LAS VEGAS – Former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, whose story was told in the book and film “Lone Survivor,” shared his experiences in a keynote conversation at the 2024 NADA Convention & Expo here in June. Luttrell, winner of the Navy Cross, was portrayed in the film by actor Mark Wahlberg, but in person he looks like he could pick his teeth with the 5’8” actor. The imposing Luttrell looks all of 6 foot 5 inches and 250 pounds and has a voice that makes you want to drop and do 50 pushups.

But while chatting with longtime auto dealer Glenn Lundy, he was also a guy you’d want to have a beer with, listening to his stories.

Boy, did he have stories.

Luttrell comes across like a lot of war veterans, brash and humble at the same time. When he was praised by Lundy for his service, he brushed it off. “Trust me, the road was paved before I got to it,” he said. “My father always said, ‘Hey, you gotta’ maintain it or widen it if necessary.’ That’s the thing about Americans, when we gotta’ work, we work and when we play, we play hard. That’s just the way it is.”

Luttrell said in his family, it’s customary to serve. “It’s not mandatory, it’s just understood,” he said. “I remember my father telling me, ‘Son, before you exploit this country, you’re gonna’ serve her in some form or fashion.” Luttrell described his mother as a “hippie” and his father as a “chemical engineer outlaw.”  He said his family was matriarchal, but it was his father who delivered the discipline. “You get your discipline from your dad you get your manners from your mom,” he said.

Luttrell has an identical twin brother, Morgan, who was seven minutes older than him. But while growing up, “he was the king,” driving everywhere, telling him what to do and talking down to him. “He’s a congressman now. So, the only thing I’ve got going for me is that he works for me, because I’m a voter,” Luttrell said.

While he said his father was a great man, he was also mean. He was difficult on me and he would tell me all the time, ‘I’m not your friend, you need to understand that. I’m your father. The reason being is we do stupid things with our friends and there’s gotta be one man down here that keeps your butt in check.’”

“It’s just the way it is.”Luttrell described his father as a “whiskey-drinking, bar-fighting sailor.” He added he was highly intelligent.

“He also liked to tangle with that old No. 7, you know, that brown water,” Luttrell said. “That changes a man.

“War, whiskey and beautiful women change men.”

His mother is still alive and “she still tells me what to do.” Luttrell loved his childhood and still has friends from kindergarten. He urged the audience to make friends and to keep them. Strong friends can sharpen you, but that doesn’t happen in the fun and happy times. “Ever see anybody make a sword, a knife?” he said. “They put that sucker on a mill and sparks are flying and screaming, You get bent in all different directions and don’t have any idea what’s going on, but once you come off of that mill, you’re sharp.

“Nobody likes to be on the mill. Nobody. But I got news for you, the minute you walk out that door, that’s the mill.”

Luttrell said life is its own thing.

“You know it because when it kills us, it keeps going,” he said. “So if you don’t prepare yourself for the mill, it will prepare you for something. You’ll either be dinner or you’ll be dining. On of the two.” Luttrell said everyone is designed to do something. “I hope you figured out what that was” he said. “You got one thing that’s unique to you. It’s like a fingerprint. You notice every one of those is different? That’ll tell you something. “You got something locked inside you that this place is designed to open up.” Luttrell said when he teaches young warriors, he explains that “life is designed to kick you in the face.”

He adds, “I want it to break you open so I can see what’s in there, see what comes out. Every scenario you get into is a test to make you harder. “Because we don’t get battle-weakened around here. We get battle-hardened.

“That’s what Americans do.”

Read Part Two