With echoes of Unbroken ; the derring-do and bravado of The Right Stuff ; and the battle-forged comradery of Band of Brothers , this is the World War II story of 95-year-old veteran George Morgan and the elite Underwater Demolition Teams, precursor of the Navy SEALs—who were given nearly impossible pre-invasion missions from D-Day to the most crucial landings in the Pacific Theater Into Cold Seas is the story of World War II’s most elite and daring unit of warriors, the direct precursors to the Navy SEALs, told through the eyes of its last living member, 95-year-old George Morgan. Morgan was just a wiry, 17-year-old lifeguard from New Jersey when he joined the Navy's new combat demolition unit, tasked to blow up enemy coastal defenses ahead of landings by Allied forces. His first assignment: Omaha Beach on D-Day. When he returned stateside, Morgan learned that his service was only beginning. Outfitted with swim trunks, a dive mask, and fins, he was sent to Hawaii and then on to deployments in the Pacific as a member of the elite and pioneering Underwater Demolition Teams. GIs called them "half fish, half nuts." Today, we call them frogmen—and Navy SEALS. Led by maverick Naval Reserve Officer Draper Kauffman, Morgan would spend the fierce final year of the war swimming up to enemy controlled beaches to gather intel and detonate underwater barriers. He'd have to master the sea, muster superhuman grit, and overcome the demons of Omaha Beach. Moving closer to Japan, the enemy's island defenses were growing more elaborate and its soldiers more fanatical. From the black sand beaches of Iwo Jima to the shark infested reefs of Okinawa, to the cold seas of Tokyo Bay, teenaged George Morgan was there before most, fighting for his life. And for all of us. Exhaustively researched and written in a lively, gripping manner, this history deserves to be on the bookshelf of anyone who admires courage or who has donned a face mask and looked below the surface of any sea. —Bing West, author of  The Last Platoon , Marine combat Veteran, and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs A remarkably stirring narrative that transports readers into the gritty realities of surviving WWII. Andrew Dubbins' Into Enemy Waters is more than just a great retelling of the history of early combat swimmers and Frogmen. This well-researched book is both visceral and uplifting, telling of a time of great courage, integrity and camaraderie. These are not your Hollywood Navy Seals. They are real men that sacrificed their youth and innocence for the greater good. —Jill Heinerth, author of Into The Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver The harrowing combat experiences of George Morgan and his pioneering comrades of the World War II U.S. Navy's combat demolition units come to life in this well-researched, intimate history. Andrew Dubbins tells their story with authoritative empathy and much verve. —John C. McManus, Ph.D., Curators' Distinguished Professor of History, Missouri S&T, and author of  Island Infernos: The U.S. Army's Pacific War Odyssey, 1944 Today's SEALs are a highly effective, versatile, and lethal force, but they stand on the shoulders of these heroic WWII frogmen.  This book must be included in the canon of histories about our nation's special operations forces.  Andrew Dubbins meticulously and faithfully takes the reader from Ft. Pierce to Omaha Beach to the bloody amphibious invasions of the Pacific to recount the story of the Navy's fabled Underwater Demolition Teams.  May their memory never fade.   —Captain Michael V. Goshgarian, USN (ret.), Naval Special Warfare 1989-2016 An authentic, vigorously reported and told story of the men in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters whose literally explosive exploits became the envy of and inspiration for the Navy SEALS. Thank goodness the 'demolition divers' are finally getting their due, and in such riveting detail. —Tom Clavin, New York Times bestselling coauthor of  Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm and an Untold Rescue ; and  Lightning Down This is a gripping, heart-racing, nail-biting masterpiece. It tells the story of George Morgan, his commander and fellow frogmen on an underwater demolition team that evolved into the Navy SEALS. Join them at Normandy, where, faces gray with fear, they swim through searing gunfire, shrieking shells and moaning men to blast apart Nazi barriers; then join them in the Pacific, where, during the bloodiest invasions of World War II, they map the ocean floor at Iwo Jima for U.S. warships and swim onto the shores of Japan itself. These are their personal stories, exhaustively reported by a master of elegantly layered styling, who has written a book about rare and breathtaking courage. It will hold you deeply into the night, and you will be glad that it did. —Richard E. Meyer, senior editor at UCLA Blueprint magazine and two-time Pulitzer fina