There are certain movies every Marine has seen. We can slip “Full Metal Jacket” quotes into any conversation and avoid admitting to anything by shouting, “You can’t handle the truth!” But for Marines of a certain age, a 2008 miniseries tops them all.
“Generation Kill” took audiences beyond the Silent Drill Platoon recruiting commercials and massaged media releases to see and hear what was really going on in the early days of the war in Iraq. Five years after the 2003 invasion, the words of Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright came to life on HBO.
Wright’s articles and book inspired the seven-part miniseries. It, in turn, drove countless would-be Marines to the recruiting office to crank out pull-ups and earn their seat in a Marine Corps Humvee. But aside from the series’ portrayal of Operation Iraqi Freedom, “Generation Kill” is a quintessential road-trip series full of unforgettable characters, knee-slapping jokes and -- of course -- some great vehicles.
Microwave some popcorn for this one, folks. Here’s a look at all the rides from one of the greatest stories to come out of the Global War on Terrorism.
Humvees for Everyone
There’s hardly a minute of screen time that passes in “Generation Kill” without a Humvee sharing the spotlight. The vehicle isn’t just a mode of transportation in the series; it’s part of the team. To the Marines of the 1st Recon Battalion, it was a fighting position, a home away from home and a music venue. For Cpl. Josh Ray Person (played by James Ransone), it was a platform to voice unfiltered hot takes on, well, everything.
These days, it’s easy to view the Humvee the same way we view a retired professional athlete: The shine has worn off, and they’re shadows of their former selves. There was a time when both were world beaters, though. When we look back on the rise and fall of the Humvee, the 2003 push to Baghdad was arguably its greatest moment. That was when open tops, pintle-mounted M2s and ripping across the desert at top speed reigned supreme.
Old-School Cool M35
If you watch closely, you can spot the occasional M35 cargo truck in “Generation Kill.” It’s not one of the primary vehicles in the series, but its inclusion pays homage to the logistics Marines who made the 2003 blitz possible.
The initial push into Iraq took place years before the Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement, or MTVR, entered production in 2005. Prior to the seven-ton’s arrival, cargo and service members moved around the battlespace in older vehicles like the five-ton M939 and M809. Before that, it was all about the M35 “deuce-and-a-half.”
The 2.5-ton M35 (hence the nickname) entered service in 1950. Popular Mechanics reported at the time that the groundbreaking truck could drive underwater, haul 10,000 pounds at 60 mph and drive 340 miles without refueling.
The Marine Corps loves to hang onto old gear, so it wouldn’t have been unusual to see an old M35 still kicking around in 2003 (let’s be real, I wouldn’t be shocked to see one today).
Want to buy an M35 of your own? Auto auction house Classic.com has seen examples sell for as little as $8,000 recently.
Land-Locked Amphibious Assault Vehicle
In Episode 2 of “Generation Kill,” we get a peek at a destroyed Amphibious Assault Vehicle on the highway. It’s a stationary prop that you could easily overlook, but it’s deceptively significant.
You might be wondering why there’s an amphibious vehicle so far from the ocean. That’s fair; deserts are odd places for water landings.
But the Marine Corps used the AAV quite a bit in Iraq -- not because it was the best vehicle for the job, but because it was available. It was arguably better than the aluminum-skinned Humvees of the era, and that was enough to put it in harm’s way.
Then again, it’s not like the AAV was that much better. After all, the Marine Corps acquired the vehicle to battle the waves, not explosives, and its vehicle’s armor had to be thin to float. It could stop 7.62x39mm rounds and light shrapnel, but that’s about it.
As the Tampa Bay Times reported after a roadside bombing killed 14 Marine reservists in 2005, “Even Doug Coffey, a senior official at BAE Systems, the London international defense and aerospace company that manufactured the vehicle in the early 1970s, called the AAV ‘one of the more vulnerable vehicles on the battlefield.’"
Decades later, even the AAV’s buoyancy is being called into question. The Marine Corps Times reported in 2021 that AAVs would no longer take part in regularly scheduled deployments. The decision followed the deaths of eight Marines and one sailor off the coast of California in 2020.
Pretend LAV-25
“Generation Kill” follows a group of reconnaissance Marines, so it makes sense that Light Armored Reconnaissance would make an appearance. There are at least two points in the series (in Episodes 2 and 5) when we get a glimpse of LAR’s chariot.
The vehicle in question is the LAV-25 light armored vehicle. It’s a nimble armored vehicle that can deploy a 25mm chain gun, an M240 medium machine gun, smoke grenades and six Marines (in addition to the crew of three). It can break 60 mph and become amphibious with a few minutes of preparation.
In passing, that seems to be what’s on the screen -- but it’s not. The nose angle is too blunt, and there’s a solid axle’s differential visible underneath the vehicle. The LAV has a slick underside with independent suspension, so it looks as if HBO put a pickup truck in a costume for these shots. I can forgive them for that, though: I imagine real LAV-25s had better things to do in 2008 than star in an HBO miniseries.
M1A1 Abrams
Yes, there’s even an M1A1 tank in “Generation Kill,” if only for a second.
Given the Iraqi army’s affinity for tanks, it seemed as though the American invasion would result in one of history’s epic tank battles. That never materialized, and Iraqi tanks were basically a nonfactor. Some were neutralized by American air power, some were defeated in combat, and many crews presumably got the hell out of town before they ended up making a sequel to the Gulf War’s highway of death.
That isn’t to say that U.S. tank crews didn’t suffer casualties of their own. While it’s difficult to destroy an Abrams with improvised explosives, it’s not impossible. This scene is a reminder that nobody is safe in war.
‘Generation Kill’ Defines an Era
“Generation Kill” is as much a road-trip story as it is a war story. It’s a coming-of-age tale, too. Through seven episodes, viewers get to watch inexperienced young men travel across a foreign land, forge unlikely friendships with an embedded journalist and become hardened combat vets in the process.
I’ll admit that watching it isn’t quite as fun now that we know the Global War on Terrorism went on for another 20 years. There’s another layer of bitterness to it. The presence of iron sights and unarmored Humvees reminds us that the fight lasted long enough to span generations of U.S. service members and military technology.
Some things never change, though. The vehicles, weapons and equipment might look different now than they did in 2003, but the fighting will always be done by young men with rifles. That, and questionable singing ability.
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