A Warrior of Last Resort

Born in his grandfather's house during a blizzard, breech baby Martin George Le Blanc was not expected to survive. Instead of baptism, he received last rites. Lack of birth registration made him the ideal future "ghost warrior": a blank slate. Le Blanc enlisted in the U.S. Army as a footloose 20-year-old Canadian, during the early days of the Vietnam War. His rapid ascent to elite black-ops warrior transformed the small-town Nova Scotia kid into a clandestine force in the Vietnam and Cold War eras (1966-86). He finally became an American citizen years after retiring from military service. In his autobiography Ghost Warrior, Le Blanc sheds sharp new light on a period that foreshadowed today's geopolitics. He explores the rugged childhood and intensive military training that toughened him; the dangers and the hard-won satisfaction of defending freedom; and the damage his service inflicted on body, mind, soul, and relationships. As a U.S. Airborne Army Ranger and Special Forces Green Beret, Le Blanc had a hand in historic events, from Israel's victory in the 1967 Six Day War to the Soviet Union's failing grasp on Afghanistan in 1983. He completed 16 major missions and many operations in South and North Vietnam, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, Grenada, Italy, Lebanon, and along the Pacific Shelf. After each of three nearly-fatal missions, once suffering the loss of all 9 men under his command, Le Blanc broke down, withdrew, healed, and returned to battle, despite his enduring pain and trauma. A movie producer, whom Le Blanc served as a bodyguard, mined the retired warrior's life, character, and quirks to create hit man Martin Blank in the dark-comedy film Grosse Pointe Blank (1997). Ghost Warrior is the true story of one remarkable life. Martin Le Blanc will inspire, amaze, horrify, and deeply move you. "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." - John F. Kennedy

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