Generation Kill

[Tactical Wargamer]

Just watched the full series WOW HBO did a great job. Had me wondering any Generation Kill scenarios out there?

Thanks

[Piecekeeper]

There is....doesn't remember which though.

[Tactical Wargamer]

OK thanks I will search away.

[Mikkey]

regarding Generation Kill there are only sound mod, UI mod and repainted Humvee on GreenAsJade's page

[handihoc]

Someone mentioned the GK sound mod before, but I can't find it. Can you give name and location?

(and it sure is a good series, right enough. I'm watching it for the third time).

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Uhm... have you tried searching for Generation Kill at the link kindly provided by mikkey?

I have it's radio chatter to replace the loading music etc. Much less annoying, even though by now I can damn near recite the featured radio traffic.

[Mikkey]

Someone mentioned the GK sound mod before, but I can't find it. Can you give name and location?

(and it sure is a good series, right enough. I'm watching it for the third time).

try this links:

Genaration Kill Sound Mod

Genaration Kill Radio Background Sound Mod

Generation Kill splash screens, Humvee and music

[handihoc]

Ah, the link! Somehow failed to spot that. Downloading now. Thanks.

[cabal23]

Interestingly enough when I came on and said the same thing about watching that, a member came on and told me the book and show are filled with falsehoods. I really enjoyed the show and it got me to read both the book and since then many other accounts of the Iraq war like, Not a Good Day to Die, Shooter, We Were One , and Highway to Hell. Great retelling of the actual events. No one will really know except the men there, so no need debating it. Non-fiction or fiction, or maybe a bit of both, it still is a great story.

[Imperial Grunt]

Interestingly enough when I came on and said the same thing about watching that, a member came on and told me the book and show are filled with falsehoods. I really enjoyed the show and it got me to read both the book and since then many other accounts of the Iraq war like, Not a Good Day to Die, Shooter, We Were One , and Highway to Hell. Great retelling of the actual events. No one will really know except the men there, so no need debating it. Non-fiction or fiction, or maybe a bit of both, it still is a great story.

From a veteran that served with 1st Marines for the push and again in 04, I would just add that while GK is entertaining, but the reader should keep in mind that the book was written by a journalist who writes for Rolling Stone magazine and he choose to use a disgruntled recon Marine as his main source/character. There is a great post called "a rebuttal to Generation Kill" which was posted awhile back. Its author was the recon battalion operations chief, who was mad to look like a clown in the book.

I highly recommend the book "No true Glory" by Bing West. He also wrote "The March Up", and other books, but No True Glory is great. It is right up there with his Vietnam classic, "The Village".

HBO did do a great job with the look, sounds, and overall portrayal of Marines at war from what I have seen (just a little of it).

[noxnoctum]

There is a great post called "a rebuttal to Generation Kill" which was posted awhile back. Its author was the recon battalion operations chief, who was mad to look like a clown in the book.

Are you referring to Captain America or the guy who goes on about the "groomin standard"?

[Apocalypse 31]

I thought the series was a little off, in several aspects.

I understand the general griping among Soldiers (its natural) but I think the author went a bit too far with it.

No True Glory is a great read.

[Cpl Steiner]

As a Brit, all I can say is I hope the Marines aren't really like they are portrayed in GK, but I suspect to a large extent they are. I have seen documentaries of British forces in action and if they behaved like those Marines in the series they would be kicked out. The Marines in the series come across as really unprofessional, singing and joking around when they should be serious, focused, watching for enemies etc. The indiscriminate killing of civilians in several episodes is also worrying, if that's what really goes on.

I read a book called "3 Para" about the British Paratroop Regiment in Afghanistan, and in several chapters the Paras meet up with US convoys and patrols of various types. The Paras were similarly unimpressed with their behaviour!

Sorry to sound like a "Brits bashing Americans" rant but from what I have seen so far of GK I suspect it won't go down too well in the UK and will just reinforce long held stereotypes of how Americans are "trigger happy cowboys".

[Apocal]

snip

Well, if it's gonna be that kinda thread...

Nice job in Basra.

[phil stanbridge]

I actually really enjoyed GK. I didn't think it portrayed the US soldiers as unprofessional in the most part, it just tried to reflect their personal opinions and how they handled them in a tricky situation. It certainly wasn't something I came away thinking anyway. I think it did a good job of portraying boredom and things like that. There is always going to be that love-hate relationship isn't there, it's historical.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

I think Generation Kill portrayed the Marines as human. All foibles, failings and foolishness included.

[GSX]

Well, if it's gonna be that kinda thread...

Nice job in Basra.

Well if its going to be this kind of thread!

Nice job the US made of getting us all into Iraq and effing up the whole process in the 1st place! Putting over a million Iraqis out of work at a stroke and turning a whole country that might have been initially receptive to you against you.

Ive worked a lot of my life with many excellent US personnel, Marines included but your enlisted 'Gene Pool' can really do with some work and the vast majority of people Ive met arent in the military for the same reasons I am.

Thats said, Generation Kill does a good job of portraying the humour in between action that exists in a whole lot of militaries. I can tell you tales of the Brit military that go way beyond anything youve ever seen in GK.

[phil stanbridge]

I can tell you tales of the Brit military that go way beyond anything youve ever seen in GK.

Now that would make good television. Digressing slightly I wish there were more British-orientated war movies/series out there.

[handihoc]

There was a very good one called Occupation on the BBC earlier this year. Dealt with Brit soldiers in Iraq, then dealing with life back home, then back in Iraq as 'private security contractors'.

[Apocal]

Well if its going to be this kind of thread!

Nice job the US made of getting us all into Iraq and effing up the whole process in the 1st place! Putting over a million Iraqis out of work at a stroke and turning a whole country that might have been initially receptive to you against you.

Blaming the military for doing a poor job of civil reconstruction is like blaming your carpenter for doing a crap job wiring your electrical system.

At any rate, I don't see how that compares to the UK's military failures in Basra. Perhaps you can enlighten me. OTOH, just the fact that four words provoked a paragrap from you is rather telling all it's own.

Would I be correct in saying it wasn't exactly your finest hour?

[SSG Grymm]

I thought GK did a great job of showing the way soldiers/marines interact between each other when in the base camp, the first episode. I was thrilled that someone had really captured the way soldiers talk to each other in the motorpool and or ready line. But after that it went down hill really fast.

I was not a Marine, nor part of that unit, but I can tell you that most of the actions I saw in GK would have resulted in court-martials, without a doubt. No one in any command I ever served in was so eager to get into combat that they acted like they did in this show. If the stories are true the group of Marines that were part of the script writing needed to be court-martialed for not reporting some of the actions in the show, if they were true.

All in all my opinion of marines took a step backwards, either they made crap up to show the Corps in a bad light or they let criminal actions go without doing something about it, either way they were wrong.

Edit Note: I really like these forums and would hate to see them become what other ones are. I think this is best a topic left alone.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Blaming the military for doing a poor job of civil reconstruction is like blaming your carpenter for doing a crap job wiring your electrical system.

At any rate, I don't see how that compares to the UK's military failures in Basra. Perhaps you can enlighten me. OTOH, just the fact that four words provoked a paragrap from you is rather telling all it's own.

Would I be correct in saying it wasn't exactly your finest hour?

Well Apocal, you weren't exactly doing yourself credit either, flying off the handle at Cpl Steiner quite unfairly, and unlike him taking a direct jingoist swipe. Read his post again. It isn't as bad as you think it is.

But since, chiefly thanks to you, it is that kind of thread:

The Dutch contingent in As-Samawah (Iraq) are reported to have been very *uhm* annoyed by the Americans whom they regarded as reckless idiots whom had little care but for their own safety. Several times American truck convoys killed pedestrians by their high speed tactics in a built up area. The Dutch (who never felt they needed to take such actions) were left to clean up the mess, the US convoys never bothering to stop.

They seem to be getting along in Afghanistan, though.

[Sergei]

Now that would make good television. Digressing slightly I wish there were more British-orientated war movies/series out there.

Well, there's English Patient. Maybe they could make a sequel in modern setting?

[c3k]

SSG Grymm,

I remember a post, quite a while back, by a Marine Sergeant who was actually IN the unit portrayed in "Generation Kill". He refuted many of the scenes and actions shown in the movie.

His post, somewhat detailed, aligns with your view that if "Generation Kill" accurately described real events there would be wholesale courts martials, investigations, and a need to remedy the lack of professionalism in that unit and the Marine Corps.

It's Hollywood fiction dressed up against a background of true events. Propaganda at its finest.

Regards,

Ken

[SSG Grymm]

SSG Grymm,

I remember a post, quite a while back, by a Marine Sergeant who was actually IN the unit portrayed in "Generation Kill". He refuted many of the scenes and actions shown in the movie.

His post, somewhat detailed, aligns with your view that if "Generation Kill" accurately described real events there would be wholesale courts martials, investigations, and a need to remedy the lack of professionalism in that unit and the Marine Corps.

It's Hollywood fiction dressed up against a background of true events. Propaganda at its finest.

Regards,

Ken

I understand all movies are going to have to be slightly different than the actual events. Blackhawk Down is a good movie that didn't take away too much from the actual events to make a movie more exciting for 2 hours'ish. Its major change was making things that happened to multiple people happen to a single person.

I watched the DVD version of GK. One of the special features was a discussion with the writer and 5 of the marines. None of the marines disputed the show. Not one of them stepped up and said that anything was mis-represented. If that had been me, I would have been screaming it was wrong and distorted. Thats why I lost respect for them, either they are lying about it happening and making themselves and other vets look like crap, or it really happened and nothing was done about it, which is actually worse, in my opinion.

I am trying to not get sucked into this kind of discussion, but things like this upset me quite a bit, since I spent the better part of my adult life wearing a uniform. The scenerio/campaign game wise would be fun to play.