The Chosen Few
A Company of Paratroopers and Its Heroic Struggle to Survive in the Mountains of Afghanistan
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The Chosen Few
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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 AudioCritic 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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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 25-01-2019
Epic book about true heros
An Amazing book, good narrator and well worth the listen. The Chosen Few true hero's
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1 person found this helpful
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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
- Lisa
- 29-11-2018
Such an emotional story.
This is a well told account of battle war history. I was just as frustrated and angry as the soldiers themselves, at the decisions made by the brass higher up. The way in which the author describes the deaths of each brave warrior brought tears to my eyes.
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2 people found this helpful
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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
- Anonymous User
- 09-09-2021
War is not for entertainment but for understanding
I read reviews prior to buying and I'm really shocked at the negative comments that it was slow or too much background detail or worse yet that a pronunciation of a word mentioned about 5 times put people off.
I watched the documentary on Battle of Wanat but I didn't know about Ranch house or the Ambush. I loved the background detail of each soldier. They were young men some with mapped lives others still mapping theirs out. I missed a work deadline to finish it because I couldn't put it off. If you looking for a Jason Bourne get to the point this isn't it. If you want to read a True story about Real people without expecting a climax or happy ending and you want to try understand what a company endured then this is it.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sean Crowley
- 23-01-2020
too much character detail
this book was a struggle. I just got bored and had to stop. not recommended.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 12-09-2021
Good but..
Narrator was monotonic and there was too much irrelevant backstory for the soldiers which distracted from the main story
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-07-2023
Boring
Lots of infill due to lack of substance. Would not waste my time or money
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