Special Operations.Com
Recommended
Reading
August
- September 2000
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Review:
Class 29 is a true and honest portrayal of the men
and the challenges of a special group of Americans.
Americans dedicated to the preservation of our countries
high tenants, our countries values, and the bright
light of hope. Americans dedicating their lives to
serving the cause of freedom.
- Roy Boehm
FIRST SEAL
Review:
From RD
"We get a bunch of "SEAL" books here at your Naval
Special Warfare Archives, all tell something, some
tell more than others. The one book that stands out
that neither Pam nor I could put down once we started
it is John Roat's Class 29. I feel that this book
should be required reading for anyone contemplating
going through BUD/S. It is blunt, to the point and
pulls no punches. From a personal viewpoint (I was
class 29 West Coast) I learned more about East Coast
training by reading one book than I had in reading
all the others combined. This is not to put down Patches'
books or any others, this book is about training not
the Vietnam War. John writes about pain, how it was
dealt with and what it took to complete Class 29 East
Coast. The Archives wishes to say "Well done Team
Mate" to John Roat.
Thank you all for listening." —R. D. Russell
Review:
"This book is every class and feeling."
—Jesse Ventura
Review:
Class-29 is the true story of John Roat’s training
to become a U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Team (UDT)
member in 1963. Roat’s class (number 29) was much
larger than usual, starting with 134 trainees, because
from this group (and existing UDTs) would be drawn
the first members of the newly created and then secret
SEAL Teams.
Class-29 confines its story to Roat’s initial training
and Roat’s report on how SEAL training works today.
Roat’s story of his own training directly follows
the course of training and is interspersed with many
very funny stories about how training was conducted.
Roat also often demonstrates that he and his team
members were definitely not Boy Scouts. Little is
mentioned about weapons and combat training. No "rip
the enemy's ear off – it distracts them" talk.
The language includes relatively few bits of military,
navy, or SEAL slang or jargon. This can be either
good or bad depending on your view of things.
Indeed, unlike some books in the “I was a Navy SEAL”
genre, I think Roat successfully makes his story accessible
and hopefully even inspiring to the average civilian
(admittedly, as a former U.S. Marine, I only partially
qualify). The two things I came away from Class-29
with are: the huge inner mental strength (or stubbornness?)
required and the importance of helping, trusting,
and relying on his team members to succeed in what
is probably the toughest military training on Earth.
I loved it. I went out and bought new running shoes.
Review by Dan Swearingen, BookBrowser.Com
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