Outlaw Platoon audiobook

I am sure Outlaw Platoon will go down as one of the greatest books on Operation Enduring Freedom, among Black Hawk Down, Lone Survivor, and Robert's Ridge. Parnell is a truly gifted writer, this book shows it, and Bruning has done a stellar job as usual. You aren't so much reading the platoon's story as experiencing it.As I've mentioned before, the writing is incredible and the battles are intense and gritty. Parnell handles the large cast very well, not once, a rare occasion for me, was I confused on who was doing what and when. Each of the men was well drawn and you cared about them, and what happened to them.This should be required reading for ROTC, Officer Candidate School, and the service academies. And for every American, I think it will open a lot of eyes. It sure opened mine.EDIT: Just finished rereading it for the second time. Just as powerful as the first time I picked it up. READ IT!

Amazing memoir, simply put, just read it if you are into modern combat history.

A good account of an actual group in combat. This is an attempt to give a objective account of the actual effect of war on actual people. In truth the account can't help but occasionally be subjective but mostly the attempt is successful.Also there is an attempt not to use this to grind a political axe...a good idea as our people in uniform deserve better than that.In other words, just read this one.

I just finished reading Sean Parnell’s Outlaw Platoon. What an education this book is. Sean Parnell is a young platoon leader who is assigned to a 10th Mountain division infantry platoon deployed in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. Prior to his deployment, Lieutenant Parnell thinks he will be facing a rag-tag group of Taliban. Instead he is facing an experienced, elite group of insurgents whose leaders were fighting the Soviets when Parnell was in diapers. The Taliban are given sanctuary and direct support from our so-called Pakistan allies. They recruit willing jihadists from all over the Muslim world who can’t wait to make a suicide charge at that Americans. Taliban ambushes are a common everyday occurrence. The Outlaws are cut off and almost overrun on more than one occasion. Meanwhile the Outlaw’s are aided by an Afghanistan Police force whose corrupt leader sells their US supplied weapons on the black market for extra cash, an interpreter that is tipping off the enemy, and Afghan civilians that will accept American medical aid and food but will not tell the Outlaws that the insurgents planted road side bombs nearby. Meanwhile, their fellow Americans- safely inside the wire - play petty politics. The Outlaws receive poor medical attention. There is a Mail lady referred to as the mail bitch that has the Outlaw’s contraband pet dogs shot while the Outlaws are on patrol. There is also a fellow platoon that will not risk venturing too far outside the wire to help the Outlaws when they are engaged with the enemy. I had no idea that Americans were involved in combat this intense anywhere in the world. I was in shock and total disbelief. I had no idea that things were that awful over there. Parnell talks about Afghan fathers that would demand their sons receive emergency medical treatment before their daughters. He tells how the Taliban would be so brutal to civilians including children and that Americans would be so politically correct that we would not return Taliban 107MM rocket fire into Pakistan. The Pakistanis were not only giving safe haven to the terrorists, in the final chapter, they were caught assisting them during an actual assault! I kept asking myself “can this really be happening?” To be fair, the ANA fought alongside their Marine cadre bravely and Abdul the interpreter gave his life for the cause. Also, there was an instance of a tribal elder who risked his life to give the Outlaws advance warning of a Taliban offensive. But still, it sounds a lot like Vietnam with less vegetation and Allah. Read Outlaw Platoon. I finished it in week. It was hard to put down.

Incredible story. Real war, real heroes. This riveting, often chilling story is not for the faint of heart. War is hell, and Outlaw Platoon was in the hottest part on several occasions. Heartbreaking at times, this book gives you an up-close-and-personal look at combat from the center of the storm.

Very informative look at U.S. infantry experiences in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border in 2006. This piece of narrative nonfiction reads more like a first person novel than a memoir, which is a good thing because the story has a definite arc that pulls the reader in. Sean Parnell paints a vivid portrait of his first combat tour as a lieutenant. He's candid about his initial doubts in himself and whether his leadership would measure up. His platoon encounters harrowing attacks by the enemy on their FOB, their patrols, and on Afghan villagers.The book was published in 2012. I'm not sure when it was actually written. But even if it was written in 2007, Parnell remembers very exact details about things that happened early on in the deployment. I have to assume that he was a committed diarist or that he was jotting down notes while in country. Or maybe he went back and researched his unit's records and interviewed his soldiers.I'm sure everybody remembers things a little differently, but even if only half of what Parnell wrote in this book was true, it's a really impressive platoon and he did a great job as their LT. He repeatedly demonstrated courage and initiative in the field. He received a brain injury that caused banana-smelling pink gunk to drip from his ears for months but continued to lead his platoon, several members of whom were also seriously wounded but kept fighting.There's a lot of anger in these pages and it's hard to blame him. Anger against the Taliban. Anger against Pakistan for harboring fighters while they recovered from skirmishes. A mid-book rant against fobbits (soldiers who mostly peform duties within the wire) seems a little pettier, but he may have simply been expressing his frustrations as he felt them at the time.There are a few weaknesses. There's some sanctimonious cliches especially in the introduction of the book, but I got over it. And obviously this is a platoon-sized element, so there are a lot of men, but maybe too many of them were featured/described. Often I couldn't remember who was who. There are also some gimmicky flashbacks that felt contrived, including one flashback scene that didn't make sense at all.Reading this gives a better understanding and appreciation of the daily life of an infantry platoon in the early to mid part of the ongoing war on terror.This is a sharply written memoir with crisp and jagged prose. I assume the co-writer John Bruning deserves a lot of credit for that.I listened to the audiobook narrated by Ray Porter. The performance was good overall but oddly melodramatic and anguished even in some of the more casual, peaceful scenes.

I first became aware of this book through his interview on the Opie and Anthony show on XM radio. After listening to his candid interview and his self-deprecating attitude I was drawn to this book.As a vetran of Desert Storm and desert Shield, I have a "slight" insight into how are men and women do their job. I can hold no candle to what I did versus what they have done and continue to do. I continus to support and cherish them in my heart and mind and hold them all with utmost respect and honor.So to the book:Mr. Parnell gives a fantastic insight to the "Brotherhood" of war and the bonding of men in war. He draws you into knowing the characters and who they are, how they came to be there and the families left behind.At no time does Mr.Parnell glorify anything that he did. He lays all the blood, sweat, tears and honor souly upon the shoulders of his men.He simply tells it like a good commander could. Learn from your men, respect your men, support your men....and they will follow you to and through the gates of hell.Cpt. Parnell tells it like it is. There is one paticular Platoon in his area that was the worst that we could field. He pulls no punches when it comes to laying shame upon them and their utter distrust and faith in them.His troops on the other hand exemplify the BEST that could field. Compassion for the locals that have endured horrific atrocities by the enemy. Disdain and hated for the enemy. But, respect for the enemy as well. They openly show that this is not some rag tag army of dirt farmers that many Americans have been led to believe. Many times the enemy is well trained, well equipped and vetrans of many years of fighting.It was refreshing to see a book also point fingers at those that help the enemy. Pakistan being the worst. Openly helping and aiding terrorists and murderers of the innocent. Cudo's for being so candid Mr. Parnell.As with any book of this nature...there are moments of glory and honor. But, sadly to have glory and honor...there must also be moments of utter sadness and crushing loss.You will find that here. There was a moment or 2 in this book that I had "small" tears in my eyes and "that tightness" of the throat.Capt. Parnell Leads from the front and LOVES his men. he pushes them hard at times to make them the best that they can be. Pushes his own wounds aside to save his men and get them what they so rightly need and deserve.From his: It Smells like bannana's to going home. He shows the UTMOST respect and HONOR to serve alongside his men.I salute you Sir.If we only had more of you to lead our men and women into and OUT of this war.Brad

Excerpt from "Village of the Damned:"The American platoon stopped its Humvees in the road.Ahead, a small boy of about 6, dressed in rags, staggered in circles.Army Ranger Sean Parnell and his men were wary. It was July 2006 and they'd been in combat on the remote Afghan-Pakistan border for five months.When the soldiers moved close enough, they saw that someone had gouged out the boy's eyes and burned the sockets black with a heated instrument. His teeth had also been knocked out."Jesus Christ, what is this?" said a hard-bitten sergeant.In the nearby village, the unit's interpreter, Yusef, talked to an elder and learned what happened. The insurgents had swept through this village and punished the inhabitants for cooperating with the coalition.They kidnapped the oldest grandson of the elder and took him to the mountains, where they gouged out his eyes and raped him for weeks.The platoon medic did what he could for the boy and other brutalized children in this place the men came to call the "Village of the Damned." The elder thanked them and they drove on, even the toughest among them stunned by what they'd seen."There's not a day goes by that I don't think about it," said Lt. Parnell, 30, a Murrysville native. "All I know is that moment taught me that there is definite good and evil in this world. We don't always realize it in America, but the rest of the world can be a barbaric place."The "Village of the Damned" is just one short chapter in Lt. Parnell's book, "Outlaw Platoon,"Yet it captures the dichotomy of Afghanistan -- the contrast between Americans and terrorists, between good Afghans and bad, between quiet heroism and treachery.Yusef, it turns out, is a spy. He later reveals to an Iranian cell of bomb-makers that the platoon plans to set up an observation post on a certain hilltop, allowing insurgents to seed it with mines. When the platoon arrives, villagers come out to watch. One of the mines explodes and kills Cpl. Jeremiah Cole.But the elder whose grandson was tortured is the opposite. Gratified by American kindness, he later risks death to walk 40 miles through the mountains to warn of an impending attack."That's Afghanistan," said Lt. Parnell. "That incident is a microcosm of the whole country."

I listened to the audiotape with the idea of figuring out some of the reasons why the war ended the way it did. It really was no surprise. I mean it was Afghanistan. Here are a few ideas. Their first translator Abdul is tortured and killed. The second one Yusef turns out to be a spy. He was probably just released from jail by the Taliban. No wonder soldiers want to kill prisoners. And why wouldn't a translator be a spy? Who is going to protect him when he goes home? Who will bring him to America after the war? How many did we leave behind? There is a "rat line" from Pakistan. Soldiers and supplies are sent in all the time. The Pakistani military even joined in the fighting against the allies. Rockets were fired from there. And no one was allowed to do anything about it. Jihadis come from all over the world. Villagers are left to defend themselves. Why are soldiers surprised when they help the Taliban? Military weapons were being sold on the black market. One advantage was air power. Before the end, Afghan pilots were being assassinated. Countless examples of torture on the other side. We train in rules of engagement. No such training for your opponents. Most of what people saw as progress, even before any of these wars there, was in Kabul. Most of the country is rural and extremely poor. The elephant in the room is religion. I won't get into that. At some point we need to take a closer look at how we expect to make the world a better place if we consistently look at it through rose-colored glasses.

I finished this book about 10 minutes ago; I had to take a few deep breaths and pull myself together. Sean Parnell writes a gripping and detailed account of his thoughts, his men, his sadness and his joy while on deployment in Afghanistan in the Hindu Kush. This book is extremely well written and flows smoothly. I started and ended this book in less than two days. I have recently read several really good books about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars from the writers first hand POV and this one though from a different perspective easily stands with them. This book exposes things about the war that on some level I am sure had heard about at one time or another but truly had no true understanding of. I cannot tell you how many times my heart broke and tears poured down my cheeks. I feel like I got to know Outlaw Platoon personally and with every battle I could feel my chest get tight in fear for all the guys that I felt like I knew intimately. I feel like I laughed with them, cried with them, was frustrated with them, was heart sick and injured with them, each time Sean would describe the scenes around him I felt actual fear or joy, or frustration or gut wrenching sadness. I was completely drawn in to the book and in to Sean's leadership. I am so glad these guys and many like them have each other in a time that was so horrific I doubt the average person (myself) could endure it. I cried so hard for the fallen men my family thought I had lost a dear friend. I find myself wondering how everyone is doing now and pray that they are all healthy and living happy and full lives. To Sean and all of Outlaw Platoon Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your sacrifices. Thank you for standing and fighting for a belief in freedom that many have taken for granted. You will always be in my heart and will be held in my utmost of gratitude.If you have any desire to know what these brave men go through READ this book. Even if you don't have any desire to know, READ this book anyway. It is an eye and heart opener.

** spoiler alert ** I'm a Veterans History Project (VHP) Official Founding Partner and highly recommend this well-written, searingly vivid memoir. The VHP's mission is to capture, in their own words, and share the stories of America's military veterans (and of their families and civilian contributors to America's military and defense efforts). In Outlaw Platoon, Sean Parnell, with help from the excellent military writer John R. Bruning and Parnell's platoon brothers, did this in spades, aptly documenting the words, thoughts, sights, smells, sounds, and sensibilities they experienced leading up to, throughout, and even after their hellacious tour of duty in one of the most dangerous places on earth, where they faced opposition and hardships from within in addition to lethal attacks by enemies located in and hailing from multiple nations.The writing and content are riveting. I could barely put the book down until I finished it but could not help but stop, at numerous points, to let what I'd read fully sink in and to say prayers for many souls described in the book. Of those I prayed for, some were American, others were from Afghanistan; some died, while others lived albeit indelibly scarred by sights they saw, physical injuries they sustained, or actions they were duty bound or honor bound to execute.In addition to being awed by the courage many displayed in the worst of circumstances, I felt sorrow and sympathy for those whose fear or inability to function under fire ruined their reputations, military careers, and self-esteem. There, but for the grace of God, go you or I.I also found it impossible to avoid loathing such characters as the "Mail Bitch", her egregious NCO lover, and other inconsiderate malingerers and slackers on base (such as the disrespectful and incompetent nurse practitioner and the interpreter-mole), and so many others who endangered or undermined the well-being of the fighting forces.

One of the best books from the Afghanistan war. Outlaw Platoon is about the 10 Mountain Division that was created during World War Two. Now most of the men that join and want to be apart of them have some history to the unit themselves. A father, grandfather, uncle or some relative that was part of the unit in the past. The book opens with a brief history of the unit's past and its history in Italy against the Germans and what they accomplished. Then going into the training, they go through the different men and their lives. The battles are intense and show you just what these men were up against. Thinking that their enemy was just a ragtag put together force. They are soon shown that they are up against a hard-core fighting force that had fought against the soviets. You are shown first-hand accounts of their battles and how they almost were overrun at one time. I found this to be a very powerful book and really shows the strength and courage of our young men especially in battle. A true look at what they experienced with times of laughter and times of tears. A fabulous book.

This book kept me on edge, an awesome read