This image is the cover for the book SEAL Warrior

SEAL Warrior

SEAL Warrior is a vivid, action-packed account of Thomas H. Keith's Vietnam tour of duty--a highly decorated Navy SEAL.

During the Vietnam era, many of the U.S. Navy SEALs (SEa, Air, Land commandos) never filed for a Purple Heart unless they were severely wounded. Thomas H. Keith, Master Chief, SEAL Team 2, is living proof. He carries a piece of shrapnel behind one lung, a reminder of the day he called in 40 mm mortar fire on the enemy that was trying to catch up to his crew as the crew hauled ass out of the bush. Not only did he never report it, it was never removed---it just wasn't serious enough.

SEAL Warrior is the vivid, gritty, transporting memoir of a man destined for combat, a third-generation soldier for whom serving his country was not only an honor, it was tradition. While his grandfathers fought in France, and his father's position as a U.S. Navy Chief took him all around the world, Tom Keith fought his first war in the jungles of Vietnam.

Fighting a guerilla war on foreign soil for the first time in American history, the SEALS found that there were no front lines; the enemy was an integral part of the entire society. This atypical form of warfare demanded that new tactics, new strategic applications of force, and a new understanding of a complex social and cultural enmity be found.

SEAL Warrior goes beyond the horror and bravado of battle to offer a deeper insight into the ways in which the SEALs fought, learned, reacted, and expanded their understanding of guerilla warfare during the Vietnam War. It's also a personal, riveting account of how one young American survived, and, over time, grew to trust and revere many of those who once had been his enemy.

With America again deeply involved in guerilla warfare, there is no better time to honor the unique abilities, understanding, and courage of these warriors who sacrificed it all to fight for nothing less than peace.

Thomas H. Keith, J. Terry Riebling, Michael E. Thornton

THOMAS H. KEITH retired as a Command Master Chief with thirty-one years service in the U.S. Navy, twenty-nine years with the U.S. Navy's Underwater Demolition Teams and SEAL Team 2. During his three tours of duty in the Republic of Vietnam with SEAL Team 2, he received two Purple Hearts, three Bronze Stars with combat V for valor, two Navy Commendation medals with combat V for valor, one Navy Achievement medal with combat V for valor, two Presidential Unit Citations, and two Navy Unit Citations among his many awards. He devoted twenty-nine years of service to Naval Special Warfare and is still involved in active special operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as a civilian contractor.

J. TERRY RIEBLING has been writing technical articles for major firearms magazines and journals for thirty years. He is the winner of the Erskine Caldwell Award for Short Fiction and has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

St. Martin’s Press