Author | Evan Wright |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Military history |
Publisher | Putnam Adult |
Publication date | June 17, 2004 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Hardcover |
Pages | 368 |
ISBN | 978-0-399-15193-4 |
OCLC | 54826116 |
956.7044/3 22 | |
LC Class | DS79.76 .W75 2004 |
Generation Kill is a 2004 book written by Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright chronicling his experience as an embedded reporter with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps (the "Devil Dogs" mentioned on the subtitle and repeatedly throughout the book), during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His account of life with the Marines was originally published as a three-part series in Rolling Stone in the fall of 2003. "The Killer Elite", the first of these articles, went on to win a National Magazine Award for Excellence in Reporting in 2004. [1]
Wright spent two months with the battalion, having persuaded a commander that he could cope with such an assignment. The Marines of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion were initially hostile and suspicious but soon warmed to Wright and treated him as one of their own. He gained their respect through his refusal to quit in the face of combat. [2] Often riding in the lead vehicle, a lightly armored Humvee, Wright was in real danger for much of the time, and at one point carried a weapon, although he did so reluctantly. [3]
Wright encounters members of the battalion from all ranks, but the "main players" can be narrowed down to just six from Bravo Company: Sergeant Brad Colbert (the "Iceman" mentioned in the book's subtitle), Lance Corporal Harold James Trombley, Sergeant Rudy "Fruity Rudy" Reyes, First Lieutenant Nathaniel Fick, Sergeant Antonio Espera, and Corporal Josh Ray Person. The "Captain America" in the subtitle is also another Marine identified by nickname, Captain Dave McGraw.
Sergeant Antonio J. Espera claimed he was forced to leave the battalion, and Staff Sergeant Eric Kocher claimed he was disciplined for statements attributed to him in Wright's reporting. [2] Kocher worked as an adviser on the adaptation of Wright's book into a miniseries and stated that Wright earned credibility because he stayed with the Marines for "every firefight." [4]
Despite initial doubts, Marine commanders later encouraged the officers of 1st Reconnaissance to read the book and the articles to get an insight into the reality of war. [2]
Wright stated that he felt more fear of combat before he was in it, but as soon as he was being shot at, he focused on survival. He also revealed that prior to becoming a war correspondent he had quit drinking, and as a result, he found there was something "almost nice" about war because it replicated the "emotional chaos of being a heavy drinker". [5]
Wright also has stated he is "haunted" by the deaths of civilians he witnessed during the invasion of Iraq, because the "real rule of war is that the people who suffer the most are civilians". He believes the troops who fight the wars are more attuned to the moral consequences of their actions than the American public whom he accuses of being "alienated from the people who fight their wars for them". [6]
Michael Shoup, an augment Forward Air Controller in the battalion, posted a commentary on the book in which he contrasts the events he witnessed with Wright's descriptions of them. Shoup also states that Wright based his account on one group of enlisted Marines' version of events without including the perspective of others. [7]
Wright replied to this blog post citing his own extensive interview with Shoup that directly contradicts Shoup's later version of events. Wright also cites interviews he conducted with other Marines in the unit that differ from Shoup's account, noting that Shoup's direct superior, Major Eckloff, claimed to have single-handedly killed at least 17 insurgents with a shotgun fired from his truck. Wright states that he reduced that number to 1-2 after other sources contradicted Eckloff. Wright states that his book had to take into consideration interviews from a wide variety of Marines in the battalion, including officers, and could not advance the perspective of just one person. [7]
Hella Nation is a collection of other writings by Wright that includes his reporting on U.S. soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division fighting in Afghanistan and a controversial story about a documentary film shot in Iraq by a drug-addled Hollywood producer. [8] [9]
American Desperado is a non-fiction book Wright co-wrote with Jon Roberts, about the drug wars. [10] Roberts was featured in the documentary Cocaine Cowboys . [11]
Then-lieutenant Nathaniel Fick's memoir, One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer , describes some of the same battles in Iraq as described in Generation Kill, but from his own perspective. [12]
The cable television channel HBO has produced a miniseries based on the book. Filmed in South Africa, Namibia, and Mozambique, the series aired in July 2008 and spans seven 68-minute episodes, starting with the Marine Recon team crossing the berm into Iraq during the opening stage of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The show was directed by Susanna White for four episodes and Simon Cellan Jones for three episodes. The writers of the miniseries were Ed Burns, David Simon, and Evan Wright. [14] The DVD release includes four bonus features, including a Making of 'Generation Kill and a video diary. It was produced by David Simon, Ed Burns, Nina K. Noble, George Faber, and Charles Pattinson. It starred Alexander Skarsgård, James Ransone, Stark Sands, Jon Huertas, and Lee Tergesen. [15] Rudy Reyes plays himself in the miniseries adaptation, driving the third Humvee. [16]
Band of Brothers is a 2001 American war drama miniseries based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 non-fiction book of the same name. It was created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who also served as executive producers, and who had collaborated on the 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan. Episodes first aired on HBO from September 9, to November 4, 2001. Critically acclaimed, the series won the Emmy and Golden Globe awards for best miniseries.
The autokinetic effect is a phenomenon of visual perception in which a stationary, small point of light in an otherwise dark or featureless environment appears to move. It was first recorded in 1799 by Alexander von Humboldt who observed illusory movement of a star in a dark sky, although he believed the movement was real. It is presumed to occur because motion perception is always relative to some reference point, and in darkness or in a featureless environment there is no reference point, so the position of the single point is undefined. The direction of the movements does not appear to be correlated with involuntary eye movements, but may be determined by errors between eye position and that specified by efference copy of the movement signals sent to the extraocular muscles. Richard Gregory suggested that, with lack of peripheral information, eye movements which correct movements due to muscle fatigue are wrongly interpreted as movement of the perceived light.
The Second Battle of Fallujah, initially codenamed Operation Phantom Fury, Operation al-Fajr was an American-led offensive of the Iraq War that began on 7 November 2004 and lasted about six weeks.
Dale Adam Dye Jr. is an American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer. A decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, Dye is the founder and head of Warriors, Inc., a technical advisory company specializing in portraying realistic military action in Hollywood films. Dye has also offered his expertise to television, such as the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific, the Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air, and video games, including the Medal of Honor series.
Jarhead is a 2005 American biographical war drama film based on the 2003 memoir of the same name by Anthony Swofford, chronicling his military service in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Persian Gulf War. Directed by Sam Mendes, the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Swofford with Jamie Foxx, Peter Sarsgaard, Lucas Black, and Chris Cooper.
The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion is a reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps. It is a stand-alone battalion with no parent regiment. Instead, it falls directly under the command of the 1st Marine Division. 1st Recon Bn is located at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California.
The 4th Reconnaissance Battalion is a reserve reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps. It falls under the 4th Marine Division and Marine Forces Reserve.
Nathaniel C. Fick is an American diplomat, technology executive, author, and former United States Marine Corps officer. He was the CEO of cybersecurity software company Endgame, Inc., then worked for Elastic NV after it acquired Endgame. He was an Operating Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. In 2022, he was selected to lead the U.S. State Department's Bureau for Cyberspace and Digital Policy.
The Battle of Nasiriyah was fought between the US 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Iraqi forces from 23 March to 2 April 2003 during the US-led invasion of Iraq. On the night of 24–25 March, the bulk of the Marines of Regimental Combat Team 1 passed through the city over the bridges and attacked north towards Baghdad. However, fighting continued in the city until 1 April when Iraqi resistance in the city was defeated.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq, which lasted from March 20 to May 1, 2003, resulted in a small number of U.S. and Coalition Prisoners of war (POW/s).
Al-Karmah, also sometimes transliterated as Karma, Karmah, or Garma, is a city in central Iraq, 16 km (10 mi) northeast of Fallujah in the province of Al Anbar.
Generation Kill is an American seven-part television miniseries produced for HBO that aired from July 13 to August 24, 2008. It is based on Evan Wright's 2004 book Generation Kill, about his experience as an embedded reporter with the US Marine Corps' 1st Reconnaissance Battalion during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and was adapted for television by David Simon, Ed Burns, and Wright. The miniseries was directed by Susanna White and Simon Cellan Jones and produced by Andrea Calderwood. The ensemble cast includes Alexander Skarsgård as Sergeant Brad "Iceman" Colbert, Jon Huertas as Sergeant Tony "Poke" Espera, James Ransone as Corporal Josh Ray Person, and Lee Tergesen as Wright.
Evan Alan Wright was an American writer, known for his reporting on subcultures for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair. He was best known for his book on the Iraq War, Generation Kill (2004). He also wrote an exposé about a top CIA officer who allegedly worked as a Mafia hitman, How to Get Away with Murder in America (2012).
Taking Chance is a 2009 American historical drama television film directed by Ross Katz, from a screenplay by Michael Strobl and Katz, based on the journal of the same name by Strobl, who also serves as military consultant. Kevin Bacon's portrayal of Strobl in the film won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie, among other accolades.
Benjamin B. Busch is an American actor, writer, film maker, photographer, and United States Marine Corps Reserve officer. He is best known for his portrayal of Anthony Colicchio on the HBO original series The Wire.
Brad Colbert is a retired United States Marine, whose platoon's role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq was featured in a series of articles in Rolling Stone by Evan Wright. Wright was an embedded reporter who rode in the backseat of Colbert's vehicle during this time until his departure on May 4, 2003. Wright later expanded these articles into the book Generation Kill which was turned into a HBO miniseries of the same name in which Colbert was portrayed by Alexander Skarsgård.
The Marine Raider Regiment (MRR), formerly known as the Marine Special Operations Regiment (MSOR), is a special operations force of the United States Marine Corps, which is a part of Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC). Renamed for its predecessor, the World War II Marine Raiders, this unit is the principal combat component of MARSOC, which is the Marine Corps' contribution to the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).
Hella Nation: Looking for Happy Meals in Kandahar, Rocking the Side Pipe, Wingnut's War against The Gap, and Other Adventures with the Totally Lost Tribes of America is a 2009 book written by journalist Evan Wright who previously wrote Generation Kill.
Rodolfo "Rudy" Reyes is an American conservationist, martial arts instructor, actor, and former active duty United States Marine. He is best known for portraying himself in the HBO TV miniseries Generation Kill.