
The Chosen Few
A Company of Paratroopers and Its Heroic Struggle to Survive in the Mountains of Afghanistan
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Narrated by:
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Gregg Zoroya
About this listen
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.
©2017 Gregg Zoroya (P)2018 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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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
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Echo in Ramadi
- The Firsthand Story of U.S. Marines in Iraq's Deadliest City
- By: Scott A. Huesing
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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From the winter of 2006 through the spring of 2007, 250 marines from Echo Company, Second Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment, fought daily in the dangerous, dense city streets of Ramadi, Iraq, during the Multi-National Forces Surge ordered by President George W. Bush. The marines' mission: to kill or capture anti-Iraqi forces. Their experience: like being in hell. Now Major Scott A. Huesing, the commander who led Echo Company through Ramadi, takes listeners back to the streets of Ramadi in a visceral, gripping portrayal of modern urban combat.
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Combat is Combat
- By Calvin Guthrie on 05-21-18
By: Scott A. Huesing
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Red Platoon
- A True Story of American Valor
- By: Clinton Romesha
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Clinton Romesha
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2009 Clinton Romesha of Red Platoon and the rest of the Black Knight Troop were preparing to shut down Command Outpost Keating, the most remote and inaccessible in a string of bases built by the US military in Nuristan and Kunar in the hope of preventing Taliban insurgents from moving freely back and forth between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three years after Keating's construction, the army was finally ready to concede what the men on the ground had known immediately: It was simply too isolated and too dangerous to defend.
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Must Read for Comfortable, Non-combatant Americans
- By Rum Runner on 11-21-18
By: Clinton Romesha
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We March at Midnight
- A War Memoir
- By: Ray McPadden
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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We March at Midnight is award-winning author Ray McPadden’s chronicle of his experience as a highly decorated Ranger officer leading some of the most dangerous missions during the height of the Iraq and Afghan wars. In 2005, Ray joined the army in search of what he calls “the moment” - a chance to prove to himself and his brothers in arms that he is a true leader. His job is to establish the first outpost in the Korengal, Afghanistan’s deadliest valley, and his decisions and mistakes will have a permanent impact on the men he commands.
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The honesty of it all
- By Wendy Rose on 04-14-22
By: Ray McPadden
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Damn the Valley
- 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 2-508 PIR, 82nd Airborne in the Arghandab River Valley Afghanistan
- By: William Yeske, LTG Ben Hodges - Foreword USA (Ret.)
- Narrated by: Basil Sands, William Yeske
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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"DAMN THE VALLEY" was a phrase regularly uttered by the men that spent any amount of time in the Arghandab River Valley during the deployment of 2 Fury to Afghanistan in 2009-2010. The valley has claimed bodies from the troops of Alexander the Great, the British Empire, and more recently, the Russian Army. Operating in the valley was like nothing the men could have envisaged, they called it the "meat grinder." It was a deployment that the media didn't talk about, and the government doesn't acknowledge.
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Horrible in every way
- By Amazon Customer on 06-23-24
By: William Yeske, and others
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The Last Punisher
- A SEAL Team Three Sniper's True Account of the Battle of Ramadi
- By: Kevin Lacz, Ethan E. Rocke, Lincy Lacz
- Narrated by: Timothy Phillips
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The Last Punisher is a bold, no-holds-barred first-person account of the Iraq War. With wry humor and moving testimony, Kevin Lacz tells the story of his tour in Iraq with SEAL Team Three, the warrior elite of the navy. This legendary unit, known as The Punishers, included Chris Kyle ( American Sniper), Mike Monsoor, Ryan Job, and Marc Lee. These brave men were instrumental in securing the key locations in the pivotal 2006 Battle of Ramadi, told with stunning detail in this book.
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Good story, poorly read
- By Dusty on 09-03-16
By: Kevin Lacz, and others
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Into the Fire
- A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War
- By: Dakota Meyer, Bing West
- Narrated by: Zach McLarty
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In the fall of 2009, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of Afghan soldiers and Marine advisors in a mountain village called Ganjigal. Firing from entrenched positions, the enemy was positioned to wipe out 100 men who were pinned down and were repeatedly refused artillery support. Ordered to remain behind with the vehicles, 21 year-old Marine corporal Dakota Meyer disobeyed orders and attacked to rescue his comrades.
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Exceptional Memoir
- By Jean on 06-26-16
By: Dakota Meyer, and others
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The Unit
- My Life Fighting Terrorists as One of America's Most Secret Military Operatives
- By: Adam Gamal, Kelly Kennedy
- Narrated by: Adam Gamal, Peter Ganim
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Inside our military is a team of operators whose work is so secretive that the name of the unit itself is classified. Highly-trained in warfare, self-defense, infiltration, and deep surveillance, "the Unit," as the Department of Defense has asked us to refer to it, has been responsible for preventing dozens of terrorist attacks in the Western world. Never before has a member of this unit shared their story — until now.
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Meh
- By Anonymous User on 03-06-24
By: Adam Gamal, and others
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Sea Stories
- My Life in Special Operations
- By: William H. McRaven
- Narrated by: William H. McRaven
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Admiral William H. McRaven is back with amazing stories of bravery and heroism from his career as a Navy SEAL and commander of America's Special Operations Forces.
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Behind-the-scenes look at high level military life
- By N. on 10-23-19
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Tough Rugged Bastards
- A Memoir of a Life in Marine Special Operations
- By: John A. Dailey
- Narrated by: Tom Beyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Following the 9/11 attacks, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld directed the Marine Corps to establish a unit that would answer to US Special Operations Command. The eighty-six-man "Detachment One" was formed with a two-year charter to train and deploy as a "proof-of-concept" to assess the viability of a larger Marine Special Operations contribution in support of the Global War on Terror. For such a departure from the norm, a special leader was needed.
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Great historical account of the precursor to today’s MARSOC
- By bryan on 01-14-25
By: John A. Dailey
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New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah
- By: Richard S. Lowry
- Narrated by: Derek Dunbar
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Fallujah. Few names conjure up as many images of blood, sacrifice, and valor as does this ancient city in Al Anbar province 40 miles west of Baghdad. This sprawling concrete jungle was the scene of two major US combat operations in 2004. The first was Operation Vigilant Resolve, an aborted effort that April by US Marines intent on punishing the city’s insurgents. The second, Operation Phantom Fury, was launched seven months later. Richard Lowry’s New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah is the first comprehensive history of this fighting.
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DarkHorse "Get Some"
- By Disgruntled on 02-11-25
By: Richard S. Lowry
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The Fighters
- By: C. J. Chivers
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Almost 2.5 million Americans have served in Afghanistan or Iraq since September 11, 2001. C.J. Chivers has reported from both fronts from the beginning, walking side by side with combatants for more than a dozen years. He describes the experience of war today as it is endured by those most at risk - the camaraderie and profound sense of purpose, alongside courage, frustration, and moral confusion mixed with technical precision. In these remote places where the reason for their presence is sometimes not clear, these young men kill or are killed, facing palpable and often constant threat of ambush or hidden bombs....
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a very human perspective...
- By dustin on 08-22-18
By: C. J. Chivers
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Alone at Dawn
- Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman and the Untold Story of the World's Deadliest Special Operations Force
- By: Dan Schilling, Lori Longfritz
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel, Betsy Foldes Meiman
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In the predawn hours of March 4, 2002, just below the 10,000-foot peak of a mountain in eastern Afghanistan, a fierce battle raged. Outnumbered by Al Qaeda fighters, Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman and a handful of SEALs struggled to take the summit in a desperate bid to find a lost teammate. Chapman, leading the charge, was gravely wounded in the initial assault. Believing he was dead, his SEAL leader ordered a retreat. Chapman regained consciousness, alone with the enemy closing in on three sides, beginning the most difficult and exceptional fight of his life.
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Wasted chance to honor a hero.
- By Scott on 07-11-19
By: Dan Schilling, and others
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SOG
- The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam
- By: John L. Plaster
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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John Plaster’s riveting account of his covert activities as a member of a special operations team during the Vietnam War is “a true insider’s account...this eye-opening report will leave readers feeling as if they’ve been given a hot scoop on a highly classified project” (Publishers Weekly). Code-named the Studies and Observations Group, SOG was the most secret elite US military unit to serve in the Vietnam War - so secret that its very existence was denied by the government.
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More, give me more.
- By LEE on 03-06-19
By: John L. Plaster
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WAR
- By: Sebastian Junger
- Narrated by: Sebastian Junger
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Junger turns his brilliant and empathetic eye to the reality of combat - the fear, the honor, and the trust among men in an extreme situation whose survival depends on their absolute commitment to one another. His on-the-ground account follows a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.
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Why we fight re-visited
- By J on 09-20-10
By: Sebastian Junger
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Born Twice
- Memoir of a Special Forces SOG Warrior
- By: Dale Hanson
- Narrated by: Dale Hanson
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Dale Hanson takes us from a northern Minnesota boyhood to the incredible stresses of US special operations during the Vietnam War, the deadly world of MAC-V-SOG, the top-secret Special Forces project that conducted America’s secret war against the Communist forces on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Shrouded in mystery and equipped with exotic weaponry, SOG operators suffered casualty rates in excess of 100 percent for three successive years.
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Politics
- By Anonymous User on 11-30-23
By: Dale Hanson
What listeners say about The Chosen Few
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- Steve Hillman MD
- 10-19-18
Afghanistan
An intimate look at the people who fought in the war in Afghanistan. Some gave all. The rest remain forever changed by the experience which was overwhelming both physically and emotionally.
Heroes all.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Elmer McGee
- 03-16-19
Excellent
At every point very well done can not say enough positive things about the book.
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- James Murillo
- 01-27-20
Real Army camaraderie
I really enjoyed the account of what this group of men went through from their training through their combat experiences. Their care for one another in battle is beyond words.
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- Peter A Mielo
- 08-17-20
Loved it!
Studied the battle a bit during Army War College and was a recommended read. Held my interest for hours at a time. Heroic and tragic.
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- sheila templeton
- 05-02-23
Facts
I wasn’t impressed by the narrator, but it’s based on facts. My brother was in the 82nd Airborne, and was a paratrooper. He was in Kuwait, in 1980,, during desert storm, with the 101st airborne division. They trained at Ft, Bragg. He spent 8 months in that desert and is just now starting to be able to function again. PTSD and quilt, does terrible things to an 18 year old young man. I don’t know that he ever spoke about it to anyone. But the alcohol was present for many years. He’s recovering, but never will he get his youth back. So I don’t know what he went through, but he was forever changed. It breaks my heart. I wish I knew his story, I cried more at the end.
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- Lynley
- 04-05-24
The story was great
I wish there was more of a story and some more action in the book and more battles
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- Myla
- 06-22-18
Wow! What an amazing group of men!
As a sister of one of the soldiers in this book, I was moved and felt I was right there in the action. I never realized the true danger he was in. I can't thank the author enough for taking the time and effort to research the events and write this book. I've always been proud of my brother and those who served. Now, I have a new found respect for them. My heartaches for the lives lost and the loved ones left behind. But I feel like I really got to know all of them in this book. I wish I could have gone to the 10-yr reunion last year. I now understand why my Dad was on cloud 9 when he and my mom accompanied my brother to the reunion. He was in awe by being in the presents of such a great group of men.
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37 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-04-19
heart wrenching
it is hard to except the sacrifice of soliders you will never get the opportunity to thank.
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- BZ
- 03-28-23
The Narrator
is droll, unfortunately. If you listen at 1.45 speed, you can barely tell, and it helps.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-30-18
Nodding Off
Fantastic story line. Was a great read. However I do wish writer's would say to their job and leave the professionals to the reading. Bump up the speed to stay awake.
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