Alpha : Eddie Gallagher and the war for the soul of the Navy Seals
(Large Print)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 619-646) and index.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Philipps uncovers the shocking rise and fall of Eddie Gallagher, the decorated Navy SEAL accused of war crimes during his deployment to Mosul, the fellow SEALs who turned him in, and the court martial that captivated the nation. By official accounts, the Navy SEALs of Alpha platoon returned as heroes after their 2017 deployment to Mosul. But within the platoon a different war raged. Even as Alpha's chief, Eddie Gallagher, was being honored by the Navy for his leadership, several of his men were preparing to report him for war crimes, alleging that he'd stabbed a prisoner in cold blood and taken lethal sniper shots at unarmed civilians. Some in his platoon saw Gallapher as a man who appeared to be coming unhinged after multiple deployments in America's forever wars. Philipps reveals the story of a group of special operators caught in a moral crucible: should they uphold their oath and turn in their chief, or honor the SEALs' unwritten code of silence? -- adapted from jacket