The Eyes of Orion
Five Tank Lieutenants in the Persian Gulf War
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Narrated by:
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Ralph Morocco
About this listen
Winner of the Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Book Award, The Eyes of Orion is a highly personal account of the day-to-day experiences of five platoon leaders who served in the same tank battalion in the 24th Infantry Division during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
While professional soldiers and historians will undoubtedly glean much from this narrative, the heart of the account concerns the experiences of the five young lieutenants as they prepared for and served in combat - from their deployment to Saudi Arabia through their six months in the desert training for war, their four days in combat and several weeks of occupation in Iraq, and finally their homecoming. The authors treat their combat experience in Saudi and Kuwait from the perspective of junior officers, all in their twenties and just out of college (four are graduates of West Point and one received his commission through an ROTC program), who served on the front line - facing physical, personal, moral, and leadership challenges.
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A real story of war.
- By Devin Ronk on 03-07-16
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Loon
- A Marine Story
- By: Jack McLean
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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"Kids like me didn't go to Vietnam", writes Jack McLean in his must-listen memoir. Raised in suburban New Jersey, he attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, but decided to put college on hold. After graduation in the spring of 1966, faced with the mandatory military draft, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps for a two-year stint. "Vietnam at the time was a country, and not yet a war", he writes. It didn't remain that way for long.
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Besides a production issue, excellent.
- By LEE on 05-02-19
By: Jack McLean
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The Lion's Gate
- On the Front Lines of the Six Day War
- By: Steven Pressfield
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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June 5, 1967: The fearsome, Soviet-equipped Egyptian Army and its 1000 tanks are massed on Israel's southern border. Meanwhile, the Syrian Army is shelling the much smaller nation from the north. And to the east, Jordan and Iraq are moving brigades and fighter squadrons into position to attack. Egypt's President Nasser has declared that the Arab world's goal is no less than "the destruction of Israel."
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As close to being there as you can get
- By Andy from FL on 07-13-14
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Combat and Other Shenanigans
- Tales of the Absurd from a Deployment to Iraq
- By: Piers Platt
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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War is hell....but sometimes it's also funny as hell.
Combat and Other Shenanigans is Lieutenant Piers Platt's firsthand account of his year as a cavalry platoon leader in Iraq. Wry, action-packed, and poignant, Combat and Other Shenanigans is the absurd-but-true story of the antics the world's finest soldiers get up to when no one high-ranking is watching-
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Leading tank and M3 Bradley platoons
- By Russell Phillips on 12-11-14
By: Piers Platt
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Fire Base Illingworth
- An Epic True Story of Remarkable Courage Against Staggering Odds
- By: Philip Keith
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early morning hours of April 1, 1970, more than four hundred North Vietnamese soldiers charged out into the open and tried to overrun FSB Illingworth. The battle went on, mostly in the dark, for hours. Exposed ammunition canisters were hit and blew up, causing a thunderous explosion inside the FSB that left dust so thick it jammed the hand-held weapons of the GIs. Much of the combat was hand-to-hand. In all, twenty-four Americans lost their lives and another fifty-four were wounded.
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The Most of Courageous Soldier's
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 09-08-14
By: Philip Keith
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Eye of the Storm
- Twenty-Five Years in Action with the SAS
- By: Peter Ratcliffe, Noel Botham, Brian Hitchen
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Peter Ratcliffe served in the SAS for 25 years. Blooded in Oman in the 1970s, he also saw action in Northern Ireland, in the Falklands War, and in the Gulf campaign. From his early days in the Paras to his time as Regimental Sergeant-Major in the Gulf, he has lived and fought by the motto 'who dares wins'. Eye of the Storm is his insider's account of that exceptional career.
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Peter is the real deal
- By LARRY on 10-19-19
By: Peter Ratcliffe, and others
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Chasing Understanding in the Jungles of Vietnam
- My Year as a Black Scarf
- By: Douglas Beed
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Author Doug Beed relates his memories of the men and missions during his year (1968-69) as a combat soldier with the First Infantry Division in Vietnam. After two years of college he couldn't afford to continue, so he was forced to relinquish his student deferment and enter the draft. He tried various strategies to get a non-combat job; nevertheless, he ended up in the infantry and was assigned to Vietnam. The stories in this book depict the year Doug spent in Alpha Company, where he spent days on patrols finding and killing North Vietnamese soldiers.
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Interesting
- By One guy's opinion on 11-09-23
By: Douglas Beed
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The Chosen Few
- A Company of Paratroopers and Its Heroic Struggle to Survive in the Mountains of Afghanistan
- By: Gregg Zoroya, William H. McRaven - foreward
- Narrated by: Gregg Zoroya
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Wow! What an amazing group of men!
- By Myla on 06-22-18
By: Gregg Zoroya, and others
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Heroes Among Us
- Firsthand Accounts of Combat from America's Most Decorated Warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan
- By: Chuck Larson
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Over one million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past four years, but fewer than 500 from this group have earned a Silver Star, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, or the Medal of Honor. Those who have been awarded these distinguished honors all demonstrated an extraordinary courage under fire in the worst of circumstances.
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Wow!
- By John on 01-28-10
By: Chuck Larson
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Roughneck Nine-One
- The Extraordinary Story of a Special Forces A-Team at War
- By: Frank Antenori, Hans Halberstadt
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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On April 6, 2003, 26 Green Berets, including those of Sergeant First Class Frank Antenori's Special Forces A-Team (call sign Roughneck Nine One), fought a vastly superior force at a remote crossroads near the village of Debecka, Iraq. The enemy unit had battle tanks and 150 well-trained, well-equipped, and well-commanded soldiers. The Green Berets stopped the enemy advance, then fought them until only a handful of Iraqi survivors finally fled the battlefield.
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Excellent narrative
- By John on 10-07-08
By: Frank Antenori, and others
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Masters of Chaos
- The Secret History of Special Forces
- By: Linda Robinson
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Special Forces soldiers are daring, seasoned troops from America's heartland, selected in a tough competition and trained in an extraordinary range of skills. They know foreign languages and cultures and unconventional warfare better than any US fighters, and while they prefer to stay out of the limelight, veteran war correspondent Linda Robinson gained access to their closed world. She traveled with them on the frontlines, interviewed them at length on their home bases, and studied their doctrine, methods, and history.
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Story of Special Forces
- By Austin Pearson on 02-28-18
By: Linda Robinson
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Pale Horse
- Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes with the 101st Airborne Division
- By: Jimmy Blackmon
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Pale Horse is the remarkable never-before-told true story of an army aviation task force during combat in the Afghan War, told by the commanding officer who was there. Set in the very valleys where the attacks of 9/11 were conceived and where 10 Medals of Honor have been earned since that fateful day the war began, the narrative races from ferocious firefights and bravery in battle to the quiet moments where the courageous men and women of Task Force Pale Horse catch their breath before they take to the skies again.
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Pale Horse
- By Jason on 04-04-16
By: Jimmy Blackmon
What listeners say about The Eyes of Orion
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Joseph Hayek
- 07-15-14
A must read for ROTC Cadets
Any additional comments?
I was an Army lieutenant 1974 - 1978. Never went to war like these lieutenants did. But I had many of the same anxieties these five lieutenants had. These guys are reflecting back several years after the war. They each have their own thoughts and experiences. A couple lived in a bachelor pad. One stayed in the BOQ. One was a scout platoon leader, the others leading tank platoons. Some had great platoon sergeants, one had a horrid PSG. Some loved their company C.O.'s, some had weak C.O.'s. All had one great fear (as I did) "to let their men down." These guys are honest with their feelings, about the SNAFU's in the Army and about the growing up they did. Most of them won "Combat V's". If I were an ROTC instructor, I would make this book required reading for cadets...and then we would honestly talk about it. The reader is a little dry, by the story is so compelling.
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- Rb103
- 09-20-16
Good story, great lessons, awful narrator
Would you be willing to try another one of Ralph Morocco’s performances?
Nope. Narrator sounded like a deep-voiced version of a cars' GPS. Thank god most of the book was written journal-style with minimal dialogue. Any human interactions were made super awkward and unnatural.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. Quite dull (as was the nature of Desert Shield) but still a good book.
Any additional comments?
Good story with great lessons for new LTs, but the book does not lend itself well to the audio-format. With 1 author drawing on 5 experiences, it goes back and forth from first and 3rd person as the primary author gives a brief intro then lets the other author tell it. Very confusing with such a monotone narrator, though I'm sure it would be plainly obvious because of the formatting changes.
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- John N.
- 12-17-17
OMG. this was painful to listen to
Terrible oration on an otherwise dry story. if there was some profound element here i never found it.
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