Doug Stanton is a journalist, lecturer, screenwriter and author. He has appeared on numerous television and radio outlets including CNN, Discovery and NBC’s Nightly News. Using his experience working in the United States, overseas and with military and government contacts, he lectures nationally to corporate and civic groups. He has written The New York Times’ best-sellers ‘In Harm’s Way’ and ‘Horse Soldiers’ which was published in 2017 as ’12 Strong.’ The movie adaptation of ’12 Strong’ will open in theaters on Friday January 19 and stars Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon and Michael Peña. It is the true story of a United States Special Forces team deployed to the war-ravaged Afghanistan mountains in the weeks immediately after the September 11 attacks.

According to Amazon, in ’12 Strong,’ in the weeks after 9/11, a small band of Special Forces soldiers secretly entered Afghanistan. Riding on horseback, they pursued the Taliban over the harsh mountainous terrain and after a series of intense battles they captured the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. At first, they were welcomed as liberators by the Afghans who were overjoyed that the Taliban had fallen but during the surrender of six hundred Taliban troops, they were ambushed. They bravely fought for their lives while dangerously overpowered knowing that at risk were they military gains of the campaign that if lost, would prove detrimental to the entire operation.