Generation Kill

For the TV miniseries, see Generation Kill (TV series).

Generation Kill

Front Cover
Author	Evan Wright
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Military History, History
Publisher	Putnam Adult
Publication date	June 17, 2004
Media type	Hardcover
Pages	368
ISBN	978-0-39-915193-4
OCLC	54826116
Dewey Decimal	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 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.

The assignment

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 him and treated him as one of their own. He gained their respect through his refusal to quit in the face of combat. Often riding in the lead vehicle, a lightly armored Humvee, Wright was in real danger for much of the time, and at one point was ordered to openly brandish a weapon (though he did not fire it).

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, Lance Corporal Harold James Trombley, Sergeant Rudy "Fruity" Reyes, First Lieutenant Nathaniel Fick, Sergeant Antonio Espera and Corporal Josh Ray Person.

Consequences for the Marines

Sergeant Espera was forced to leave the battalion and SSgt. Eric Kocher was disciplined for his actions in retrieving a fellow Marine who was wounded after stepping on a landmine.

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.

Nathaniel 'Nate' Fick went on to write his own book, One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer (2005).

Controversies

Major 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.

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 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 in to consideration interviews from a wide variety of Marines in the battalion, including officers, and could not advance the perspective of just one person.

Awards

The book won a PEN USA Award, the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

It also won the Gen. Wallace Greene Award from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.

TV mini-series

Main article: Generation Kill (TV series)

The cable television channel HBO has produced a mini-series based on the book. Filmed in South Africa, 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 and ending with the Marines watching a compilation video made by two members of their team showing everything they had witnessed during their tour, set to the song The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash. The DVD release consists of three discs, with the first two discs containing three episodes and the third disc containing Episode 7 along with 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. Rudy Reyes plays himself in the miniseries adaptation, driving the third Humvee.