
When U.S. Army Ranger Sean Parnells platoon was ordered to root out Pakistani-based insurgents from a mountain valley along the Eastern Afghan Frontier he & his forty men thought they would be facing a ragtag bunch of armed civilians
- an assumption that almost got them killed. On May 7 2006 what started out as a routine patrol through the lower mountains of the Hindu Kush became a lethal ambush. Barely surviving the attack Parnells men realized that they were facing the most professional & seasoned force of light infantry the U.S. Army had encountered since the end of World War II. Well-trained heavily armed cunning & ferociously courageous the insurgents also displayed consummate tactical skill. They had studied the soldiers communication patterns & equipment & knew their capabilities-and severe limitations. What followed was sixteen months of continuous battle in which Parnells Outlaw Platoon" killed more than 350 enemy combatants. During countless clashes on the border the platoon discovered the truth about our Pakistani "allies" & the extent of their military involvement against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In five of the largest battles along the border since the war began waves of insurgents attempted to overrun Parnells platoon with the avowed intent of beheading him & his men. Each time Parnells men held them off. But the cost was high: over eighty percent was wounded in action
- a rate not seen since Gettysburg. Despite these daunting odds Parnells men displayed unparalleled bravery. " Outlaw Platoon" is the story of those sixteen months a gripping narrative of how close combat reshaped the lives of Parnell & his men & how the love & faith they found in each other kept them alive."