I had a look at the thread map because I know we've talked about Generation Kill before but I couldn't find which thread the discusion was in. Kato, if you know where it was please move this post to the right thread, if it isn't too much trouble. (edit kato : done
)
I have obtained the first four episodes of Generation Kill and I'm currently up to half way through episiode 3. I'm loving the series, seems quite realistic. I have a couple of questions for those of you in the know.
Firstly, how accurate are the events portrayed in the series? Its based on a book of the same name by Nate Fick, right? The reason I ask is that the decisions and behaviour of some of the officers in the USMC unit depicted in the series just blows my mind. Captain America roaming around with a looted AK, collecting souvenirs off of dead Iraqis and occasionally cutting loose with said looted AK? Captain Hitman appearing to be borderline incompetant, seeming not to know what "danger close" means and even getting the grid reference wrong when calling in a fire mision, and also failing in his land navigation despite having been told the correct route to take by Lt Fick? Occasional artillery strikes and shoot ups against what appeared to be civilian targets (and in one case in episode 3 what seemed to me on the face of it to be a war crime)?
I have heaps of respect for the USMC, I've always thought of them as aggressive but disciplined, and highly effective considering how poorly resourced they are compared to the US Army. But Generation Kill seems to suggest that the chain of command is so rigid that captains can act like complete tools and no one below them in rank can call them out on it. If an Lt tried to let someone higher up the chain of command know that things were being done in ways which were plainly not right (or perhaps even criminal) would that be the end of that LT's career?
Final question. Which one is Law in the series?
Edit: I realise now that the book wasn't written by Nate Fick, but he wrote his own book about the same subject matter didn't he? I think I want to read them both. Looks like I need to take a better look around on the net for titles and where I can buy them.