WEBVTT - Lessons From War with Sean Parnell 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.800 So it's a Memorial Day, And obviously on Memorial Day 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:07.040 we take a moment, we take a day to remember 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.039 the follow and to remember the heroes who have paid 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:12.680 the ultimate sacrifice to defend this nation, defend our country. 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:15.720 We honor the families who have lost loved ones in 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:19.079 the pursuit of freedom to protect this great country. But 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:25.079 beyond taking the time to remember, shouldn't we also reflect? 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:29.960 And shouldn't we also reflect on mistakes that we've made 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:33.080 as a country and things we could change moving forward, 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:38.160 and being more judicious with the lives of our military 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:40.680 men and women. Shouldn't the people in charge shouldn't their 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:43.440 sole duty with our military men and women be to 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:48.640 avoid casualties, avoid sending them to unnecessary wars, so that 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:50.639 we have less men and women who have to pay 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:53.519 the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of freedom. So that's 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:55.680 why I wanted to do this Memorial Day. Not only 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:58.560 honor the fallen and honor their bravery, and honor the 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:01.040 people who give everything for this country that they love 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:04.160 and that we love, but also take a time to reflect. 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.160 And one of those wars is Afghanistan. You know, it 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:10.640 was the longest war in American history twenty years lost, 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:14.360 so many service members, so many service men and women 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:17.679 in Afghanistan. So what are the lessons we could learn there? 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:21.520 What should we take from that and do differently moving forward? 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:24.560 And who better to talk to you than Sean Parnell. 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:29.440 He has a former US Army Airborne ranger who served 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:32.400 in the legendary tenth Mountain Division for six years, retiring 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.920 as a captain. He received two Bronze Stars, one for 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.240 valor and a Purple Heart as well. He wrote the 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:42.040 New York Times best selling book Outline Platoon, and he 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:47.200 also wrote Man Award Outlaw Platoon details his sixteen months 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:52.960 in combat and Afghanistan. Sixteen months in combat in Afghanistan, well, 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:56.760 he was there. His platoon repeatedly was outnumbered, repeatedly outgunned, 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.520 and they displayed such tremendous bravery to the that over 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:04.520 of his platoon received Purple Hearts for wounds that they 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:09.880 incurred in battle. Sean was also injured in battle, day 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.880 in and day out, fighting for freedom in the mountains 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:17.040 of Afghanistan. He was twenty four at the time. Can 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:20.079 you imagine being twenty four and leading a platoon in 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:25.200 the mounds of Afghanistan, day in, day out, out numbered out, 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:30.120 gun fighting bravely and fearlessly next to your your brothers 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:34.640 in the military and in the army. So we're gonna 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:38.679 get Sean Parnell's take on what lessons we should learn 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.919 from Afghanistan, what we could be doing different moving forward, 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.800 and how we can truly honor, to the best of 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:47.160 our abilities, the men and women who have paid the 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.360 ultimate sacrifice and the pursuit of freedom. I hope you 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:54.080 enjoyed this conversation. He's an absolute hero, and he's an 0:02:54.080 --> 0:03:09.480 absolute badass, Sean Parnell. Sean Carnell, you are such a 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:12.480 badass and such an American hero. It's an honor just 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:14.359 to have you on the show. So I really appreciate 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.359 you taking this time. Oh well, thanks, Lisa. I don't 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:20.280 know if i'd call myself a badass, but I was. 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.240 I was in the Army for a time and I 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:24.600 was surrounded by badasses every day, so I guess I 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:26.600 was pretty lucky. I'll call you badass, so I'll be 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:29.040 the one. I'll do it because you can be humble. 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:32.320 I will take the humility out of it for you. Um, 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:34.560 you know we're recording this before. But this is gonna 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.360 err on Memorial Day and obviously a day to honor 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:40.920 the individuals and so many who have paid the ultimate 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:43.920 sacrifice in the name of defending freedom, defending this great 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:47.720 country that we love. But shouldn't we also take this 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:52.120 time to learn lessons from you know, wars like Afghanistan, 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:54.880 and also using it as a time to be more 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:58.480 judicious in sending our military men and women to war. 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:01.080 I think so, I mean, you know, I think I 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:04.400 think it speaks directly to the importance of you know, 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:07.680 warriors coming back, you know, American men and women who 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:13.720 fight our wars coming back and being involved with regards 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:16.120 to where our country goes and the decisions that we 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:19.839 make pertaining to the future of America and the wars 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.920 that we get ourselves involved in. Um. You know, after 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:25.880 I spent time in Afghanistan back in in two thousand 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:28.760 six and two thousand and seven. UM, we were there 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.680 for what like twenty years. You know, it's a long 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:35.960 long time that I think most America, most of America, America, 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:40.320 it's difficult to wrap your mind around that length of time, 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:44.680 you know. And so I feel like, you look at 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:48.880 what happened in Afghanistan and all the blood, the treasure 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:53.360 that we spent there, right after twenty years there, Um, 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:55.839 you look now and it's like, well, what do you 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:59.520 have to show for it? You know? And look, I 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:01.360 would know you this, like, I'm proud of my time 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:03.560 in Afghanistan. I don't regret it for a second. I 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.760 joined after after September eleven. One of one of the 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:09.240 best experiences of my life was serving this country. So 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:11.839 I am not a victim in any way. I'm a 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:14.400 volunteer and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:19.080 And I'm proud of what we did in Afghanistan, you know. Um. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.560 But and critics, critics would say, you know, when I 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:23.120 would say, well, what will we have to show forward, 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:25.640 critics would say, well, look, I mean, you know, look 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:27.760 at what you do, what you built for the Afghans, 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.160 you wells and villages. You know, little girls know how 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:32.560 to read, and you know, boys are part of the 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:36.800 economy now and they understand what what freedom, freedom is, 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:38.520 even if it was just for a brief time. And 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:41.840 I just say to that, yes, that is all true. Um, 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:45.880 but I would rather have my friends alive, you know. Um, 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:50.839 And you look at what's happening today and the Afghan 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:54.520 you know things, and in Afghanistan just collapsed what like 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:58.560 less than a year ago, Lisa, right, like August two 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:02.760 thousand and twenty one. And it seems like you have 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:05.880 members of Congress on both sides of the Aisle, in 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.719 the House and in the Senate that are clamoring to 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:13.120 go right back into the fight in Ukraine, which from 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:17.440 a geopolitical standpoint is just it's far more complicated than 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:23.960 than Afghanistan. Um without even taking a breath after the 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:26.559 Afghan warrant, saying, wait, is this really worth it? Should 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:28.800 we like take time to hit the reset button as 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:33.240 a country and figure out if, if this fight is 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:36.800 worth Americans dying for, because that that's the question that 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:40.320 American moms and dads need to ask themselves. Lisa's like, 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.720 is Ukraine so important that you're willing to sacrifice your 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:47.640 son or daughter for that? If the answer to that 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.920 question is no, then we shouldn't be doing anything for Ukraine. 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:55.240 And and look, Lisa, I feel bad for the people there. 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.160 My heart aches for the civilians and children who are 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:00.960 caught in the middle. Like this is not me saying 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:04.160 like we should ignore it completely, Like nobody, like a 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:09.160 few people in this country understand that the humanitarian disaster 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:11.000 and people stuck in the middle of the fight that 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:13.960 the me. I get that. But but again I would 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.400 say I would rather have American sons and daughters alive. 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:19.320 You know, I think we need to take care of 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:21.600 ourselves here at home a little bit. First. We just 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:25.520 see politicians, you know, beating the drums of war with Ukraine. 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.960 Udu Biden said something today about Taiwan about you know, 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:31.640 you should take a military action. But you just hear 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:35.000 these politicians and it almost there's a callousness to it, 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:38.360 to be honest, because it doesn't take into account that, 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.480 as you pointed out, it's it's would they send their 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:43.680 son or daughter? You know, it just it doesn't take 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:47.000 an account like I just lives or American people should 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:50.080 be the most important to us. That lives the precious lives, 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:52.360 or military men and one should be the most important 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.120 to us, And it just doesn't. It doesn't seem to 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:58.520 be the case, and it makes me sad. Look, you're right, Lisa, 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:02.080 I mean, you're right, it's it's well, I think part 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:05.720 of the problem is that you only have point four 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:09.200 percent of the people in this country who have served 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:13.160 this country. During Iraq and Afghanistan's twenty years of war, 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:16.040 so longest period of war in American history, only point 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.760 four percent of the country actually experienced what it means 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:23.560 to protect and defend freedom. And so I think as 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:29.000 a result, you have, you know, most of American of 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:33.040 America who enjoyed freedom on a day to day basis 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:36.120 in this country, and you have less than half of 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:39.520 one percent who protected. So there's there's a there's a 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:45.000 significant gap between those two groups. And I think that's 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:48.719 part of the reason why, you know, you have politicians 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.720 who really never served anything but themselves for the majority 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:57.160 of their lives talk so callously about sending American sons 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:59.200 and daughters into the fight because the reality is they 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:02.040 don't have any understanding of what that means for American 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:05.480 families who are actually doing the fighting. Like for for example, 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:09.440 when I got back from Afghanistan, sixteen month combat deployment, 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:13.400 sixteen months, like four five days, It's like if you 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.839 had a kid, it's like, have a good first grade year, 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:17.440 have a good second grade year, I'll see you on 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:21.400 your way to third grade. That's crazy, you know, And 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:24.480 you know, we got back, we hit the reset button. 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:26.400 You know, most of we weren't even back for a 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:28.240 couple of weeks. We already had to go right back 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.719 down to Fort Polk, Louisiana. So we got back home. 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.360 Hugger families went back to do training down at Fort Polk, 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.840 Louisiana and prep for another combat deployment to Afghanistan that 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:40.840 was nine months later. I mean, it's an incredibly heavy 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:44.480 burden that we that we place on a very very 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:48.079 small percentage of Americans, and most of the time our 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.720 politicians are unaffected by that. But I guess it sounds 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.760 cool when you're up there at the podium, uh, you know, hey, 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:56.880 of China invades Taiwan, like We're gonna get involved militarily, 0:09:57.000 --> 0:09:59.800 with no real understanding in the geopolitical consequences or the 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:02.520 fall lot for the American people or how that would 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:06.600 affect people who serve. I mean, it's it's just irresponsible, 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:12.600 especially Lisa, when you consider just how much suffering there 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:14.800 is here within our own borders at home. I think 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:16.679 a lot of our a lot of our attention should 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:19.880 be focused on well. And I think President Trump really 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:24.040 changed at least my thinking on foreign policy because what 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.360 he was able to show us is that you can 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:29.040 be strong, you can flex muscle, you can deter the 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:33.480 bad guys without sending troops, without invading, without beating the 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:35.840 you know, the the drum beat for war, and you 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:37.640 can do it like he did when he was sitting 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:40.120 with President She you know, having chocolate cake, telling him 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:43.480 he's sending Tomah health missiles. Right, it's such a fall 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:47.839 or striking these peace deals on the Abrahambichords. It just 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.640 changed the way, you know, I thought about things because 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:52.920 he just showed us a different path. He really opened 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.440 my eyes too. You know there there is a different 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.200 way you know there and and when you're in Washington, 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:02.840 I mean really when whether you're a Democrat or Republican 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:06.000 there there is the group sink right where everyone sort 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.880 of thinks the same way, um about a lot of things. 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:11.200 And I think that's why you hear a lot of 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.080 people talk about the uniparty, you know, where you have 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:17.520 you know, people like you know, as ideologically different as 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:21.719 Adam Kinzinger and Ted Cruz both talking about the importance 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:24.440 of defending Ukraine, to even certain Democrats talking about the 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:26.760 importance of defending our ally Ukraine, even though they're not 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:31.880 an ally um um. You know, it's like you see, 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:36.240 you see these certain groups of people that think alike Lisa. 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:40.079 And what I always admired about President Trump is it 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:44.840 takes an unbelievable amount of mental toughness to resist that 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:48.559 type of pressure and group think, right. And and in Washington, 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:53.280 President Trump was I mean, gosh, any given at any 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:56.200 given moment. Uh in d C. In the White House, 0:11:56.440 --> 0:12:00.120 both Republicans and Democrats were fired up in angry at 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.480 President Trump for different reasons. And that's what I admired 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:04.640 about him the most. And that's ultimately why I think 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:08.120 the American people sent him there, Because there is a 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:12.840 level of dissatisfaction in this country that if people just 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.839 got outside the Beltway or New York City or l 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:20.520 A and they took a stroll through you know, Middle America, 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:25.520 they would feel that sense of discontent about the direction 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.960 of our country. And President Trump tapped into that. And 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.080 you look at what he was able to accomplish in 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:35.920 four years and in the face of I mean, so 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:38.480 what that man faced in the White House was criminal. 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:40.439 It was criminal. I mean, now we're learning of what 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:43.199 what Hillary Clinton did. It was like make legitimately criminal, 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.560 I don't know. But but the things that he was 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:52.160 able to accomplish in four short years I never thought possible, 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:55.920 and you know, the Abraham Accords and peace in the 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.720 Middle East. Never thought that was possible, but he did it. 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:02.800 And yeah, like you said, it really opened my eyes 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:08.280 to a new way of being and that you know, um, 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:12.400 we don't have to deploy and get locked down, and 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:14.880 like it's almost become cliche now in these in these 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.680 forever wars, but that's really what they are. I mean, 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.840 twenty freaking years in Afghanistan is a long time. I 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:23.280 mean twenty years. I mean think about it like this, 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:25.800 Like I'm forty years old. That's half of my life. 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.720 We were in Afghanistan, like half of my life. The 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.839 only professor, the only thing that I've known is war 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.080 in Afghanistan. Lost thirty five plus friends there. I mean, 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.440 that's a long time. And I think what President Trump 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.600 showed us was that it doesn't have to be that way. 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.000 We can still have peace, um, as long as we're 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:49.720 focused on the right stuff, um, and focusing on ourselves 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:54.319 at home. And unfortunately, a year and a half of 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.600 Joe Biden, he's unraveling that pretty quickly. I mean, I 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.160 never thought it could get this bad, this fact us. 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:02.240 I mean, it's just it's really sad. But I but 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:04.920 I honestly think I think the turning point for him 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:07.440 was because you know, people thought he would restore order, 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:09.400 he do all these things that obviously people like us 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:11.600 knew he wasn't going to do and he wasn't capable 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:13.920 of it. But his ratings really started to take a 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:18.360 nosedive after Afghanistan. And it was the disastrous exit, the abandoning, 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.560 like the back Roum airfield before getting her people out, 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:26.440 getting thirteen service members killed, leaving Americans behind, And I 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:28.400 think that was the turning point. And when that all 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:31.560 was going down, you tweeted out that the Afghana baccles 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.640 on the suits, not the boots. Talk about that disconnect 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.600 in the military between the suits and the boots and 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:40.240 how that played out with Afghanistan so disastrously. It was 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.360 so frustrating to me. And part of what I do 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:46.760 like coming back home after I got back from Afghanistan, 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:50.920 was was realizing very quickly that a lot there are 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:52.480 a lot of men and women here who served this 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.800 country that needed help, and you know, there's a way 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:58.200 in which you come back from war. War changes you, 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.920 um and some pretty deep and fundamental ways, and you 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:04.920 could you know, you come back and you meet and 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:06.920 talk to your family and you feel like your family 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.160 doesn't know you because you've changed, and you talk to 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:10.880 your best friends. And there was a moment for me 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:14.520 like where I'm from Pittsburgh and so like the first 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:16.440 thing I do when I get back from Afghanistan is 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:19.280 like text my buddies, you know, who I went to 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:21.960 college with and stuff. And like I opened up my 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:25.520 like little flip phone and text them and they text 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:28.840 me back their address and like look at it. Read 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:31.840 the address. I'm like, oh my gosh, Like these dudes 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:34.360 are still living in the same address they've been living 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.960 at for ten years, and I just got back from Afghanistan. 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:39.840 Feel like a totally different person show up at there. 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:43.080 I show up at their apartment. I walk in and 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:45.560 like they're like all sitting in the same spots on 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.120 the couch, like drinking the same Iron City beer, talking 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:52.720 about the same girl problems. And I'm like Simpson's posters 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:55.200 on the wall and family Guy magnets on the fridge, 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:58.120 and I'm thinking to myself, like oh my god, like 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:00.600 nothing has changed here at home, but I'm different person 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:05.400 in every way. And so if I was feeling like that, 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:08.560 there are probably millions of Americans feeling like that. You 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:10.600 come home from more and just feel like they're different, 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:13.640 and maybe they feel like exiles in their own country. 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:18.600 And so I started doing everything I could to make 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.080 sure that, like the war is really what I'm I 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:24.080 guess I'm getting to Lisa, is that the war for 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:26.840 a lot of veterans really starts when you get home. 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:31.120 And I wanted to just help veterans come home in 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:34.800 the most productive way possible and not just survive on 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:38.160 a day to day basis, but but really, but but thrive, 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:43.160 you know. And when I tweeted that about Afghanistan about 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:46.200 it being on the suits and not the boots, was 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:52.240 really it was in that spirit, because I knew there 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.000 would be a lot of veterans thinking like, what the 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:57.480 hell was all this for? You know, why the hell 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:01.120 did I Why did I lose my friend in this country? 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:04.000 Why did I go to this country and and sacrifice 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:06.800 a piece of myself there? You know? Why do we 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:08.840 do all of this just to have some moron in 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.680 the White House throw it all away, uh, because I mean, 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:17.480 quite honestly, he's a bumbling idiot. Leadership matters, and he's 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:20.960 a commander in chief, so that the term commander predisposes 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:24.560 chief his job at first and foremost an obligation to 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:28.480 our American military. And it was a it was a 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.399 dereliction of duty of the highest order of what he 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.719 did in Afghanistan. And it's not just it's not just 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:38.800 leaving Americans behind, which is horrific, horrific enough, right, I 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.600 can't even believe I have to say this, but the 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:46.600 sacrifice that twenty years of Americans bled the ground red 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:49.200 in Afghanistan just to seed it back to the Taliban 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:52.400 in a few weeks. I mean, that's a that's a crime. 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:58.959 It's a crime, and it's it's gonna do unbelievable moral 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.080 damage to people who served there that the ramisifications of 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:05.959 which I don't think we fully understand yet. Um. And 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:12.600 so it's just like unbelievable to have to witness the 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.520 fall of Afghanistan and the speed at which it fell 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:19.280 here in America after having been there for twenty years. Um. 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:23.960 And again, never ever, ever, ever would have happened under 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:27.720 President Trump or really any American president. They could speak 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:29.960 in coherent sentences without having to read off a sheet 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:33.200 of paper. I mean, just unbelievable, and you can't help 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.120 but think you cannot help, but think, like I used 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:37.960 to joke around in the campaign trail when I was 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:41.600 running for the House and the Senate um well mostly 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:43.880 when I was running for the Senate, but like about 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:47.560 like just to utter incompetence. But I don't think it's incompetence. 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:50.439 I think it's I think it's intentional. I think that 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.480 this is you can't be this good. I mean, he's 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:58.320 Joe Biden, and in his administration a bunch of Obama 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.640 appointees two point over right back in the White House, 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:02.879 some of which are sermon in the same cabinet positions. 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:10.960 It it's like they're unbelievably efficient, ruthlessly efficient at destroying 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:14.040 almost every pillar in this country, I mean every pillar 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:19.080 strengthening country. It's unbelievable that they the level of which 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:22.680 they're failing. And I think Afghanistan was just one of 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.600 those pillars. Well, I think we all just felt such 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:28.320 an amount of shame with the way that we exited. 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.040 Just the loss of military men and women are sort 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:34.240 of the thirteen service members and just leaving Americans behind. 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:38.280 Quick Commercial break Back with Sean Parnell on the other side, 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:44.560 talked about sort of you know, the challenge with coming 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:46.800 home when you've been at war like that. I'll say 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:49.199 one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had in 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:53.400 my career was doing an honor air flight for Vietnam 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:57.280 war vets from Wisconsin for Fox and Friends. And I 0:19:57.320 --> 0:19:58.960 went on this trip with them, and I'll tell you 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:01.320 it was just such a moving experience talking to these 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:04.280 like big, strong guys who were just brought to tears 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:06.800 of just feeling the honor of having served because they 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:10.320 didn't get the welcome they deserved when they came home. 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:12.600 And so just doing the interviews with them and seeing 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:15.200 these you know, grown men and you know cry and 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:18.800 just it was just incredibly moving, uh And I learned 0:20:18.800 --> 0:20:20.760 a lot from it. It It was just a really you know, 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:24.359 humbling and just incredible experience, you know, spending time with 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:26.800 them and just being able to bless them and being 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:29.480 part of this with the trip. Yeah, well, Vietnam vets 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.760 are I mean, we owe them so much. And obviously, 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:36.000 because as you mentioned, they didn't have the welcome home 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:40.399 that that we did. And so much of the reason 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:45.840 why my generation was welcomed home was because after like 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:49.639 what these Vietnam what the Vietnam era went through, they 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:53.000 made themselves a promise to never allow another generation of 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:57.840 veteran to experience what they did. And because of that, 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:01.560 like we had by and large, a very positive homecoming, 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:03.800 you know. And I when I talk about feeling like 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:06.520 an exile in your own country, I should say, like 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:08.879 almost everybody that you talked to you says thank you 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.080 for your service. I am not again, like we're lucky 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:14.640 to live in a country like like America and come 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:17.840 home to people that that appreciate you. And that that 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:22.520 is because of Vietnam veterans who went through hell when 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:25.359 they came back, went through hell, and combat through hell, 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:27.800 and they came back and then but didn't give in. 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:31.960 And they they made a promise to you know, subsequent 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:34.399 generations of Americans when they came home from the fight, 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:38.760 and and and that promise was to never allow what 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.960 they went through to happen again. And I mean, really 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:45.960 my generation is standing on the shoulders of giants with 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:48.840 with them and and World War Two veterans and career 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:52.680 veterans before them. UM, so yeah, we're we're lucky. We're 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:55.000 lucky to live in this country. But there's still a 0:21:55.040 --> 0:21:56.920 lot of work to do, that's for sure. I can't 0:21:56.960 --> 0:21:59.680 imagine how it doesn't change you, particularly some of this 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:02.560 stuff that you endured. You know, I know you very humbly. 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:05.320 You know, didn't take me saying that you're, you know, 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:07.719 a complete badass and a hero, but you really are. 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:11.160 I mean, you've retired at highly decorated captain. You're awarded 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:14.440 two Bronze Stars, one for valor and a purple Heart. 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:17.200 You wrote the New York Times best selling book, Outlaw Platoon. 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:21.320 It's about your time serving as commanding the Army's tenth 0:22:21.320 --> 0:22:24.159