Your opinion of "Generation Kill"?

[Sapper740]

I recently finished watching the HBO mini-series "Generation Kill" that was recommended to me by a former-Marine buddy and I've got a question for any Devil Dogs that were part of OIF: was that an accurate depiction of your experience in the war? Gunnies that cared more about the length of your mustache than whether you had batteries for your NVGs? Idiots like "Captain America" who was simultaneously a coward and an ultra-aggressive psycho-freak? CO's who cared more about sucking up to the brass than their men's welfare or safety? O.K., we all know the answer to my last question but what about the first two? I'm interested if that was your experience too and P.S., thank you for your service.

 

[TXDARKHORSE361]

Just like all military related fiction based on truth if you remember it's just entertainment then it is actually a pretty good watch. That being said I never deployed in support of OIF but I did deploy in support of OEF and spent 5 years active duty Marine Corps and yes there are definitely "motards" a plenty (btw it was the SgtMaj that was the mustache stickler in the series). When we were in Afghanistan they had some kind of fetish for almost ruining a Marine's career because he was wearing white socks, in garrison I can agree with the "good order and discipline" excuse but not when we were living without running water and clean socks are the difference between good hygiene and issues that can take a man out of patrolling for awhile when he develops 1 of the many foot problems that will occur from wearing dirty/wet socks for long periods of time. The well intention'd but uniformed families and supporters would always include socks in care packages but they were usually white because they didn't know any better, flip the logic and if you're wearing pt shoes then only white socks were authorized

I did have a pretty gnarly mustache that was definitely pushing regs and got talked to about it a couple of times, side note dry shaving sucks, that is all.

 

[F350-6]

Never seen the show, too old to be OIF, but from reading your post, there are a few basic truths out there.

The idiocy of the higher ups and how they treat their men is directly proportional to how often they are being shot at. The more rounds you have incoming, the less you worry about trivial stuff. Now if the higher up is a REMF, then all bets are off because that's what they're there for.

Can't comment on what the guy from 3/5 said as it was after my time too. I went to Afghanistan once as part of a group to advise against the Russian advisers. I don't think anyone in my unit had any white socks at all that were brought with us. I guess time's change.

 

[Acera]

I watched it when it came out, I watched it again earlier this year. I found it to be the type of show that HBO excels at, they can do things that mainstream networks can't.

FYI, have you checked out some of the folks portrayed in that film?

Here is one that has continued to do good...........
Nathaniel Fick