Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Man in the Arena: From Fighting ISIS to Fighting for My Freedom

Rate this book
On September 11, 2018, Navy SEAL Chief Edward Gallagher—a highly-decorated combat veteran with nine deployments to war zones in Africa, Afghanistan, and Iraq—was arrested for war crimes at the TBI medical clinic where he was receiving treatment.

His incarceration was the culmination of a year-long whisper campaign started by a group of disgruntled members of his SEAL platoon after a successful deployment fighting ISIS in Mosul, Iraq. At the end of that deployment, Chief Gallagher was named the #1 chief at SEAL Team 7, put in for a Silver Star for valor on the battlefield, and listed for promotion to Senior Chief. The junior members whom Chief Gallagher had called out for cowardice and ineptitude in combat decided they couldn't let any of those things stand, and escalated minor complaints into false accusations of stabbing a captured ISIS fighter and shooting noncombatants that gained international attention.

Despite a corrupt investigation and a deceitful prosecutor who would be removed from the case for spying on defense attorneys, Chief Gallagher was found innocent on all major charges, and freed from prison. But only after his family was put through hell, and President Trump intervened to allow Chief Gallagher a fair trial in a military justice system designed to break and persecute our country's warfighters.

While heavily covered in the media, the full story of how a war hero was railroaded and nearly sent to prison for life for crimes he didn't commit has never been told. Chief Gallagher did not testify at his trial, and has spoken in little detail about how this travesty came about. Until now. A shocking, raw, tell-all expose that pulls no punches, and identifies each and every bad actor in this surreal story.

520 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2021

154 people are currently reading
518 people want to read

About the author

Eddie Gallagher

1 book6 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
407 (65%)
4 stars
135 (21%)
3 stars
46 (7%)
2 stars
11 (1%)
1 star
21 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
Profile Image for Bonnie_Rae.
427 reviews2 followers
July 16, 2021
Eddie Gallagher is a retired Navy SEAL who has had over 20 years of service. His name and his alleged deeds were put in the public spotlight in September 2018 when he was charged with war crimes. His alleged crimes included murdering a teenager, posing with the corpse for photos, taking part in a reenlistment ceremony over the corpse, and then sending photos of the corpse to a friend of his, texting “Good story behind this. Got him with my hunting knife.”

Several members of his platoon were disgusted by Chief Gallagher's behavior and actions. According to David Phillips of the New York Times and Andrew Dyer from the San Diego Tribune, they tried to report their chief to upper command multiple times. They had reason to believe he was paranoid, incompetent, and all around shit-tier leader for their platoon. Several SEALS reported him for taking shots at civilians - including children and the elderly - and for acting abusively toward his subordinates.

And Gallagher sure tries to live up to that reputation in his own book! I do not think I have read any non-fiction as vile and hateful as this. He proudly boasts of beating up people since he was a kid, getting to kill people he deems evil, and like an immature brat degrades his fellow SEALs as “butt buddies,” “pussies,” “little pricks,” and “sniveling little bitches.” He goes on these deranged tangents about his former SEAL brothers and engages in several violent fantasies, writing that he wanted to hurt and murder people that made him angry. He also insinuates members of his former platoon would regularly cheat on their spouses, “but [he] never judged them for it.” Then why include it in the book, Gallagher?!

I think I know why. He had several friends who helped his family in the lead up to the trial. One of them is Bernie Kerik. Bernie Kerik is the former commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections and was briefly the New York City Police Commissioner. He got busted for conducting two extramarital affairs with an apartment meant for first responders who were helping survivors of the 9/11 attack. It is so odd how the Gallaghers will hit on 9/11 as being the day Edward was taken into custody, but neglect to mention how one of their friends committed some morally vile actions in the immediate wake after 9/11. Another “friend” of theirs is Duncan D. Hunter, another gross human. Duncan Hunter also cheated on his wife and committed affairs using campaign donation money! He was sentenced to jail but was pardoned by Trump, probably because Hunter wouldn’t last more than 8 hours in prison. And of course, we cannot forget President 45, the Pu**y Grabber in Chief, Donald Trump. Trump has admitted to cheating on all three of his wives and has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault. But the Gallaghers love him - why wouldn't they? He saved Gallagher's neck and let him keep his Trident. So in short, Gallagher probably cannot afford to judge adulterers because several of his friends are that very thing!

Duncan Hunter’s aide, named Tommy Marquez. Tommy Marquez fits right in with this nasty group - there was this hideous little bit about how he disrespected a US Marine lawyer, Keleigh Anderson. Hunter's aide had tried calling Anderson to protest some violation Gallagher had made.

“Calling me twenty-one times in a row last night was completely unprofessional,” she scolded him.
“If you had answered the first time, I wouldn’t have had to call twenty-one times. Next time, answer me the first time,” Tommy responded. She’d been a complete bitch since day one, and it was good to hear someone with authority put her in her place.

Gallagher is a bully who admires other bullies.

Right off the bat, I could not trust a thing he wrote in this book. He made ridiculous claims, including that he and his team “once...witnessed the heads of women and children mounted on fence spikes ringing what used to be a park.” He offers zero proof of this. He also claims “there were stories of children being boiled alive and their mothers being forced to eat the broth of their dead children. We experienced the depravity of this sick and twisted group almost daily.”

What?!!? What in the what?! This is some Old Testament (chapters Deuteronomy and Leviticus, specifically) bullcrap. Also - and I know this grim - think of the logistics. How in the hell would you get a crew and supplies big enough to boil children as if they were lobsters?! Who would willingly go through that? Who would have to prepare the broth made out of boiled children and then feed it to their mothers? How would the mothers know they were drinking broth made from their children? Nonsense in every sense!

Also - the bit about heads being placed on spikes? Utter and complete lies. This is some ancient Celtic stuff - not what modern terrorists do. If ISIS was indeed pulling that kind of horrifying showmanship, we would have heard about it on the news. Keep in mind, the immediate next sentence after that horrific imagery is: “But in some ways, the Mosul deployment had been safer than most.” So, he switches from claiming all sorts of horrific, unbelievable crimes against humanity to then saying, actually the deployment was pretty okay all things considered. I presume no one cared to make these two paragraphs sync up in any way because they do not make sense next to each other.

In the book, he and his wife play up their Christian faith, a lot. The Gallaghers frequently break the narrative to emphasize how their Christian faith saw them through the trial. Gallagher mentions multiple times about hoe he would pray to God to allow the SEAL team “to take out as many enemy fighters as possible during battle.”

Oh, and if you feel uncomfortable about that, Gallagher claims that “to a non-warfighter that last part may sound callous, praying for God to help you kill people, but that’s why you aren’t a warfighter. Killing those men rids the earth of evildoers. That was my mission and my job, and I felt it was a godly one.” He freely admits that “for some, killing becomes an addiction, but I consider it a good addiction needed to win wars. For me, getting into firefights and killing the enemy was the biggest high I ever experienced. It’s a skill I take pride in, and the SEALs I came up with feel the same way.”

Never mind that Gallagher pretty much admits to several violations of the Ten Commandments - including taking the Lord’s name in vain (i.e. acting like a Christian when you do not, in fact, live up to those values), murdering people, stealing from his subordinates (he admitted to it!), and bearing false witness against others (he literally calls one of the men who testified against him “psycho”). He also winks at adultery, because again, he received a lot of support from those very people.

The man must have been brought up this way. According to him, his parents encouraged him to pick fights. He says his mom had the mentality of: “Don’t let anyone mess with you, and if they do, you better do something about it.” He shares this dark little story:

Once, a neighborhood kid whom I already didn’t like convinced Sean to go over to his house. This kid then informed me he wasn’t letting Sean leave. Basically, he made it seem like he kidnapped my brother. So I headed over to get Sean back, and ended up fighting the kid. Afterward, his mother marched him over to our house to show my mom the bloody nose and cut lip I’d given her kid. My mother acted appropriately appalled at my behavior for the neighbor’s benefit, but when I told her what he’d done to Sean, there was no admonishment. Instead, I was informed I’d done the right thing.

His parents, especially his mother by the looks of it, actively encouraged their son that violence was the answer and as long as he committed violence for the sake of defending his brother or himself, then that was alright. Escalation was always the answer, apparently.

Now, at the heart of the story - the reason we even know Gallagher’s name in the first place - is because of the alleged murder of a teenage ISIS fighter in Mosul.

Anguish and Anger From the Navy SEALs Who Turned In Edward Gallagher - The New York Times

The teenager in question didn’t have a name attached to him for a long time. If the Gallaghers talked about him, they usually called him an “ISIS terrorist.” The court referred to him as a “wounded male person.” It was not until NPR were able to track down the teenager’s family. His name was Khaled Jamal Abdullah. The journalist showed his father footage of his son’s last moments. He lay on the ground, sedated but still aware of his surroundings. The skinny boy (so skinny his clothing hangs off of him, a watch hanging loosely on his upper arm) claims his father beat him to try to stop him from joining ISIS. Feel free to read the article: https://www.npr.org/2020/10/29/929022...

His mother, an older sister, and his nephew watched the video as well. “We have had had our fill of sadness these past three years,” she says. “Whoever takes this road with ISIS doesn’t come back.”

Later on in the article, his own father admits “It’s true Khaled is a criminal, but he was a prisoner. America has civilization and development and humanity. Why did they do this? He should have been taken to court, and the court would have sentenced him. He was 17. He was a child. It is murder. We consider that they murdered him.”

****

The paranoia and projection is just off the charts too. He assumes (correctly) that most people disliked him and that was fine with him. Just about every chapter that features someone else adding their perspective calls him an a**hole or infers that he is that very thing. Expect a similar story to crop up again and again - something along the lines of Yeah, this person treated me just fine, but I could tell he didn’t like me. Example:

Early on, I thought I recognized one of the guards. I went up to him. “Did you got to BUD/S?” I asked.

He remembered me. “Yeah, you were my First Phase instructor. I quit.”

That was rare, someone actually admitting they ran the bell that signal you’re voluntarily dropping from training. Usually, guys who don’t make it through BUD/S - around eighty percent of those selected to go - say they were injured or make up an excuse for why they didn’t make it. I’m sure he didn’t want to lie in case I remembered him ringing the bell (I didn’t). In any case, the guard never gave me any shit, though I could tell he had a little chip on his shoulder from his time with me at BUD/S.

He does this a lot. He constantly makes claims (both in print and in interviews), like how there were people’s heads on spikes, how he managed to turn the worst ranked platoon into the best, how everyone decided to nurse Khaled to death - but then has ZERO proof for it.

Furthermore, he refuses to take blame for his actions. He kind of plays at it, suggesting that probably some of it was his fault, but he circles back to the same thing every single time. They blamed me. They pinned the crimes on me. They did it to me. He isn’t the perpetrator, he plays the victim at the mercy of a “corrupt and unfair” system.

Eddie is a frigging grifter and other SEALs are more than happy to grift off of him. He has been on Andy Stumpf’s Cleared Hot podcast twice, on Shawn Ryan’s Vigilance Elite (along with his wife and son, Ryan), Mike Ritland’s Mike Drop podcast, the Free Range American podcast twice (and even his lawyer, Timothy Palatore on one time) his wife and brother were on Marcus Luttrell’s podcast, the family has been on Fox News countless times, they have appeared on other podcasts and Instagram Lives - some only with under a thousand views, others reaching into the millions. This man has had so, so many hours to tell “his side” of the story, not to mention the local media trailing him around before, during, after the court hearing.

The journalism and opinions that ARE NOT from his point of view, in terms of mere hours of footage/audio, is very likely in the minority. Gallagher has been able to dominate the conversation for a long time. So when anything that even looks like an opposing viewpoint comes out, poking holes in his see-through thin story, he can whine that the mainstream media is out to get them, that they don’t understand. For what he did. For what he admitted. Out loud. In print. In public.

But at the very end, when his story is stripped away, when the allegations are put aside, we are left with a dead teenager. Possibly a dead girl, wearing a flower-patterned hijab, and an old man just looking after his property. We are left with shaken men, who willingly put themselves through the intensity of BUD/S training and warfare who attempted to report their chief multiple times, because they considered it their duty to protect others and themselves.

I would not go into this book looking for the truth. I would go into this to look through the perspective of a man who enjoys killing, who sees others around as roughly one of three types: his allies, his enemies, and savages.

Recently - Gallagher claimed it was their intention to kill the teenager by “practicing” medical procedures. Does this show up in the book? NO! No it does not. Originally, Corey Scott decided (for whatever reason) to take the fall for Gallagher. Scott claimed that Gallagher did indeed stab the young man in the neck but that it was Scott who pinched the tubes in the teenager’s throat, effectively suffocating him to death. Even Gallagher admits he is confused by this move:

What? Did this dude just say he killed the terrorist? Did I hear him right? I definitely didn’t see Corey do that, and it was my first time hearing it. I had assumed the terrorist died from his battle wounds.

Gallagher spoke about the detainee's controversial death on an episode of The Line podcast, which came out in Spring 2021, saying "We killed that guy. Our intention was to kill him. Everybody was on board." Gallagher further explained that his team planned to "do medical scenarios" on the detainee "until he died," in an effort to prevent Iraqi soldiers from torturing him to death. If that was his version of the truth, why did he wait until 2021 to announce that?! He gave it three bloody years?! He did not reveal this (bullscheise claim) until now? No. Unacceptable.

****

I want to go over Andrea Gallagher in more detail. While I vehemently dislike her (she was more than happy to degrade and mock the men her husband hurt and retaliated against), she has had a rough life. In the book, she reveals that her first marriage (to a bouncer named Josh) happened because she became pregnant outside of marriage. She did not want to consider abortion or adoption, instead choosing to keep her baby. She married a man she did not love and he did not love her, either. She insinuates a lot of abuse in the relationship, which I am inclined to believe. It seems like her first husband neglected her and his children. However, she stuck with the marriage for a long time out of what seems to be shame (because having a child, let alone having sex, outside of marriage was a massive social stigma to her) and self-punishment. It was only after Josh admitted he cheated on her that she finally kicked him out of the house and she got divorced before eventually marrying her current husband, Edward Gallagher.

In another heartbreaking story, she reveals her mother died trying to save one of her grandchildren. The child in question, Gage (who is described as autistic and non-communicative), meandered into a pond and though Andrea’s mom (Sharon) couldn’t swim, she tried to rescue him. A neighbor realized both were drowning and managed to save Gage and pull out Sharon, who had unfortunately drowned to death. This is beyond tragic and heartbreaking. However, this revelation shocked me:

I wish I could say I had ample time to deal with losing my mom, but the reality was, Eddie still had a job to do and I couldn’t look to him to offer respite from my sorrow. The job - the Teams - always came first. I was used to it. But now, in addition to running the household and taking care of the kids, I had to grieve for my mother. Eddie tried to support me in his own way, but the truth is, for most of that journey, I was alone. I got little sympathy from him, but never expected it. He didn’t have the time or bandwidth to console and mourn with me, and I didn’t begrudge him for that.

Eddie had seen so much death he was desensitized. My mother’s drowning was traumatic for me and the kids, but to Eddie, death and tragedy was common. He shoved it down; in his world, letting it affect him would have been a liability.

This reveals so much. Imagine being in a relationship where you cannot rely on your intimate partner, the father of your children, your best friend for much needed emotional support after your mother’s death. This is horrifying and tragic on a level I cannot fully wrap my head around. This is not a healthy or stable relationship. You should be able to count on your partner for emotional support and help but Andrea makes it clear she could not do so. She is still stuck with this guy, but she seems determined to stay in the marriage. Til death do they part.
Profile Image for Alissa Vaughan.
38 reviews5 followers
June 15, 2021
It is my belief that every single American should read this book. So many of us believe the government is always there to protect us and that is simply untrue. This book is a prime example of the unfathomable ways the government will lie, manipulate, and cheat their way to victory regardless of the cost. One American life whether in death or rotting in prison forever is to high a price to pay, but the government was willing to pay it ten-fold. It is confirmed through out the story what entitled attitudes, liberal authorities, and liberal media can achieve in damage with absolutely no remorse. This book was extremely well written. Raw, honest, heartfelt, and Eddie Gallagher owned up to anything he honestly felt he could have done differently. I am so sorry for what this man who gave his life defending our country went through. And yet I am so thankful he and his wife wrote this book to remind us that God and the good will prevail.
Profile Image for Twobchelm.
991 reviews19 followers
July 13, 2021
If you aren’t furious after you read this book you aren’t someone I want to know . This is a disgusting abuse of power and biased politics going after a 19 plus war warrior on petty rumors and declaring him guilty from the start!
I believe every American who believes in due process of the law needs to read Eddie’s story, I am totally sick of big government and it’s running amuck with power!
Profile Image for Mario A.
28 reviews
June 18, 2021
Unprofessional and Self-aggrandizement at its finest.

This was one of the more frustrating books I’ve read - and not for the reasons one would think.

Undoubtedly, it is a shame that this despicable mutiny and betrayal of SOC Edward Gallagher had ever taken place. It goes to show the levels of unprofessionalism and regression that have taken place within the ranks of the US military.

However, the author often contradicts himself from the get go; letting it be known to the readers that he is not out to seek recognition for the nature of his work, even going to lengths of citing the well known portions of the SEAL Ethos.

I would have appreciated the book much more had the author not been so hellbent on being politically focused and right leaning (and yes, to all of you Trump loyalists out there, I would have said the exact same thing had he been a left leaning author).

It’s a shame that the author had to suffer the fate of his fellow Teammates in Mosul. I am sorry that he had to suffer at the hands of young, and yes, entitled SEALs that had inflated pride.

As I had mentioned earlier, the book contains a wealth of contradictory statements and actions, which certainly made reading frustrating. The author states early on in the book that he is ashamed of the Command and that he feels betrayed, understandably. He heavily criticizes one of his former teammates of trying to use the SEAL persona to add to his personal brands (tactical company) and resume. At the exact same time, based on his social media, and the book cover, with the glistening SEAL Trident and belt-buckle, (if you shine light on these portions of the book cover, the light refracts only on the Tridents and Anchors) he seems to be capitalizing on the exact thing he opposes paragraph after paragraph in his book.

This book was rough to get through. Oust me as a liberal if you may, for simply not conforming to the legend of Edward Gallagher. I bought this book simply to possibly gain a new perspective on this man - which was not accomplished. The “truth” did come out in a sense.

2 out of 5 stars.
Profile Image for Gail.
543 reviews7 followers
July 8, 2021
Chief Gallagher is no Boy Scout, but what happened to him and his family was a travesty....a story that needed to be told.
Profile Image for Anna.
112 reviews11 followers
July 1, 2023
I give this book 5 stars because Chief Gallagher does a great job telling his side of the story. If it was the only thing I read, very believable. BUT there are two sides to every story, and I want to now read “alpha” a more fact based book. There are a few things that just don’t sit right with me though when reading this book:
1. I don’t care how accomplished of a warfighter you are, the name calling in this book was a lot. And it just speaks to the kind of person Chief Gallagher is. If your platoon mates are the horrible people you say they are, why bring yourself down to their level by calling them names in your book.
2. He worked with Congressman Duncan Hunter at one point, but he pleaded guilty for illegally spending campaign funds for personal use. Duncan Hunter, like chief Gallagher ended up getting pardoned by President trump 🤔
3. At one point in his book he was talking about officers and to one degree or another mentions “typical Annapolis officer” with a poor connotation so that just rubbed me the wrong way
4. At the end of the day, I still respect these seals for the atrocities of war and things they had to deal with. But deep down, what I cannot seem to just overlook is the text that Eddie sent to a friend with the photo of the dead isis terrorist “good story behind this one. Got him with my hunting knife” He later claimed it to be a joke and never expected it to surface, but I don’t think that should have been said, because what they say is “every joke has some degree of truth behind it”
2 reviews
July 4, 2021
So sorry that my country put you through this

I am a former Cav Scout. 78-82. I was just so embarrassed for my country to have employed Rosenturd and warpedmindski as representing g our government. Thank God this was during g Trump s presidency cause The Bigger Snifferupper would have hid I. The basement. You have a great family, your wife is a keeper, and no more noggin boogies for little bro either. I followed this o. Hannity, and heard you last week on his radio show. I am still seething mad at the leadership and will now what h my favorite show NCIS with a jaundiced eye. I hope you and your family can recover, and if you write Another book you could update us on each of the shitbirds and how they shammed their way through Seal School. I still have great respect t for all our special operators in every service but was sad at how the seal leadership treated o e of their own. I hope rosenturd Nd Anderson soon see their own courtyards and BC IS fires those PITA investagTors. As for this book I. Would not put it down. Good luck my Navy Bro from Nd Army brother and from the depth of my heart. I Thank You And Your Family For Their Service. Ed AKA Eldo Corona
41 reviews3 followers
July 12, 2021
Shamefull

I really enjoyed reading this book but found the actions of senior military leadership truly disgusting. Than God for POTUS for taking action and supporting a deserving sailor in need.
36 reviews
July 13, 2021
A revealing look at our Military leaders

A must read for anyone that thinks our military leaders have our warfighters, their families and the best interests of the USA as their primary mission. Chief H
Gallagher , thank you for your sacrifices and service! Best wishes
Profile Image for Michael Pope.
20 reviews1 follower
July 8, 2021
Like Trump said they’re not coming for me, they’re coming for you!

Great insight of what went on. I still don’t understand how or why this travesty was allowed to start, grow and continue. How was the corruption allowed to go so high in rank. This was like reading a Jason Bourne novel and the corruption that went on in those movies.

I’d like to know what happened to the sewing circle liars and others in the pictures.

Eddie Gallagher thank you for your service.
Profile Image for bill.
1 review7 followers
June 24, 2021
A riveting true story about a true American hero, Ex Marine, Navy Seal (Trident holder), ad combat veteran. It demonstrate that even if this great country of ours there are those who will selfishly and arrogantly try to distort both military and American justice. Because of the unselfish "last minute" help of the likes of Sean Hannity, Bernie Kerik and Paul Mukasy, ex President Trump a great injustice was averted. Whatever you political bent this is a Must Read"!

It was quite an honor for me to have met Eddie Gallagher and his lovely wife Andrea last year. The injustice that they and their family went through was completely sad and unjustified.
13 reviews
July 16, 2021
Leary

At first reading, I felt Gallagher was an arrogant ass. Didn't think I could read the whole book. But pushed through telling myself this is the type we need to be fighting terrorists. An the hearing about the seals working against Gallagher, well I've seen this in the school system and wondered how these young men were handling military life. No surprise of their actions, nor the higher commands response. It all follows through with today's society.
Profile Image for Julie Sparks.
503 reviews13 followers
August 13, 2021
What a story. And it’s all true. A must read for all patriots. It’s unpardonable what the Navy put this family through. But their faith in God and love for each other served them well during their ordeal. This is truly an unbelievable miscarriage of justice.
695 reviews3 followers
October 7, 2021
3.5/3.75 stars. The autobiography of Chief Operator Eddie Gallagher and his experience of a system working against him after nearly 20 years of service. If it was just the story, I give it 4.5 stars. I give it a really low 3 for editing and formatting issues. The way the book was supposed to flow just didn’t work for me at all and pulled me out of the story constantly. Both those aspects combined give me the 3.5/3.75 stars.

What I liked: 1) The QR codes with the interview clips, videos, audio clips, transcripts of the case. Wow. That was a crazy situation, but gave great insight into the investigation and court proceedings. 2) The 1st person different POVs added dimension to the story and the different voices added interest. You could easily make out personalities and individuals by their words. 2) Marc & Tim’s closing statements were amazing. Marc’s grasp of speech writing is on point!

What didn’t work for me: 1) The time line back & forth. None of it was linear. It jumped all over the place. I think the intent (and maybe I’m wrong) was to give some tension to the story, but the story is already interesting. The beginning reads like Eddie was absolutely, completely in the dark for awhile when he was taken into custody. But then you find out he’s retiring b/c of issues, his house had been raided, etc. That’s not being in the dark. Then you don’t read about the actual raid until chapter 48 on. Afterward you get to hear about his problems at work before then. Everything time-wise was all over the place. 2) The end was pretty truncated. Weird way to end, even though I have an idea of what they were trying to do. 3) Some of the 1st person narration seemed to go in and out of auto biographical and ghost writing. Either the writers weren’t consistent on their speech or the ghost writing/editing needed some improvement. 4) My biggest complaint (and this may be user error) is that I couldn’t speed up the interviews or audio clips to a 1.25x or 1.5x.

All in all, an enjoyable read. Despite the confusing timeline I had a hard time putting it down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
5 reviews
December 15, 2021
Men of honor targeted by political cowards.

I wanted to know exactly what happened after seeing the news reports. I didn't believe that this could happen to a decorated member of our military. I have seen this petty bullshit while I was in the Air Force. Some people get their feelings hurt so they blame the leaders for their own stupid short comings. So glad to see that you can win against this kind of arrogance and political bullshit. Especially when the accusors are proven to be the crybabies that they really are.
Profile Image for Deb.
122 reviews1 follower
February 26, 2023
This was a well written book. It was a great read, and I wish none of it had ever happened, and the book was unnecessary. It is the first book I've read with QR code links to the actual interviews and videos that are available to show what happened. After 19 years in the service many deployments and on the verge of retirement, Eddie got screwed by the Navy, In the end he came ok, but not unscathed. Spoiled, entitled, brats have NO PLACE in our military. My thanks to Chief Gallagher and his family for their service!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
1 review
February 4, 2024
I read this and the book Alpha which tells the opposite side of this story. This book is written so poorly and screams narcissist from Eddie Gallagher, it was very cringeworthy listening to his constant banter and making fun of people’s physical appearance page after page like a highschooler. His arrogance and constant need to justify his bizarre behaviors says enough. I couldn’t wait to be done with this book. I don’t remember this case when it was actually going on and I will say I educated myself a lot on the situation and it was interesting to read it from both sides.
Profile Image for LESLEY HEDISON.
29 reviews1 follower
September 7, 2021
Brilliant true life all the top knobs revealed and good old POTUS Donald comes in to the rescue, we need more men like Eddie and Donald

It deserved 20 stars for being true and steadfast in all the gory crap he was given no Armed forces need this treatment for fighting for world peace against terrorism
9 reviews
April 23, 2023
This version makes sense

E Gallagher tells his side and doesn't try to hide the info not in his favour. I think he makes a solid argument that the SEALS have a culture problem of guys joining for the wrong reasons - self promotion over service.
3 reviews
October 17, 2021
Eddie Gallagher puts his amateur writing skills on display while providing his side of a tragic story.

The book's structure intermingles several timelines to provide context for the climax of the book, Eddie's criminal trial. The book first mixes pretrial events, with biographical stories. It continues with stories of Eddie's military deployment and closes with the criminal trial. The overall structure of the book does proceed logically, but certain sections burden the reader with context not applicable to the trial and stories only interesting to an immature audience.

The book lacks refined writing. It reads like a transcribed interview rather than a thoughtful or eloquent presentation of events. Despite the author's average writing ability, the presentation of facts and novel use of QR codes with video evidence does help bring the characters and trial to life.

After reading the book, I am convinced of Gallagher's innocence, but would have enjoyed reading a book with an engaging writing style and less fluff.

I wish I could recommend this book without hesitation. The importance of publicizing the injustices perpetrated in story cannot be stressed enough. I can only recommend this book with a warning that it may feel dragged out. Rent it from a library, speed read the sections about the trial, then return it.
Profile Image for Mark Blane.
363 reviews10 followers
September 24, 2022
This is the story of Eddie Gallagher who was wrongfully accused of murder while on deployment in Mosul, Iraq. As a lawyer myself, I can appreciate the value of a military jury declaring someone not guilty. In the military, the standard to convict some one is a little easier because the prosecutor only needs to have 5 out of 7 people agree instead of all 7 - a 2/3 majority instead of a full 100%.

So, I was intrigued when this book came out to help find out why and how this occurred. I listened to it on audible, and while most of the book is decent with the recordings, there are parts that are not, which is why I probably dinged it to 3 stars instead of 4 stars. The recordings is done by Gallagher himself, his wife, some family, team mates, and his lawyers, which is a nice touch.

After you read this book, you will see why Gallagher was found not guilty. You will also learn of the unprofessional investigation that took place, as well as prosecutorial misconduct. Now, having said that, I think Gallagher was responsible for how this thing got blown up because he probably is not the nicest guy in terms of "office politics," and taking a photo with the dead terrorist and then texting it out. I think those two things were the powder keg that set this whole thing off. It just goes to show you how things can get blown way out of proportion and then turn deadly political.
Profile Image for Linda Galella.
1,037 reviews99 followers
June 29, 2021
Navy Seal Chief Eddie Gallagher and his wife, Andrea, share their often unbelievable story in the pages of “The Man in the Arena”. Actually, the subtitle is much better at describing what the book is about.

Gallagher is ripped out of a TBI therapy hospital and arrested for crimes he didn’t commit. He spent months imprisoned, harassed and manipulated from the highest levels of the government & military. Their story reads like convoluted fiction and riles the emotions like good courtroom drama wrapped with psychological thriller. The lengths to which the government stooped to falsely accuse Eddie had no boundaries. They terrorized his children; despicable!

This is a book that sadly will polarize. It shouldn’t be that way, but regrettably that’s where we are as a country. If readers could take the time to consider Gallagher’s almost 20 years of service, his drive to become a Seal, (spoken about in the book), and then really considered the travesty of injustice foisted upon him and his family, this story becomes HUMAN interest, not a political parse.

Thoroughly engaging, easy to read, but they should have redacted the abundance of expletives so younger teens could appreciate this story; Highly recommend, nonetheless 📚
Profile Image for Donna McComas.
15 reviews2 followers
June 4, 2022
I am thankful for Eddie Gallagher's contribution to America through his amazing military career. He has made great sacrifices to keep us safe, and for that I honor him. Also, I found it appalling what some of Seal Team 7 members did to him and how far they were able to take the trumped-up charges based on lies and exaggerations. And the fact that the military and the legal system allowed this to go so far is downright frightening and incredibly disappointing. As far as the man himself, I have to say I have a hard time actually liking him, but that doesn't even matter. The book is eye-opening and-though probably longer than it needs to be-one that people should read to be aware of what our system is capable of doing to a person. I'm glad I read it.
34 reviews
August 8, 2021
A must read!!!!!

What an amazing journey to go along with!!
I am shocked at what a few HORRIIBLE leaders and men ,that call themselves Patriotic, would stoop too!!! But God Bless the true fighters, that one in all shapes, sizes and walks of life, that always emerge when needed the most!!!!!!
I loved having the actual court hearings to be able to listen too. They brought out a singing bright light in the darkness of lies that were told. I just still can't believe it was still able to get this far!!??
Tim and Marc were just fantastic!!!!!! God Bless them for coming on!!!
God Bless President Trump!!!!!!
86 reviews1 follower
August 3, 2021
Glad to hear the truth

This book shares the good, the bad, and the ugly to use a cliché. It easily keeps you turning the pages. Makes me angry , being in a military family, that any service member would be treated this way. We gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it was unnecessary to include (especially spelled out) all the profanity. This type of language neverv elevates a person. Grateful that the commander-in-chief used his authority to right a grievous wrong. We think those in command should be prosecuted. Glad he wrote this book.
10 reviews1 follower
January 4, 2023
pipe hitter

read this book! what happened to eddie is a disgrace! n to be convicted of posing with a dead terrorist, seriously! somehow a few dudes slipped thru the cracks, became SEALS, but actually never became SEALS! im in process of watching all the videos, craig crying was epic! the dude is the biggest weenie the navy has ever produced, obviously lieing thru his teeth! hopefully the teams sent all those mutts packin! how could they ever serve with any of them! glad the truth is out, an Eddie!
1 review
December 24, 2023
sad & amazing story...all at the same time!!

I like true stories. I like Eddie & Sean & Andrea's commitment to never give up. I enjoyed the book immensely.

I am shocked & sad 😔 that some military men got away with this level of corruption & then tried to continue it even after the not guilty verdicts.

I am thankful that, in the end, POTUS was able to intervene and set things right.

This kind of deception has no place in America..

Mr. Gallagher and family, thank you for your dedicated service. Semper Fi.

Thank you,
Sue M.
2 reviews
July 21, 2024
Eddie Gallagher A Navy Seal Hero

What Navy Seal Chief Eddie Gallagher and his family were put through is unconscionable!! This is an amazing true attempt to subvert our UCMJ and send an innocent Naval war hero to jail and a possible life sentence for nothing ! I thank God that the whole truth has been proven. I'd recommend this book to everyone who loves our freedom and appreciates those who put their lives on the line for it. Great insight into how our UCMJ works ( or in this case doesn't).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.