Marines on the way to Baghdad in HBO series

San Diego Union-Tribune:

Camp Pendleton officials rolled out a red carpet last night for the warts-and-glory miniseries “Generation Kill,” a drama about an elite unit from their base that played a pivotal role in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In seven hour-long episodes, actors and a real-life Marine chronicle 40 days in the lives of troops from the Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion as they battle their way to Baghdad.

They are shown fighting insurgents, bonding with each other as a second family, making homophobic and sexist comments, degrading Iraqis, talking about the thrill of killing, joking to lighten the stress of combat and pondering their post-war existence.

They also complain about poor, even incompetent, leadership by their commanders and rail against the Marine Corps' frequent changes to its rules of engagement.

“I think the majority of the guys are very happy with the series,” said former Staff Sgt. Eric Kocher, 28, who helped lead the reconnaissance unit and is a veteran of five combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Just watching it makes you feel like you're there because of the detailed accuracy put into the filming,” said Kocher, who served as a technical adviser for the project.

Cpl. Josh Ray Person, another Marine portrayed in the miniseries, said the Marine Corps might not be happy with the show because it expects perfection from its troops.

“But every family has its problems. I hope audiences will see that the war is being fought by real people,” said Person, 27, who left the military shortly after his 2003 deployment and lives in Kansas City, Mo.

“I may come off in the movie as hating the Marine Corps,” he said, “but I actually love the service to death and I'm grateful for what it has given me – the leadership skills and the call to action.”

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“The one thing that I hope people get out of this film, whether pro-or anti-war, is its impact on the people who fight it. . . . It might be nice if there was any reflection about what the Iraqis have endured for five years,” he said. “War is a lot less precise and pristine than we think it is.”

Commanders usually use reconnaissance Marines to find the enemy and infiltrate its ranks. As a rule, such Marines fail in their mission if they have to fire a shot or otherwise give away their position.

Members of Bravo Company carried out reconnaissance work in Iraq, but they also joined standard combat operations.

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There is much more.

Who knew Marines engaged in crude and rude language in the middle of combat? Actually if you have checked out some of the YouTube video of the combat you can get a pretty good idea. The series starts Sunday. It sounds interesting.