Oystergruppenfuhrer Graham Platner Says Marcus Luttrell Lied About ‘Lone Survivor’ Story

Maine Democrat Graham Platner accused former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell of “lying” in his popular war memoir Lone Survivor about his combat experience in Afghanistan, in part by using a British ghostwriter who, Platner says, ripped off another SEAL’s book to create a work of fiction. It’s the latest example of the far-left Senate hopeful smearing his fellow combat veterans, and of his particular antipathy to Special Forces.

In a series of deleted Reddit posts in 2013, Platner accused Luttrell of promoting “war porn” in his 2007 book, which was made into a 2013 film starring Mark Wahlberg. Luttrell’s memoir was his account of Luttrell on a mission to take out a Taliban militia leader. Luttrell’s three SEAL comrades were killed during the mission, known as Operation Red Wings. Luttrell alone survived after being rescued by Pashtun villagers in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

Platner, now running to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins (R.), asserted in his posts that Luttrell and his British coauthor, Patrick Robinson, stole material for the book from another Navy SEAL author.

“Luttrell didn’t write the damn book, it was ghost written by a limey, and is war porn at its worst,” wrote Platner. He asserted that most of the scenes about Navy SEAL training “are taken almost verbatim” from another book by Dick Couch about the SEALs, and were therefore fictitious. In another thread, Platner agreed with a Reddit user who said the book and movie were “bastardized and plagiarized.”

Platner suggested Luttrell and Robinson colluded with the Navy—and lied—in order to put a positive spin on Operation Red Wings.

“Terrible planning, improperly trained and equipped unit, and then a whole bunch of lying on the part of Luttrell and the Navy to turn a total failure into some bullshit glory story,” wrote Platner.

While some historians have questioned whether Luttrell embellished the SEALs’ harrowing mission, there is little debate about the courage of the SEAL team, which was led by Michael Murphy, a legendary SEAL who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. And there is no evidence that Luttrell and Robinson, the Lone Survivor coauthor, plagiarized the book. Little, Brown, and Company, the publisher of the book, did not respond to requests for comment. Luttrell and Robinson could not be reached for comment.

— Chuck Ross in ‘Bullshit Glory Story’: Graham Platner Accused ‘Lone Survivor’ Author of ‘Lying’ and Promoting ‘War Porn’: Democrat Says Navy SEAL Used a Ghostwriter Who Made Things Up