Marcus Luttrell
UFC, Lone Survivor Foundation offer one-of-a-kind auction
The UFC has partnered with the Boot Campaign and the Lone Survivor Foundation to offer a pretty awesome charity auction featuring some one-of-a-kind items that you won’t find anywhere else.
The auction features more than 100 items that will benefit the Lone Survivor Foundation’s construction of the Veteran Ranch in Texas. The Ranch will cater to soldiers and veterans who are recovering from traumatic injuries and mental stress from the war on terror.
The Foundation was founded by Marcus Luttrell, a former Navy Seal who received the Navy Cross for his actions facing Taliban fighters in 2005’s Operation Red Wings. The operation was designed to capture or kill high-ranking Taliban leader Ahmad Shah, a terrorist leader responsible for killings in Afghanistan. The team’s hiding location was discovered by a group of goat herders, and Luttrell led the vote to abstain from killing the herders and chose to let them go. The herders immediately betrayed the location of Seal Team 10, and within hours the team was under fire from a group of 80-150 enemy fighters.
Luttrell’s team leader Michael P. Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor during the campaign for exposing himself to enemy fire in order to transmit a call for backup. Lutrrell was shot multiple times and was thrown off a cliff by a rocket-propelled grenade. A helicopter dispatched to pick up the group was shot down, killing all 16 men aboard the craft.
Luttrell was the only survivor of the Seal team. He wrote a book entitled “Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing.” He was granted a medical retirement from the Navy in 2009.
“The UFC is pleased to partner with the Boot Campaign and the Lone Survivor Foundation as we continue to find ways to support the men and women of our armed forces,” UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta stated in an official release. “Marcus Luttrell is an inspirational hero and we are more than willing to assist him as he creates facilities that will aid in the recovery of our returning servicemen and women.”
The auction is currently underway and runs through May 30. Special items featured included a private training session with Royce Gracie and a pair of combat boots autographed by all seven current UFC champions.