His ethos boiled down to this: get out there. The outdoors were like a drug, his salve, his place. He probably would have felt a little lift of ecstasy. (Ask the same question to the average person 150 years ago-minus the helicopter-and the percentage of people who would be confident in such a situation was probably much, much higher.)īut, back to this hypothetical situation and you. How are you going to eat, what are you going to drink? How are you going to stay comfortable when the sun goes down? The day is warm but it’s a two-day hike to the next closest town and that hike goes over several high mountain passes. It’s summer, the scenario goes, in Colorado. You’ve got your clothes and maybe some water, an energy bar or two. Eric Blehm masterfully encapsulates the hearts of the men, their impossible mission, and the quagmire of politics of the era and wraps it up in a single bloody battle that portrays the American fighting man at his best.”īlehm lives in Southern California with his wife and children.Say I drop you off on the top of a mountain and fly away in my helicopter. Never have I read a more powerfully honest, realistic, or moving account of the war in Southeast Asia. Special Operations soldiers, sailors, and airmen during three wars-WWII, Korea, and Vietnam-including the men depicted in LEGEND. Army (ret.), commented on Legend: “I fought beside and led U.S. Army’s 240th Assault Helicopter Company and Green Beret Staff Sergeant Roy Benavidez, who risked everything to rescue a Special Forces team trapped behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War. FEARLESS is currently being adapted for film by a major Hollywood studio.īlehm’s current book, Legend (Crown Books, Penguin RandomHouse), tells the unforgettable story of the U.S. Blehm’s immersion with the Rangers is what led him to the previously untold story of an elite team of eleven Green Berets who operated in the hinterland of Taliban-held Afghanistan just weeks after 9/11 (The Only Thing Worth Dying For), as well as to Fearless (Waterbrook/Multnomah Random House), the heartrending and inspiring story of Naval Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Adam Brown, who overcame tremendous odds in his rise to the top tier of the U.S.

His access into the Special Operations community and reportage set an important milestone for American war journalism two years before reporters began to gain widespread embedded status with the U.S. In 1999, Blehm became the first journalist to accompany and keep pace with an elite Army Ranger unit on a training mission. His first book, The Last Season, was the winner of the National Outdoor Book Award and was named by Outside magazine as one of the “greatest adventure biographies ever written.” He has dedicated his life to telling the stories of those who serve. Eric Blehm is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestsellers Fearless and The Only Thing Worth Dying For.

The Last Season by Eric Blehm