By water beneath the walls : the rise of the Navy SEALs

A gripping history chronicling the fits and starts of American special operations and the ultimate rise of the Navy SEALs from unarmed frogmen to elite, go-anywhere commandos—as told by one of their own. “Deeply researched, well organized, and incredibly engaging . . . This is our legacy with all the warts, the challenges, and the heroics in one concise volume.”—Admiral William H. McRaven, #1 New York Times bestselling author and former commander, United States Special Operations Command How did the US Navy—the branch of the US military tasked with patrolling the oceans—ever manage to produce a unit of raiders trained to operate on land? And how, against all odds, did that unit become one of the world’s most elite commando forces, routinely striking thousands of miles from the water on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, even Central Africa? Behind the SEALs’ improbable rise lies the most remarkable underdog story in American military history—and in these pages, former Navy SEAL Benjamin H. Milligan captures it as never before. Told through the eyes of remarkable leaders and racing from one longshot, hair-curling raid to the next, it’s a tale of the unit’s heroic naval predecessors, and the evolution of the SEALs themselves. But it’s also the story of the forging of American special operations as a whole—and how the SEALs emerged from the fires as America’s first permanent commando force, when again and again some other unit seemed predestined to seize that role. Here Milligan thrillingly captures the outsize feats of the SEALs’ frogmen forefathers in World War II, the Korean War, and elsewhere, even as he plunges us into the second front of interservice rivalries and personal ambition that shaped the SEALs’ evolution. In equally vivid, masterful detail, he chronicles key early missions undertaken by units like the Marine Raiders, Army Rangers, and Green Berets, showing us how these fateful, bloody moments helped create the modern American commando—even as they opened up pivotal opportunities for the Navy. Finally, he takes us alongside as the SEALs at last seize the mantle of commando raiding, and discover the missions of capture/kill and counterterrorism that would define them for decades to come. Written with the insight that can only come from a combat veteran and a member of the book’s tribe, By Water Beneath the Walls is an essential new history of the SEAL teams, a crackling account of desperate last stands and unforgettable characters accomplishing the impossible—and a riveting epic of the dawn of American special operations. A gripping history chronicling the fits and starts of American special operations and the ultimate rise of the Navy SEALs from unarmed frogmen to elite, go-anywhere commandos--as told by one of their own. Just how and why did the U.S. Navy--the branch of the U.S. military tasked with patrolling the oceans--ever manage to produce raiders trained to operate on land? More, how did a unit that had no business existing come to lead the ranks of the world's most elite commandos, routinely striking thousands of miles from the water into the deserts and mountains of Iraq and Afghanistan? Behind those questions lies an incredible underdog tale of American military history--and in By Water Beneath the Walls , former Navy SEAL Benjamin H. Milligan tells it as never before. In chapters built around key raids and told through the eyes of remarkable leaders both famous and forgotten, Milligan brings to life the SEALs' predecessors in World War II, the Korean War, and elsewhere; lands us on the beaches of the Bay of Pigs Invasion where the Navy alone emerges with a dedication to commando raiding; and launches us into the rivers and highlands of Vietnam, the proving ground where the SEALs discover the mission of capture-kill and cement their future for decades to come. Yet as the SEALs made their transition to elite commandos, again and again it seemed predestined that some other unit--the Recon Marine, the Green Beret, the Army Ranger--would race to that finish line first. Ranging from the battlefield to the boardroom, Milligan reveals here the fateful victories and defeats that shaped those units in other directions--and how, in each key moment, the Navy contrived to sail into the gaps left behind. Written with uncommon verve and the insight that can only come from a combat veteran and a former member of the book's tribe, By Water Beneath the Walls is not only an exhaustively researched and essential new history of the SEAL Teams but a crackling account of desperate last-stands and unforgettable characters accomplishing the impossible. Most of all, it is a riveting epic of the dawn of American special operations that belongs on the shelf of every reader of military history. **A gripping history chronicling the fits and starts of American special operations and the ultimate rise of the Navy SEALs from unarmed frogmen to elite, go-anywhere commandos—as told by one of their own.****“Deeply researched, well organized, and incredibly engaging . . . This is our legacy****with all the warts, the challenges, and the heroics in one concise volume.”—Admiral William H. McRaven, #1 __New York Times__ bestselling author and former commander, United States Special Operations Command**__By Water Beneath the Walls__ A former Navy SEAL chronicles the history of the special operations unit, from their beginnings as unarmed World War II frogmen to their rise to American's first permanent commando force, deployed on counterterrorism and capture-kill missions