Code Name: Johnny Walker: The Extraordinary Story of the Iraqi Who Risked Everything to Fight with the U.S. Navy SEALs

by Walker, Johnny

  Hells Angel or not, the motorcyclist eventually decided he didn’t want to deal with a maniac and turned off at an intersection. Much to my relief.

  “You are worried about my driving, brother?” Johnny asked as we continued on at a (slightly) more sedate pace.

  “Never,” I said, prying my hands off the dashboard. That was probably a bit of a lie—the gravel we’d kicked off into the ravines on both sides of the road would have filled a parking lot at Dodger Stadium, and we’d violated all of Newton’s laws in the ten minutes or so we’d raced the biker.

  We were both quiet for a moment.

  “How you doing?” I finally asked.

  “Livin’ the dream, bro.” He turned and gave me a big Johnny Walker grin. “Livin’ the dream.”

  Photo Insert

  Here I am in Baghdad, kitted up and ready to go back out on another mission. I look tired because I was. We were running two, three, or sometimes more missions a night at that point.

  Mosul before the war . . .

  . . . and during the occupation. The devastation to my city after years of neglect and terror attacks was awful.

  A map of Iraq. I visited nearly every important city in the country while working with American military units.

  Members of SEAL Team 7 and me pose for a picture. There’s a comedian in every group.

  Ready to patrol. I generally wore a radio so I could communicate with the rest of the unit.

  Here I am on a helo. I don’t look too scared, do I?

  After spending considerable time with SEAL snipers including “the Legend” Chris Kyle, I was tasked to work with a small group of Iraqi soldiers training as snipers. The truth is, I wasn’t nearly as good a shot as they were, but I was very proud to help them learn.

  Another photo of me getting ready for a mission, this one in Tal Afar. We made use of whatever we could find, including plastic lawn chairs.

  Some of the acknowledgments I received during the war. They helped Tatt with my citizenship application.

  Working on the book in 2013. Every day in America is a dream come true.

  About the Authors

  After the 2003 invasion of his home country, Iraqi-born “JOHNNY WALKER” applied to become a translator for the U.S. Army. Turned down, out of work, and desperate to feed his family, Johnny was on the verge of despair until one night he interceded in a dispute between some Iraqi women and American MPs. Impressed, the MPs arranged to hire him as their interpreter, or “terp.” Johnny displayed such talent and incredible courage under fire that several months later an elite unit of Navy SEALs took him under its wing. He quickly became the most sought-after terp in the country, receiving numerous citations and commendations for his work. Credited by SEAL sniper Chris Kyle with saving countless American lives, Johnny spent six years working with SEALs and other special operations forces throughout Iraq, completing more than one thousand missions. After narrowly escaping two attempts on his life, Johnny was helped to the United States by the SEALs in 2009. He and his family currently live in California, where he helps train special operations units.

  JIM DEFELICE is the author of Omar Bradley: General at War, the first in-depth critical biography of America’s last five-star general, and the coauthor of Chris Kyle’s #1 New York Times bestselling memoir American Sniper. He also is the author of a number of acclaimed military thrillers.

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  Credits

  Cover design by Richard L. Aquan

  Cover photograph @ by Warrick Page/Getty Images

  Copyright

  All insert photographs are courtesy of the author, except for the map of Iraq, which is courtesy of the UN Cartographic Section.

  CODE NAME: JOHNNY WALKER. Copyright © 2014 by Blackbeard, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  FIRST EDITION

  ISBN 978-0-06-226755-9

  EPub Edition FEBRUARY 2014 ISBN: 9780062267573

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