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

EDITORIAL REVIEW: In the tradition of *Black Hawk Down* and *Jarhead* comes a searing portrait of young men fighting a modern-day war. A powerhouse work of nonfiction, *Generation Kill* expands on Evan Wright's acclaimed three-part series that appeared in *Rolling Stone* during the summer of 2003. His narrative follows the twenty-three marines of First Recon who spearheaded the blitzkrieg on Iraq. This elite unit, nicknamed "First Suicide Battalion," searched out enemy fighters by racing ahead of American battle forces and literally driving into suspected ambush points. Evan Wright lived on the front lines with this platoon from the opening hours of combat, to the fall of Baghdad, through the start of the guerrilla war. He was welcomed into their ranks, and from this bird's-eye perspective he tells the unsettling story of young men trained by their country to be ruthless killers. He chronicles the triumphs and horrors-physical, moral, emotional, and spiritual-that these marines endured while achieving victory in a war many questioned before it began. Wright's book is a timely account of war; even more important, it is a timeless description of the human drama taking place on today's battlefields. Written with brutal honesty, raw intensity, and startling intimacy, Generation Kill is destined to become a classic and take its place in the canon of the most captivating and authentic works of war literature. "Generation Kill follows the twenty-three Marines of First Recon, in a platoon that spearheaded the blitzkrieg on Iraq. This elite unit, nicknamed "First Suicide Battalion," took the fight directly to the enemy by racing ahead of American battle forces, literally driving into suspected ambush points from the opening days of the invasion until after the fall of Baghdad. Author Evan Wright was embedded for two months with this group and saw frequent action, never leaving the side of the battle-hardened team. In one thirty-day stretch they participated in violent engagement nearly every day. He was welcomed into their ranks - even offered a weapon. From this bird's-eye perspective Wright tells the unsettling story of young men trained by their country to become ruthless killers. He chronicles all the triumph and horror - physical, moral, emotional and spiritual - that these Marines endured." "Like such works as Michael Herr's Dispatches and Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers, Wright's book is a portrait of a generation. There is Sergeant Colbert, the icy professional who somehow manages to keep this ragged fraternity together; Corporal Trombley, the shy one who develops a taste for killing; Lieutenant Fick, the Ivy League graduate who would challenge his commander but never break faith with his men; and Captain America, the swaggering, out-of-control commander who is later investigated for war crimes."--BOOK JACKET. 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. A narrative on the lives of twenty-three First Recon marines who led the blitzkrieg on Iraq describes their training, their dangerous entry into suspected ambush points, and the physical and psychological challenges they faced in skirmishes leading to the fall of Baghdad. 125,000 first printing. 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 MAJOR GENERAL JAMES MATTIS calls the men in First Reconnaissance Battalion "cocky, obnoxious bastards."