Cry Havoc! An Untold Story of Rangers at War - by Joe Muccia & Tom Greer (Hardcover)

About the Book

Cry Havoc is the story of a small force of elite US Army Rangers that parachuted under fire onto the small island of Grenada in 1983.

Book Synopsis

Books about combat are compelling. There's an inherent thirst for the stories about brave men, completing impossible tasks under the worst of conditions. Cry Havoc tells the story of how the Army Rangers emerged from the shadow of the Vietnam War, and morphed themselves into what World War II hero and former commander of US forces in Vietnam General Creighton W. Abrams called, "the finest light infantry in the world." In October of 1983, those men would conduct the first mass combat parachute drop since Vietnam and do so under intense fire from Cuban and Grenadian forces.

Once the Rangers hit the ground, the action didn't stop. Over three days, they cleared the enemy from commanding positions overlooking the airfield, rescued over 400 US medical students, and conducted an air assault on an enemy training facility, an action that was considered a 'suicide mission'. And yet they accomplished all of their missions in the best tradition of their Ranger forefathers.

Cry Havoc is written on the back of extensive interviews with a very small, exclusive community of Rangers who undertook this perilous parachute jump in combat. The narrative is replete with intimate detail, raw emotion, and the chaos and immediacy of small unit action. Far reaching in its impact, the Rangers' performance during Urgent Fury has shaped the way the United States military undertakes special operations to this day. Until now, that story had never been told.

Review Quotes

Joe Muccia and the late Tom Greer have written the definitive account of the Rangers of the Army's famed 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions during the 1983 invasion of Grenada. The authors have given us an amazing first-person narrative charting exactly what it was like to be at the spearhead of the US military's first combat action since the end of the Vietnam War -- -- and make it clear that the mission was far more harrowing that most Americans recognize. A jaw-dropping story of individual courage and sheer willpower in the face of a cascade of daunting obstacles. -- Lt. General David W. Barno, USA (Ret.), commander C Company, 1-75, Operation Urgent Fury

"Cry Havoc is the incredible true story of the 1983 Ranger action on Grenada, a little-known yet highly intense Special Ops military action with surprisingly big consequences for the world. This military narrative comes from two well-credentialed authors with boots-on-the ground experience. A must-read for fans of military nonfiction everywhere."

-Marcus Brotherton, New York Times bestselling author of We Who Are Alive & Remain: Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers

This is the way the definitive account of a military engagement should be written. No one could do any better.

Joseph Balkoski, official historian of the US 29^th Infantry Division and author of Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944 and Utah Beach: The Amphibious Landing and Airborne Operations on D-Day, June 6, 1944

"A riveting account of Operation URGENT FURY from the individual Ranger's point of view. Tom Greer and Joe Muccia tirelessly interviewed Rangers, aircrews, and support personnel to accurately capture the attitudes, commitment, and fears of the Rangers and the intensity of the fight. You will feel the wind in your face as the Rangers conduct a combat jump from C-130s at an altitude of only 500 feet above ground level!"

Colonel Mike Franck, US Army Special Forces (Retired), veteran of Ranger operations in Grenada and Panama.