“Combat deployments make men incredibly vulnerable. Back in the States, it is all too easy to hide behind facades and defenses, pretensions and rank. But on the field of battle, the threat of death boils all of those things away. What remains is the true measure of a man’s character. Some conduct themselves with honor. Some do not. But everyone who serves knows who is who, and that establishes dividing lines that lifetimes of effort can never bridge.”
―
Sean Parnell,
Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan