Generation Kill

Generation Kill is a non-fiction book published in 2004 by the American author and journalist Evan Wright. Originally published as a three-part article in Rolling Stone, the book tells of Wright's experiences as a reporter covering the U.S.'s 2003 invasion of Iraq while embedded with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the U.S. Marine Corps. For the first of the three-part series in Rolling Stone, Wright was awarded the National Magazine Award for Excellence in Reporting.

The most prominently-featured marines in the book are the following Bravo Company soldiers: Sergeant Brad Colbert, Lance Corporal Harold James Trombley, Sergeant Rudy "Fruity" Reyes, First Lieutenant Nathaniel Fick, Sergeant Antonio Espera, and Corporal Josh Ray Person. The author's assignment lasted two months, during which he rode in the backseat of the battalion's lead vehicle, a lightly-armored Humvee driven by Sergeant Colbert. The author writes that by riding upfront in the lead vehicle every day and braving the dangers of war, the initially-suspicious soldiers slowly dropped their guard and came to trust him to tell their stories.

The earliest parts of the book involve fairly unaffected descriptions of the field of combat as well as the day-to-day lives of the soldiers. These passages provide important context for later on when Wright begins to enter the heads of the soldiers. On the surface, the soldiers behave with a sense of crude camaraderie, casually and affectionately referring to one another as "motherf*ckers." Moreover, Wright's early descriptions of the soldiers are fairly generalized. He describes them as “raised by absentee single, working parents. Many are on more intimate terms with video games, reality TV shows and Internet porn than they are with their own parents.” Wright also observes the political aspect--or lack thereof--of the soldiers' personalities and perspectives. For Wright, attitudes to the war on his homefront are deeply political, and held with varying degrees of nuance. But the soldiers, despite being on the real frontlines of a deeply political war, are not terribly attuned to the partisan arguments for and against the invasion of Iraq. “For some," writes Wright, "slain rapper Tupac is an American patriot whose writings are better known than the speeches of Abraham Lincoln.”



As Wright experiences more combat, he begins to grasp something about the psychology of these soldiers, particularly in relation to soldiers from other generations or other wars. Wright quotes a 25-year-old lieutenant who describes his soldiers by saying, ”Did you see what they did to that town? They fucking destroyed it. These guys have no problem with killing.” The author includes other quotations that suggest these soldiers are "killing machines" compared to the young men who fought in World War II. This idea of being a "killing machine," the author says, is most accurately encapsulated by a favorite phrase of the soldiers: "Get some." Highlighting the implicit sexual aspect of the phrase, Wright says it is emblematic of “the excitement, the fear, the feelings of power and the erotic-tinged thrill” the soldiers feel when ending the life of an enemy combatant. One of the most chilling passages of the book involves a "joke" that is sometimes told around the battalion:

“What is the first thing you feel when you shoot a civilian?"

"The recoil of your rifle.”



But despite his vivid depiction of the rather psychopathic element of fighting in the Iraq War, Wright does not judge his subjects. For example, Sergeant Brad Colbert is nicknamed "The Iceman" by his comrades for his ability to "stay frosty" and relaxed in the midst of horrifying acts of war. But that relaxed demeanor, far from being evidence of psychopathy, is in fact evidence of his supreme capabilities and competency as a leader--without which, he would jeopardize the survival of his own men. It is in these contradictions that Wright perhaps best encapsulates the sort of contradictions inherent in modern warfare.

Finally, Wright too begins to understand firsthand the strange allures of war. Prior to taking the assignment, the author quit drinking. After feeling the adrenaline rush that comes with getting shot at for the first time, Wright says that it felt "almost nice," and that the intensity of trying to survive in a war zone is akin to the "emotional chaos of being a heavy drinker."

Although Wright goes into the assignment hoping to unearth some broad thesis about America's geopolitical role in the Iraq War conflict, he comes out of it with a unique and indispensable perspective on the psychology of the modern soldier.