Life in a Platoon of American Soldiers in Afghanistan

The platoon of American soldiers in Eastern Afghanistan faced intense combat and harsh conditions without basic amenities for an extended period of time./nDespite their differences in race, religion, political beliefs, and possibly sexual orientation, the soldiers bonded over the common goal of supporting each other and ignoring personal risk for the sake of the group./nThe only measure of honor among the soldiers was the willingness to sacrifice oneself to help others, regardless of whether or not an individual was carrying a weapon./nThe speaker, who was not armed, was also evaluated based on his willingness to take risks for the benefit of the group, showing that access to honor was universal within the platoon.