The Snake Eaters: An Unlikely Band of Brothers and the Battle for the Soul of Iraq

By Owen West

Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, History

The Snake Eaters is Owen West's account of a team of American advisors, underprepared reservists and National Guardsmen, who built an Iraqi battalion from the ground up and fought beside it in Anbar Province. West, a Marine major, advised the battalion. In the city of Khalidiya, where insurgents were closely mixed in with the population, he portrays figures such as Major Mohammad, an Iraqi officer, and Sergeant Blakley, a medic stalked by a sniper, as they patrol and fight.

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• Jocko Willink: “We mentioned your son Owen. Um again, he authored a book called The Snake Eaters about his time as an advisor in Iraq... An incredible incredible job that they did. Crazy job, risky job. Uh not glorious job and he wrote about that in his book. He also wrote Sharkman 6 and 4 Days to Veracruz. Some great books.”