff obtained access to these and other important documents and used them with the utmost reverence in his writing.

If you only read 1 "more" book covering 9/11, let it be this one. Mitchell Zuckoff is a superb writer and story teller. show less

”With time, news becomes history. And history, it’s been said, is what happened to other people.”

This book…..

Where to start. I already knew all I thought I needed to know about this horrific day but no. Not even close. Mitchell Zuckoff managed to take events that we all are very well versed in and create a page turner par excellence. I mean, it read like a thriller where I had no idea what was going to happen next. He did it by filling the narrative with personal stories of both show more survivors and those who never stood a chance and yet I didn’t know until the last possible second which it would be. And he did it also by painstakingly developing a timeline that step by step revealed the horrors that we’re all familiar with. And yet, he made these events seem like they just happened and I hadn’t really heard about it before.

Of course I heard at the time about the ghastly communications problems between federal agencies that prevented basic (and I mean basic) information, crucially needed in the case of multiple attacks, from being shared even on a rudimentary level but to think that the NYPD and the NYFD couldn’t easily communicate vital information was fairly shocking. All the communication problems added to the incredible chaos that ruled the day especially in NYC but even at the Pentagon. Granted, these problems have been addressed and hopefully the chances of another day like 9/11 are less likely but just reading about it enraged me. I assumed too much about protections guaranteed by the government.

Please don’t think you know all you need to know about what happened that day. This brilliant book will change your mind and remind you that we must never forget. These brave, passionate, real people will stay with me for a long, long time. So worthy of at least five stars. show less

Summary: An account of rescue efforts in 1942-43 and a retrieval effort in 2012 to recover several lost heroes, all occurring on the Greenland icecap.

In November of 1942, a C-53 cargo plane took off from Iceland to an airfield on the west side of Greenland. For unknown reasons it crashed inland from the eastern coast of Greenland. A B-17 diverted from transport to England joined the search with a crew of nine, captained by Armand Monteverde. Unsuccessful, they ran into a bad snowstorm that show more was like “flying in milk.” They also crashed, the plane splitting into two pieces. All nine survived the crash and much of the narrative in this book describes their efforts to survive in subzero temperatures, avoiding life-ending crevasses and fighting frostbite and keeping up hope as months went by with little more contact than overflights by another B-17, piloted by “Pappy” Turner, dropping supplies and communicating with the survivors.

Part of the 1942-43 story concerned the efforts to rescue these men either by plane or motor- or dogsled. Sadly, rescuers, both by plane and motorsled died, as did one of the B-17 crash survivors. Three of those who died were on a Coast Guard plane called “The Flying Duck” piloted by John Pritchard and Benjamin Bottoms. They rescued two crash survivors, one who was most severely affected by frostbite. Coming back, they picked up another survivor. Loren Howarth, who had repaired a radio on the crashed B-17. They, too, encountered a fast approaching storm and went down with no survivors.

Here enters the other part of this story. Lou Sapienza, who had participated in previous recovery missions learned the story about the lost men from the Flying Duck. On a preliminary survey in 2010, they identified possible crash sites. Now, he wants to go back. He needs the help of the Coast Guard and a lot of money the Pentagon doesn’t have. He enlists the author to chronicle (and help bankroll) the effort. Offsetting a reluctant bureaucracy is Coast Guard Commander Jim Blow, whose passion is not to leave those missing in action behind. Somehow, they come up with enough for a week on the Greenland ice cap.

So much of what sustains interest in this narrative, which goes back and forth between the rescue and recovery missions, is the uncertainty that they will find a way to rescue the B-17 survivors or recover the Flying Duck and her crew. The big challenge is Greenland itself. There are so many ways it can kill you from crevasses to polar bears to cold. For the surviving crew, the challenge was crash injuries, advancing frostbite, and morale. One is impressed in all the ways this crew improvised shelter, jury-rigged radios, and used what they had on hand. The recovery mission led by Jim and Lou had its own challenges. Faulty GPS coordinates, moving heavy equipment across crevasses, and conflict within the expedition pose challenges, even as they scramble to locate the Flying Duck as another of Greenland’s storms approach, necessitating evacuation.

Zuckoff’s eyewitness narrative coupled with careful historical research makes for a riveting account of the effort to “bring them home” that is a heartbeat of the services. The efforts to survive, to rescue, and to recover are all heroic. In a day when so many public figures disappoint, a narrative about heroes, who have their own struggles, but transcend and work and risk for noble ends, is a welcome gift. show less