Ex-Green Beret reveals how he saved his own life with play set to be staged in NYC

WASHINGTON, DC – Ex-Green Beret Scott Mann knows how to tell a war story — in fact, the skill saved his life.

The 23-year Army veteran returned home from Afghanistan in 2013 and found himself quickly “spiraling,” lost without the daily adrenaline rush of special forces work with Afghan villagers and wracked with guilt over having the US leave them behind.

“It was kind of like living in a purgatory where I felt I was unwilling to live and unable to die,” the Florida dad recently told The Post.

This deeply despondent feeling came to a head 18 months later, when Mann’s young son discovered him crouching alone in a closet with a pistol in his hand – about to do the unthinkable.

“Had it not been for my son coming home from school when he did, I don’t think I would be here,” Mann said.

The former soldier realized he had to find a way to process all of his experiences if he was to integrate back into civilian suburban life. That was when he discovered his creative voice — and wrote a play aimed at comforting veterans suffering from the fallout of the chaotic and deadly US withdrawal from Afghanistan, as well as helping the families who love them.

“Last Out,” coming to Staten Island’s St. George Theater for a one-night performance Tuesday, tells the story of the heartbreak and healing that veterans face as they return home from war, often feeling alone and detached from others.

“In the years after I separated from the military, I found it extremely hard to know my purpose and passion in life. I slowly disconnected from the outside world,” Mann said. “I also found many civilians had no idea what it meant to serve in modern war.

“It was only when I began telling my story that I finally started seeing light and hope,” he said.

The play follows fictional Green Beret Danny Patton on his ascension to Valhalla, the mythological Nordic afterlife for slain hero warriors, after he was mortally wounded. The character – based on an amalgamation of three team sergeants Mann lost in the war – gets “stuck,” unable to move on until he is visited by a number of important people in his life, including a friend killed in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.

“[The people] take Danny through his lifetime, from joining special forces, 9/11, getting married and having a child and deployment after deployment after deployment, until he finally he figures out what he holding on to and he lets go – but not before the audience goes for the whole ride,” Mann said. “It’s an immersive experiential exposure to modern war, both on the battlefield and on the home front.”

The show has had several performances over the years with a cast of veterans and military family members. But after the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 left thousands of Afghan allies stranded under Taliban rule, the piece took on new meaning.

“The focus was now on helping to heal the moral injury from the war and helping our veterans and our military families and our Gold Stars recognize that what they did was worth it,” he said.

As Kabul fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15, 2021, thousands of veterans of the previous 20 years of war there began experiencing emotional reactions to watching so much that they fought for fall apart and so many allies left behind in the rushed US evacuation mission.

Mann got to work, creating the volunteer group “Task Force Pineapple,” which brought together roughly 50 American veterans to arrange for the rescue of more than 1,000 Afghan allies between Aug. 15 and Aug. 30, 2021.

Now Mann’s work continues, bringing “Last Out” to a new audience in New York. Tuesday’s performance is sponsored by the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, which honors fallen 9/11 first responders and Gold Star families, or relatives of killed military personnel, from the terror attack’s resulting wars.

“We are honored to bring ‘Last Out’ to New York City, a powerful portrayal of the sacrifices and
valor of our military service members and their families,” said Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller in a statement. “This performance is not just a play; it’s a tribute to the unspoken heroes of our nation – the spouses, children, and comrades of those who serve.”

Siller, whose hero firefighter brother Steven Siller died on 9/11 helping to rescue others, said he hopes the play will inspire hard but necessary conversations around grief, sacrifice and the many lasting costs of war.

“This play pays tribute to the unwavering courage and sacrifice of our military service members and their families,” he told The Post. ” ‘Last Out’ spotlights these sacrifices and will hopefully give our Gold Star families a new way to talk about the service and sacrifices of their loved ones.”

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.