Dimensions
160 x 235 x 31mm
When U.S. Army Ranger Sean Parnell's platoon of forty soldiers was given the task of rooting Taliban insurgents out of a mountain valley along the Afghan-Pakistan border, they thought they would be facing a ragtag bunch of armed civilians. But that was a conviction that almost got them killed.
On May 7, 2006, what started out as a routine patrol through the lower mountains of the Hindu Kush, turned into a lethal ambush. After barely surviving the enemy's attack, Parnell's men realised that they were facing the most professional and seasoned force of light infantry the U.S. Army had encountered since the end of World War II. The Taliban were well-trained, creative and cunning and they did not lack in courage. They showed unusual tactical skill; they had studied their communication patterns and knew their equipment and its capability -- as well as its severe limitations.
What followed was sixteen months of continuous battle in which Parnell's "Outlaw Platoon" killed more than 350 enemy combatants, while sustaining a historically high rate of casualties themselves: more than eight in ten men wounded -- a rate not seen since Gettysburg.
In the face of these daunting odds, Parnell's men displayed unparalleled bravery. This is his story of those sixteen months, and the story of the love, brotherhood and faith that saved him from a most terrible fate.
