Generation kill : Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the new face of American war

Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the 23 Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ended combat since Vietnam. They were a new breed of American warrior unrecognizable to their forebears-soldiers raised on hip hop, Internet porn, Marilyn Manson, video games and The Real World, a band of born-again Christians, dopers, Buddhists, and New Agers who gleaned their precepts from kung fu movies and Oprah Winfrey. Cocky, brave, headstrong, wary, and mostly unprepared for the physical, emotional, and moral horrors ahead, the "First Suicide Battalion" would spearhead the blitzkrieg on Iraq, and fight against the hardest resistance Saddam had to offer. Generation Kill is the funny, frightening, and profane firsthand account of these remarkable men, of the personal toll of victory, and of the randomness, brutality, and camaraderie of a new American war. Another nameless town, another target for First Recon. It's only five in the afternoon, but a sandtorm has plunged everything into a hellish twilight of murky, red dust. On rooftops, in alleyways lurk militiamen with machine guns, AK rifles and the odd rocket-propelled grenade. Artillery bombardment has shattered the town's sewers and rubble is piled up in lagoons of human excrement. It stinks. Welcome to Iraq... Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the 23 Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ed combat since Vietnam. They were a new breed of American warrior unrecognizable to their forebears-soldiers raised on hip hop, Internet porn, Marilyn Manson, video games and The Real World, a band of born-again Christians, dopers, Buddhists, and New Agers who gleaned their precepts from kung fu movies and Oprah Winfrey. Cocky, brave, headstrong, wary, and mostly unprepared for the physical, emotional, and moral horrors ahead, the "First Suicide Battalion" would spearhead the blitzkrieg on Iraq, and fight against the hardest resistance Saddam had to offer. Generation Kill is the funny, frightening, and profane firsthand account of these remarkable men, of the personal toll of victory, and of the randomness, brutality, and camaraderie of a new American war. Read Evan Wright's posts on the Penguin Blog. Read about the Penguin Group (USA) partnership with HBO in support of the Generation Kill Troop Drive here. They were called a generation without heroes. Then they were called upon to be heroes. Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the twenty-three Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ended combat since Vietnam. They were a new pop-culture breed of American warrior unrecognizable to their forebears?soldiers raised on hip hop, video games and The Real World. Cocky, brave, headstrong, wary and mostly unprepared for the physical, emotional and moral horrors ahead, the "First Suicide Battalion" would spearhead the blitzkrieg on Iraq, and fight against the hardest resistance Saddam had to offer. Now a major HBO event, Generation Kill is the national bestselling book based on the National Magazine Award- winning story in Rolling Stone. It is the funny, frightening, and profane firsthand account of these remarkable men, of the personal toll of victory, and of the randomness, brutality and camaraderie of a new American War Based on Evan Wright's National Magazine Award-winning story in Rolling Stone, this is the raw, firsthand account of the 2003 Iraq invasion that inspired the HBO® original mini-series.Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the twenty-three Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ended combat since Vietnam. They were a new pop-culture breed of American warrior unrecognizable to their forebears—soldiers raised on hip hop, video games and The Real World. Cocky, brave, headstrong, wary and mostly unprepared for the physical, emotional and moral horrors ahead, the “First Suicide Battalion” would spearhead the blitzkrieg on Iraq, and fight against the hardest resistance Saddam had to offer.Hailed as “one of the best books to come out of the Iraq war”(Financial Times), Generation Kill is the funny, frightening, and profane firsthand account of these remarkable men, of the personal toll of victory, and of the randomness, brutality and camaraderie of a new American War. They were called a generation without heroes. Then they were called upon to be heroes. Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the twenty-three Marines of the First recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ended combat since Vietnam. They were a new pop-culture breed of American warrior unrecognizable to their forebears - soldiers raised on hip hop, video games and The Real World. Cock, brave, headstrong, wary and mostly unprepared for the physical, emotional and moral horrors ahead, the "First Suicide Battalion" would spearhead the blitzkreig on Iraq, and fight against the hardest resistance Saddam had to offer. Now a major HBO event, Generation Kill is the nation bestselling book based on the National Magazine Award-winning story in Rolling Stone. It is the funny, frightening, and profane firsthand account of these remarkable men, of the personal toll of victory, and of the randomness, brutality and camaraderie of a new American War. AUTHOR’S NOTE......Page 8 PROLOGUE......Page 14 ONE......Page 22 TWO......Page 27 THREE......Page 42 FOUR......Page 48 FIVE......Page 61 SIX......Page 71 SEVEN......Page 84 EIGHT......Page 89 NINE......Page 101 TEN......Page 121 ELEVEN......Page 128 TWELVE......Page 137 THIRTEEN......Page 145 FOURTEEN......Page 158 FIFTEEN......Page 177 SIXTEEN......Page 183 SEVENTEEN......Page 190 EIGHTEEN......Page 194 NINETEEN......Page 205 TWENTY......Page 212 TWENTY-ONE......Page 227 TWENTY-TWO......Page 234 TWENTY-THREE......Page 242 TWENTY-FOUR......Page 250 TWENTY-FIVE......Page 257 TWENTY-SIX......Page 276 TWENTY-SEVEN......Page 284 TWENTY-EIGHT......Page 291 TWENTY-NINE......Page 299 THIRTY......Page 309 THIRTY-ONE......Page 317 THIRTY-TWO......Page 328 THIRTY-THREE......Page 335 THIRTY-FOUR......Page 350 THIRTY-FIVE......Page 357 EPILOGUE......Page 363 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 368 A Narrative On The Lives Of Twenty-three First Recon Marines Who Led The Attack On Iraq Describes Their Training And The Physical And Psychological Challenges They Faced In Skirmishes Leading To The Fall Of Baghdad. Evan Wright. IT'S ANOTHER IRAQI TOWN, nameless to the Marines racing down the main drag in Humvees, blowing it to pieces.