Code Name: Johnny Walker

The unforgettable story of how an ordinary Iraqi became a hero to America’s elite warriors-and how that debt was repaid with the gift of freedom.

“A gripping memoir. . . . an unforgettable story—an essential account of the Iraq War.”  —Eric Blehm, author of Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six Operator Adam Brown

He was the seals’ most trusted interpreter... and more.

Night after night, he guided the U.S. Navy SEALs through Iraq’s most dangerous regions. Operating under the code name “Johnny Walker,” he risked his life on more than a thousand missions and became a legend in the U.S. special-ops community. But in the eyes of Iraq’s terrorists and insurgents, he and his family were marked for death because he worked with the Americans... Then the SEALs stood up to protect the man who had watched their backs through the entire war.

Over the course of eight years, the Iraqi native traveled around the country with nearly every SEAL and special-operations unit deployed there. Using his wits to outthink the insurgency, Johnny Walker unmasked countless terrorists and helped foil an untold number of plots against Americans and their allies. He and his family lived in constant jeopardy, surviving multiple assassination attempts and a host of threats in Mosul, until a desperate escape through the desert late in the war took them to the relative safety of Baghdad.

Fearing for Johnny’s long-term safety after the war, the SEALs took it upon themselves to bring him to the United States, where he remains in the fight by helping train the next generation of American special-operations warriors.

With inside details on SEAL operations and a humane understanding of the tragic price paid by ordinary Iraqis, Code Name: Johnny Walker reveals a side of the war that has never been told before.