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Generation Kill - Fun Facts

The real-life Sergeant Major John Joseph Sixta was sentenced to 30 years in prison to life for abusing his two stepdaughters in California when they were children. He was convicted in Arizona for abusing another child and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Several Marines from 1st Recon are actors in this series. Eric Kocher does not portray himself in the series but as Gunnery Sergeant Rich Barrett. Rudy Reyes “Fruity Rudy,” portrays himself in the TV series.
According to Task and Purpose, the actors for the film had to clean the weapons that were used in the filming.
Eric Kocher and Jeffrey Carisalez served as technical advisors for the miniseries.
Like many military films, the actors attended a mini boot camp, where they trained with Marines on tactics, PT, weapons, and how to drive their humvees.
According to Task and Purpose, the costume design team was concerned that the added weight from the ceramic bulletproof SAPI plates might be too much for the actors. In the words of Susan Howie, the show’s assistant costume designer: “If we gave them the real thing, they would have actually died. It would just be far too hot. The actors never would never have managed even an hour in the real suit.”
It took over five months to film this miniseries, and the actors had to wear their uniforms every day on set.
It seems that every unit has a Capt Dave ‘Capt America’ McGraw, I have a really good story about how one in my unit, just up and quit during swim quals and because he did, I didn’t get my WSQ status.
The scene when the two engineers are clearing a mind field and get blown up, as they are taking the two to an aid station, and the Captain shouts out “I know this short cut”, and that shortcut instantly put the humvee and the two engineers into a deep body of water. That seems to be the norm, many of the officers seem to be clueless and make very stupid choices. I have been around some awesome officers as well, but generally, those that will not listen to Marines that are E-7 and above, tend to be shitty leaders. It is a chip on their shoulder that gets them into trouble. Just because they are college-educated doesn’t mean that they have a clue.
Like I said, I have worked with some really good officers too, but those are the ones that tend to take that chip off their shoulder and join the rest of the Marines in the suck. I once was involved in a situation, where 1-day before the incident, I was told by the Captain, that I was one of the best Marines he had worked with, then my buddy made a questionable choice, he called me to come help get him out of hot water. So I had nothing to do with the incident, but when the Captain got involved, I was told that I’m nothing but a fuck-up in his eyes. He never once asked me my side of the story. I never fought it because he never pushed the incident, but it just demonstrated how much of a POS he was. It would be different if I was a fuck up, but I wasn’t, I was a good Marine. Regardless, you don’t tell your Marines that they are a fuck-up.
At the end of the final credits, two things are spoken, both are written by Anonymous Marines.

The selfless sacrifice of day-to-day military personnel, especially combat veterans, is under-appreciated. I mean, you got the American society want to run fast as they can to the counter shop, to the motherfucking newsstands and grab fucking House Weekly and fucking People Magazine just to see what fucking Jake Gyllenhaal did on Thursday afternoon. You know what I did Thursday afternoon? I put one of my motherfucking Marines on a plane. I put that motherfucker on a bird to fucking nowhere. I picked his lifeless ass-up body, put him on a stretcher and put him off. Why don’t they put that—why don’t that be in a motherfucking magazine? Or how about let’s put a day in the life of fucking any average Marine out here, going through the street of Ramadi? Their biggest concern is that, you know, they couldn’t buy a mocha latte at fucking Starbucks because it was under construction. Our biggest motherfucking concern is getting blown up on fucking 295 and Michigan. But we’re going to go home, and they’ll wave their little flag and say, “Welcome home. Thanks for preserving our right to go on not giving a fuck”.

Other Marine. There it is, folks. We’re sitting here fighting for your freedoms. You got the right to say what you want. We got the right to punch you in your fucking mouth if we disagree.

The other piece that is read is:

“Ten November 1775. I was born in a bomb crater. My mother was an M16 and my father was the devil. Each moment that I live is an additional threat upon your life. I eat concertina, piss napalm and I can shoot a round through a flea’s ass at three-hundred meters. I travel the globe festering on anti-Americans everywhere I go for the love of mom, Chevrolet, baseball, and apple pie. I’m a grunt. I’m the dirty, nasty, stinky, sweaty, filthy, beautiful little son of a bitch that’s kept the wolf away from the door for over two-hundred and twenty-five years. I’m a United States Marine. We look like soldiers, talk like sailors, slap the shit out of both of ‘em. We stole the Eagle from the Air Force, the Rope from the Army, and the Anchor from the Navy. And on the seventh day, when God rested, we overran his perimeter, and we’ve been running the show ever since. Warrior by day, lover by night, drunkard by choice, Marine by God. Semper Fidelis.”