I spent six years in the Marine Corps from 1965 to 1971, in a recon battalion. Generation Kill reminded me that Marines will be Marines, in language and in behavior, no matter what generation and no matter what war.
There was plenty of racism in the Corps during the Vietnam War. I was stationed at Camp Pendleton in 1970 and the racism was always present and there was constant hostility. When we would walk to the outdoor theater at night, we would go in groups because of the robberies and assaults that were occurring on base.
As Marines then, we had no regard whatsoever either for the Johnson or the Nixon politicians who generally mucked everything up. We certainly did not believe that we were protecting democracy in Vietnam, although when I first joined in 1965 we were sure we were going to attack the commies. We were told in ITR by our troop trainers (just back from Nam) that the VC couldn’t shoot. But then the NVA joined into the conflict and things got really messy.
I have been very impressed with authenticity of Generation Kill. I have learned some things in reading the comments. I did not know that Force Recon units have been added to Recon Battalions. I was not in Force Recon and we recon guys were very impressed with Force Recon. The closest we came to having a Force Recon platoon in the company which I served in was a sniper platoon.
I was an 0311 MOS who served as the radio operator for my company commander (a captain). We had some great officers and we had some pretty bad ones. I do recall that when we weren’t snooping and pooping in four man teams and, instead, were out in battalion force, we were frequently lost—thanks to incompetency on the part of the officers above the captain pay grade.
Personally, I think Iraq has been a disaster in many ways for our country. I believe the Bush Administration (I voted for George W. Bush and I thought he was a very good governor of my state) has been a monumental failure.
