SLIPPERY ROCK — Retired Navy SEAL and author of the book “Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10” Marcus Luttrell drew a large crowd Wednesday at Slippery Rock University.

His book was made into the movie “Lone Survivor,” staring Mark Wahlberg.

Luttrell discussed his military experience, fallen comrades and Operation Redwing.

The event had to be moved from the ballroom, which only holds 750 people, to Morrow Field House to accommodate the 1,600 people who attended. Veterans and current military personnel were invited to meet Luttrell before his talk and were offered the first three rows of seating.

Luttrell grew up in Texas with his parents and his twin brother, Morgan. When he was 14, Morgan came to him and told him that they were going to be Navy SEALS.

From there, the pair went to be trained by Army veteran Billy Shelton, who trained people to be in the Special Forces.

Luttrell said he and his brother showed up every day to train with Shelton from the time they were 15 to when they went to qualify to be Navy SEALS.

“The beauty of growing up is that you get to find out what you are,” Luttrell said. “I was born to be a gunfighter.”

Both brothers completed their training and became Navy SEALs. In 2005, Marcus Luttrell was sent on Operation Redwing in the Mideast with three other SEALs to kill Ahmad Shah, a Taliban leader.

The three other SEALs were sniper Matthew “Axe” Axelson, who Luttrell described as “the smartest man he ever knew,” Danny Dietz, who operated the radio, and officer in charge, and Luttrell’s best friend, Mike Murphy.

While holding their position on a mountain, Luttrell said goat herders uncovered their position.

The SEALs knew if they killed the herders, villagers would come looking for the herders and find the SEALS.

So they let the herders go down to the village, and retreated further up into the mountain, hoping to get a radio signal. By the time they got there, there were more than 50 men surrounding them with RPGs and AK-47s, and they attacked the team.

During the three hourlong battle, Luttrell was carrying the wounded Dietz when Dietz was shot in the head, killing him. Axelson was shot in the head, but continued moving for three miles before he died.

Murphy kept climbing the mountain under fire to call for help, an act that later won him the Medal of Honor.

“I knew we were going to die in that battle,” Luttrell said.

When he was dying, Murphy was calling for Luttrell’s help, and Luttrell said he couldn’t listen to him die. He put down his weapon, and covered his ears with both hands, which he said made him a coward.

“Every man has a breaking point,” Luttrell said. “I never thought I’d find mine.”

Luttrell said he regrets not telling his comrades that he loved them, and he said he’d never make that mistake again.

On his fall down the mountain, Luttrell bit off his tongue and swallowed it, broke his back and suffered severe head injuries. Despite these injuries and multiple gunshot wounds, he crawled seven miles in search of water, and when he found it, he also found Mohammed Gulab, who took him to his village and sheltered him for five days despite threats from the Taliban.

Luttrell said he didn’t know why he didn’t kill Gulab, but without him, he wouldn’t have survived.

Gulab lives under a Pashtun code of honor called, “Pashtunwali,” which says that if a man needs help, no matter who he is, you must aid him.

“All a man has is his word,” Luttrell said. “Gulab kept to that word. I didn’t think there was much good over there until I met him.”

Luttrell was rescued by army rangers and taken to Germany, where he was operated on for his extensive injuries. Luttrell still speaks to his rescuer to this day.

On the making of the movie of his book, Luttrell said that despite some discrepancies between the book and movie, the movie crew was careful to tell the story truthfully.

Luttrell said he had a good experience with the directors, and that Wahlberg, who portrayed him in the movie, is a great guy.

After he healed from Operation Redwing, Luttrell was deployed again in 2007 to Iraq, which he describes as “the worst place (he) ever was in.” After he was injured in the knees, he was forced to retire from the SEALs.

“I never quit,” Luttrell said. “You need to go as hard and fast you possibly can, life’s short.”