Full Battle Rattle by Changiz Lahidji

Full Battle Rattle

My Story As the Longest-serving Special Forces A-team Soldier in American History

Changiz Lahidji, Ralph Pezzullo

St. Martin's Press · Print & ebook · February 6, 2018

Over 100 combat missions, 24 years as a Green Beret—Full Battle Rattle tells the legend of a soldier who served America in every war since Vietnam.

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Who it’s for
A close-up, high-commitment account that reads as both field record and lived history.
Genres
Military Lives, Special Forces History, Afghan War (2001-)
Published
St. Martin's Press, February 6, 2018

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For younger readers: Ghosts of War, War in Afghanistan

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About this book

Over 100 combat missions, 24 years as a Green Beret—Full Battle Rattle tells the legend of a soldier who served America in every war since Vietnam. Master Sergeant Changiz Lahidji served on Special Forces A teams longer than anyone in history, completing over a hundred combat missions in Afghanistan. Changiz is a Special Forces legend. He also happens to be the first Muslim Green Beret.

Continue reading

Changiz served this country starting with Operation Eagle Claw in 1980, when he entered Tehran on a one-man mission to spy on Iranian soldiers guarding the US Embassy where 52 US diplomats were being held hostage. Three years later, he was in Beirut, Lebanon when a suicide car bomb exploded in front of the US Embassy killing 83 people. Weeks after that, he was shot by Hezbollah terrorists on a night mission. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, he led a convoy that was ambushed on its way to Fallujah. He was clearing houses in Mogadishu, Somalia on October, 1993 when a US Black Hawk helicopter was shot down 50 feet away from him in the incident that inspired Black Hawk Down. In 2002, he dressed as a farmer and snuck into Eastern Afghanistan and located Osama Bin Laden for the CIA. Along the way, Changiz earned numerous commendations, including the Special Forces Legion of Merit, Purple Hearts, and many others. Last year he was nominated for induction in Military Intelligence Hall of Fame and cited as “the finest noncommissioned officer to ever serve in Special Forces.” His story is an amazing tale of perseverance and courage, of combat and one man’s love of his adopted country.

In The Field

A close-up, high-commitment account that reads as both field record and lived history.

Come here for

  • Special Forces on-the-ground perspective
  • Career-spanning military memory

Expect

  • Hard-edged operational detail
  • Straight talk over polish

Where it sits

Military Lives86%
Afghan War (2001-)67%
Special Forces History57%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Military Lives
  • Special Forces History
  • Islam - General
Authors
Changiz Lahidji, Ralph Pezzullo
Publisher
St. Martin's Press
Published
February 6, 2018
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Military Lives