First SEALs
The Untold Story of the Forging of Americas Most Elite Unit

From bestselling author Patrick K. ODonnell comes the untold story of World War IIs first special operations combat swimmersthe forerunners of todays Navy SEALs. In the summer of 1942, an extraordinary group of menamong them a dentist, a medical student, a Hollywood star, an archaeologist, a British commando, and even former enemies of the Alliesformed an exceptional unit that would later become the US Navys Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams. Known as the Maritime Unit, it comprised Americas first swimmercommandos, an elite breed of warrior-spies who were decades ahead of their time when they created the tactics, technology, and philosophy that live on in the Navy SEALs and shape the battlefield of today. During the war, the unit conducted some of the most daring operations behind enemy lines, but after the war its astonishing record was classified, lost, and burieduntil now. In First SEALs, Patrick K. ODonnell tells the remarkable story of World War IIs Maritime Unitone of the greatest untold stories of World War II.