Chicago Pritzker Military Library Event, 3-15-2012
Posted by onparkstreet on March 6th, 2012 (All posts by onparkstreet)
Sean Parnell, co-author: Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
Sean Parnell is a former U.S. Army airborne ranger who served in the legendary 10th Mountain Division for six years, retiring as a captain. He received two Bronze Stars (one for valor) and a Purple Heart. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Duquesne University. He lives with his wife and two children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Sean Parnell: That’s a very important question. But it’s also one that’s intricately complicated to answer and I’m not sure that I have it.
For me, it was finding a mission. I replaced my old mission.
I’m a guy for whom service is important. Clinical psychology is serving American society. And it’s still serving my soldiers. That’s it for me, you know?
But it’s different for everybody. I keep in contact with every single man in that book. And I’d say that 80 to 85 percent of them are really struggling.
March 6th, 2012 at 10:51 am
Nice catch – very poignant, one of Prine’s best interviews. And the subtext of “servant leadership” is the ethos society has lost
March 7th, 2012 at 6:41 am
Yes, the poignancy struck me too.
- Madhu