Red Platoon, out this week from Penguin Random House, joins the ranks of war memoirs like Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell and American Sniper by Chris Kyle.

“If it wasn’t for those eight men who gave up everything I wouldn’t be here, but there’s been a one-sided perspective.” With journalist Kevin Fedarko, Romesha went back and spent hours discussing and reliving the battle with his “battle buddies”. “I get the attention on a daily basis, but the other men that were there with me that day were just as important,” he says. ( The film rights to Red Platoon already have been optioned by Sony Pictures.) But he knew that many troop members were uncomfortable speaking with journalists, and these members encouraged him to write a first-person account that would tell a fuller story. “I didn’t want to do a book about the individual perspective of Clint Romesha,” he says, especially since CNN journalist Jake Tapper had already written a book, titled The Outpost, about Kamdesh. To make matters worse, Keating’s observation post, named Fritsche, which was supposed to provide defensive cover, was behind the ridgelines and had no direct view of Keating itself.Romesha was apprehensive about the prospect of courting attention. The village of Urmul, just across the Darreh-ye Kushtaz River and only 100 yards to the west of Keating, provided additional safe cover for the enemy. Because Keating was at the bottom of a valley, Taliban could shoot directly into the compound while remaining hidden along the ridgeline. Established in 2006, the camp was located at the base of steep mountains and bounded by rivers in isolated Nuristan Province. Upon arriving at Keating in late May 2009, the Black Knight Troop-divided into the Red, Blue, White, and Headquarters Platoons and tasked with preparing the base for shutdown-saw right away how vulnerable they were. The memoir provides a detailed account of the battle, and how Romesha, the staff sergeant of Red Platoon, executed a counterattack that helped save Keating along with many of his men and earned him a Medal of Honor.

For 14 hours, the Black Knight Troop fought to defend their post.

Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor by Clinton Romesha is a memoir of the October 2009 Battle of Kamdesh, in which hundreds of Taliban insurgents attacked Keating, the most remote American combat outpost in Afghanistan.

Red platoon book