Bell
Marcus states, “My name is Marcus, Marcus Luttrell. I’m a United States SEAL, Team Leader, SDV Team 1, Alfa Platoon. Like every other SEAL, I’m trained in weapons, demolition and unarmed combat. I’m a sniper, and I’m the platoon medic. But most of all, I’m an American. And when the bell sounds, I will come out fighting for my country and for my teammates. If necessary, to the death.” The bell is emblematic of the call to undertake the responsibility of a SEAL. Marcus and other SEALs cannot defy the call for their duty entails safeguarding their country. Their duty is very precarious for it may culminate in death, but the SEALs are programmed to obey their call.
Hell
Marcus writes, " It was March 2005, not yet hotter than hell, like it is in summer. But still unusually warm for a group of Americans in springtime, even for a Texan like me. Bahrain stands on the 260 north line of latitude. That's more than four hundred miles to the south of Baghdad, and that's hot." The metaphoric hell underscores the high temperatures which the SEALs must confront while in Baghdad. Evidently, the temperature is scorching and uncomfortable. It is trying for the SEALs because their bodies are not accustomed to the environment in which they are required to undertake their responsibilities.
Haunting
Marcus recalls, “That last call, the one on his (Mikey) phone that essentially cost him his life, was successful. From all accounts, his haunting words — My guys are dying out here...we need help — ripped around our base like a flash fire. SEALs are dying! That’s a five-alarm emergency that stops only just on the north side of frenzy.” Mikey’s last words are melancholic because he is certain that he will not survive. He recognizes his impending death based on the desperation which is evident in his utterances. Marcus recounts the words because he finds himself in a situation similar to Mikey’s where he is not certain about his survival.
‘Delta Crab’
Marcus, “ I knew it was a hell of a long way to the top, and I would have to move sideways like a delta crab if I was going to make it. It was also going to take me all night, but somehow I had to get up there, all the way to the top.” Marcus gets shot and finds himself in the risky cliffs where it would be difficult for a helicopter to track and rescue him. Alluding to a ‘delta crab’ depicts the caution and agility he would exercise to get out of the mountain ranges securely.
“Mechanical Digger”
Marcus explains, “Then I picked it up again, clawing my way up, facing the mountain and grabbing hold of anything I could with a grip like a mechanical digger. You’d have needed a chain saw to pry me off that cliff face.” Marcus' grip safeguards him from falling fatally. His pace of plummeting slows down because he grabs things such as branches that hold him. Had Marcus not emulated a mechanical digger, the fall would have culminated in his death.
