Since 2001, U.S. soldiers have been traversing the remote mountains of Afghanistan in a war of shifting objectives and recalcitrant enemies. For 16 months of this ordeal, Sean Parnell led one of the most decorated platoons of the war, the "Outlaws" of the 10th Mountain Division, through almost constant fighting in the Bermel Valley near the Pakistan border. Their mission, like the war itself, was to "control the enemy and secure the populace"; more specifically, "to stanch the flow of enemy troops and supplies into Afghanistan." How they carried out this mission is at the heart of Parnell's story in Outlaw Platoon, told with the help of veteran military historian John R. Bruning (The Devil's Sandbox).
When commissioned, Parnell was a 24-year-old kid fresh out of Ranger training. His success as a leader was dependent on his platoon--men with more combat experience, more confidence and, in one particular case, more tattoos ("his muscular frame resembled a Wikipedia entry on pagan symbolism"). He traces the ups and downs of the Outlaw's deployment as they confronted the challenges of a well-trained, well-armed mountain-savvy enemy, not to mention with the ragtag, untrustworthy Afghan National Army allies, manipulative local tribal elders and the sometimes misguided American military brass.
Those courageous Outlaw survivors who finally Humveed out of the valley came away with seven Bronze Stars, 12 Army Commendations for Valor and 32 Purple Hearts. Parnell's dramatic story captures all the gruesome carnage such recognition implies, but also illustrates the bravery of these diverse soldiers indelibly attached to each other by the stress of war. --Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.