US Marines. Jarheads. Devil Dogs. Many names to call them but none could really embody the essence and the spirit. Compared with the other military branches in the US Armed Forces, I think this one is the most unique, and thus most intriguing. This memoir told a story about the marines based on direct view from a reporter (from Rolling Stones magazine) who was embedded in the First Recon Battalion, one of the first units deployed in and entering Iraq in 2003. Cynics or critics may say this is a typical pop-ish war stories from an outsider who wanted to produce an easy-to-read yet empty, explosive account on the things happening over there. They are wrong, obviously.Different with my previous reviews (not that I made a lot), I’ll try to be as disciplined as possible (military mode = ON) by dividing my comments into several parts with quotes from the book as titles."Get some!"The unofficial Marine Corps cheer used by the enlisted men to keep up their (and their fellows’) spirit. 'Get some' means kill the enemies, that simple. Do they really take this by heart? Well, yes and no. Some marines in this book loved using their mighty guns and blew things up to oblivion because it is exhilarating and makes them feel more ‘alive’. Others, the more cynical ones, said that they found no real pleasure in shooting people and they feel that it’s just to protect their comrades and do their jobs. However, there is always an oddball, in this case Pvt. Trombley, who said he’s more excited playing Grand Theft Auto (videogame) than shooting people with his SAW machine gun. The "get some" mentality doesn't always prevail. Cruelties and damages caused by war did make the Marines feel something different. Remorse, frustration, anger and finally indifference are not uncommon. Which brings us to the next subject."We’re going to be fighting a war for oil."Aha! I had a question earlier before reading this book. Do the soldiers deployed in Iraq know that this war isn’t just to fight terror? That there’s more basic (and practical) reason behind it? Apparently, some realized this from the very start, before the media reported that the search for WMD had failed. Did it stop them from fighting? Nope. Why? Idealism, romance, and camaraderie. Quoting from the super hawt Sgt. Reyes (who played himself in the HBO miniseries because it’s too hard to cast someone like him), the romance comes in because the Marines are a small band of hard motherfuckers, trained to go behind enemy lines against forces twenty or forty times bigger." Another quote from the Sgt. Brad ‘Iceman’ Colbert, “We are going to the great unknown. Scary, isn’t it? I can’t wait." So apparently he didn’t care that the US wanted to topple Saddam and more inclined to think of the war as a grand personal challenge. Another marine said that he preferred to die among his friends (brave warriors) than die old in bed with only a few people by his side. "Every time he steps out of the vehicle, I pray he gets shot."The incompetent leading the unwilling to do the unnecessary. That pretty well sums up all the gigantic mess caused by the officers leading their units in this book. Sometimes mentioned only by nicknames bestowed by the enlisted men, such as Godfather (the Marlon Brando-voice battalion commander who was always ready to send his troops into harm’s way to lick his bosses’ arse) Encino Man (a company commander who was so astoundingly dim-witted hence the name), Captain America (a platoon leader whose combination of reckless gungho-ness and paranoid antics made his soldiers constantly fantasizing about killing him) etc. I could only admire the strong will of the soldiers not to seriously injure those bozzos who fucked up many times, endangering the Marines and civilians. Encino Man for example, ordered an artillery fire (when there’s absolutely nothing to worry about) way too close to his marines just because he did not know the safe distance required. Lucky that he couldn’t give the correct degrees thus his men were saved by his incompetence. Godfather, aside from his arsekissing, also paid (wayyyy too) much concern on his battalion’s "Grooming Standard". He basically waged a holy war against the evil, evil moustaches. Anyway, Wright wrote about them quite objectively. He did not only interview the soldiers but also the despised officers so as to acquire their views. The reasons given were silly at best but I am glad that the writer did that."Sir, not to get homoerotic about this, but I could kiss you."Marines worship their competent officers and leaders. Such respect does not come easily but when one earns it, it will stay. One of the most beloved officers in First Recon is Lt. Fick (the Dick Winters in Bravo Company) who is smart, brave and reliable. Soldiers will follow their leaders to hell with no question if they trust them. Fick paid attention to his men, took initiatives and dismissed his superiors’ asinine demands. I can’t wait to receive my copy of his memoir soon. Eric Kocher (who also starred in the HBO miniseries – but not as himself) is another example. He repeatedly countermand the colossally retarded orders from Captain America even if that could (and finally did) cause him huge trouble."The Americans have let Ali Baba into Baghdad."So said an Iraqi, lamenting the flourishing looting and bandits roaming the streets of Baghdad during the night while the American promised to restore order. A promise is a promise is a promise. The US didn’t have any clear idea on what to do after they beat the main Iraqi army. The Iraqis did not put up too much confrontation when the US forces came, but they did not really surrender either. Pockets of resistance are everywhere. Clueless is the best word to describe the US policy on this. A war that’s suppose to last for like 3 months, have been going on for 8 years and killing thousands of its youth. A translator opined: “You have taken this country apart and you are not putting it together.” Speaking about translator, how could a battalion, an elite one that was among the first ones entering Iraq, only had and relied on one translator and none in the command structure fluently spoke Arabic? I am indeed scratching my head because of this. That is so downright unprofessional. If every battalion that used to be and currently deployed there suffers from the same problem, then no wonder miscommunication (and lack of cooperation) with the locals occur. "Goddamn kid playing peekaboo."Rules of engagement is without doubt one of (if not the most) the most complicated part in a war. Civilians casualties and all those shits, they never look good in front of the cameras, or even in front the soldiers fighting to save their lives. How to differentiate a combatant and a noncombatant if they all look the same? The enemies do not wear their clothes (if they’re soldiers) to be distinct. The enemies do not hesitate to live and move among civilians and shoot their mortars from settlements. The enemies have different rules and Geneva Convention is not one of them."This war will need its own theme music."If you’ve seen the HBO miniseries, there are lots of scenes when the Marines are singing. Here’s some examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9UpK_...Apparently, they did sing a lot. To spend time, mostly. The lead driver in Bravo company, Corp. Person, a very talkative and hilarious persona during the war, often engaged the others to sing with him (Well, not country music since his team leader, Colbert, banned it, referring to one song as "Special Olympics-gay"). He’s not the only one with musical prowess in the company. All kinds of genres, 80s, hip-hops, you name it. The soldiers in the Bravo Company, as in the other units in the Armed Forces, come from a generation that are raised in pop culture, hardly remember Vietnam and uses internet. This new breed of men are spearheading a country's languished efforts to reach its national goal (Terror? Oil? It all comes down to self-survival). Aside from the undeniable and incomparable sense of brotherhood (remember the quote from Henry V about Band of Brothers?), war brings only suffering. Policymakers should pay more attention to the troopers and do not treat them like toilet tissues.All in all, I am satisfied with this book. Its deficiencies are covered by its stellar close-range reporting. Funny, smart, engaging, and somewhat enlightening. In conclusion, allow me to let loose a stream of Marine Corps-grade epithet: THIS *expletive* BOOK IS THE *expletive* BEST *expletive* COMBAT *expletive* MEMOIR I’VE EVER *expletive* READ! PS: fill in the expletive blank by yourself. And don’t forget to watch the miniseries. It is superb.
Ten things I learned from Generation Kill that I really should have known already: 10.) A shamal is a wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf that can cause horrible dust storms. The resulting weather can make things like driving, sleeping in the open, and not getting putrid, red eye infections difficult. 9.) Sabka is a geological phenomenon particular to the Middle East which appears to be plain desert, with a crust of sand about an inch thick, but beneath that crust is quicksand made of tar. This can make things like driving Humvees and not getting ambushed harder to accomplish.8.) Recon Marines are the hard core--like Special Forces in the Army, or SEALs for the Navy. A Recon Marine can hold his breath for four minutes. He can run ten miles in 150lbs of gear. A Recon Marine doesn't do push ups, he pushes the earth down. He is swift, silent and deadly. Usually he operates in small autonomous groups away from senior officers. He is not, however, generally trained to drive a Humvee around playing cowboy with up to seventy other vehicles. He probably doesn't even have a military operators license for a Humvee. 7.) Light Armored Reconnaissance battalions are trained for just that type of mission. There were LAR battalions available at the time of the Iraqi invasion. 6.) Guess who was tasked with driving a caravan of Humvees into ambush after ambush as a distraction from the main invasion force. Hint: Mattis' radio call sign is "Chaos" because he's wily and unpredictable.5.) Any number of the tragic civilian deaths that occurred during the invasion were probably in line with the ever shifting, rarely clear Rules of Engagement. 4.) Rumsfeld's idea of Maneuver Warfare--using speed and agility instead of overwhelming force--was completely contrary to the established military wisdom. 3.) Maneuver Warfare is a brilliant way to destroy a country as long as you don't care what happens next. 2.) The lack of supplies for troops wasn't just a matter of not having batteries for NVGs, no body armor, or the cammo for a MOPP suit being forest instead of desert. A company of reservists were actually forced to work for food--taking escort duty for other convoys in exchange for MREs and other basic supplies--in the middle of the invasion. 1.) All war is a crime, but that doesn't make every warrior a criminal.And that's just the stuff I learned that I really, really should have known already. Even if you did pay more attention than I do to the war abroad and the invasion of Iraq, you should still read this book. It is a well told story, well detailed, human, and interesting.
What do You think about Generation Kill (2005)?
I am still digesting this book and will for awhile, I suspect. The author was an embedded reporter in First Recon Marine battalion in the early days of the Iraq war. First Recon Marines do just that---go in first, before anybody else, and open up the way. The descriptions are brutal, graphic and sometimes unbearable. As a woman and a mother, I was devastated at the sights and sounds and experiences of these young men. Iraq is hell for everyone--soldiers and Iraqi citizens alike. For the American soldiers, aside from the obvious danger of being killed by enemy soldiers, there is the added problem of civilians inextricably mixed with Iraqi Army soldiers in villages and cities. Imagine what kind of permanent psychological scars occur in a 19-year-old American soldier when he follows orders and discovers that he just called in a bombing run on a building bristling with Iraqi soldiers--and later in the carnage he discovers that they deliberately chose to hide in an orphanage. For me, this book was disturbing, depressing and frightening--and all too real, particularly when I reflect that when the US eventually leaves, the overwhelming corruption in Iraq may quickly erase any signs that we were ever there.
—Kathy
I saw the HBO miniseries first, and then rushed out to find the book as soon as I could. The book gives a broader view of events than the series, as the writer goes out for extra interviews/research/reporting to get more information. He explains a lot of the 'whys?' I ended up with while watching the story play out on tv. The book turns out as readable as the series is watchable, coming across as a not-so family friendly road trip set in the backdrop of a war.I loved this book. So. Much. The soldiers are so crude, unhesitating and all too willing to fling the foulest, rudest, nastiest insults at each other - and yet it's still clear that, even if they were all the sorts of people who'd hate each other if they were civilians, as marines they loved and would die for each other at the drop of a hat. It felt strangely inspiring, reading their experiences, even as the socially polite part of my brain winced.It helped, also, that because the reporter was placed in the first car, we were able to get a focal point to constantly return to in a sea of unfamiliar names and places. The book is peppered with explanations for all the unfamiliar technical terms and lingo, but they're presented in such a manner that they didn't feel dumbed down. I didn't notice much of a leftist or conservative slant. I felt like the writer was doing his best to simply write what he saw and felt as it happened - the good, the bad, the hilarious. He could have left it at that - with the myopic, claustrophobic filter of being trapped in a humvee with no space and no information and terrible communication - but he did go back for additional information to clarify why certain maneuvers had been ordered, even as he makes the point that at the time, no one at their level had been told any of this. The additional information was much appreciated and really put everything into perspective.I liked that he was not above mocking his own weakness in comparison to these other, far more fit and capable men, and included several humiliating episodes where he clearly showed his weak civilian ways.I am told that an earlier addition of Gen Kill doesn't have the afterwards where he talks about where the soldiers are now? If that's the case, I'd recommend making sure you're buying a newer edition.
—Speedtribes
I thought this was a fabulous glimpse into military life in wartime. I was recommended by a Marine friend of mine to watch the HBO series based on the book. The series was only on Netflix as a DVD option, and we only have streaming. Then I realized it was a book and (as is usually the case) I was glad I found out before I watched the series.I had just watched Restrepo (also at the bequest of my friend) and I was afraid the book was going to be a lot like Restrepo. Restrepo is a fabulous wartime documentary based on imbedded footage from a group of Army soldiers in the Korengal Valley. It was a wonderful documentary but very difficult to watch and I cried for 2 days following. So I was a little afraid this book would be very similar, but it wasn't. The book follows a platoon of Recon Marines in the Iraq invasion. It is written by a Rollingstone reporter. It does show some of the dirtier, messier, uglier parts of being in the military. But it also emphasizes the unbreakable bond built between members of a unit. It shows how sometimes the decisions made by officers are not easily carried out by the grunts and how that affects their efforts. I thought it was an insightful, enjoyable, meaningful read.I would not, however, recommend this book to individuals who had family members fighting in the invasion or people who are sensitive to war topics. I had mentally prepared myself in advance for this book. I think if you know you are a sensitive individual, you either need to not read this book, or prepare yourself to be scared, worried, distraught, and any other emotion you could dream up.
—Caity
