'Generation Kill' features soldier from Nevada

By Lynn A. Wade

Nevada Herald

Most of them are in their late teens and early 20s, and they've gone to war. Many deeds heroic, some compassionate and others simply the harsh realities of battle took place and are taking place in war-torn Iraq, and several of those serving are from Nevada and the surrounding area.

One of Vernon County's sons, Josh Person, was 22 years old in March 2003, when the invasion of Iraq began. He was part of the United States Marine Corps First Reconnaissance Battalion, there for the initial invasion. Along with his unit was Evan Wright, an embedded reporter who wrote accounts of his experience for Rolling Stone magazine last year. Now Wright has published a book, "Generation Kill" a chronicle of war and survival that is harsh yet intimate, stark yet graphic and not for the faint of heart or those unwilling to read prose told in the often bawdy language used by many of those involved.

Nevertheless, Person is one of the key figures prominently mentioned in the book. He was the driver of the Humvee in which Wright traveled, and his role as part of the team is an important one.

A glimpse of Person's individual, distinctive qualities and traits comes on page 3, when the author writes, "The fact that the enemy in this town has succeeded in shutting up the driver of this vehicle, Corporal Josh Ray Person, is no mean feat. A 22-year-old from Missouri with a faintly hick accent and a schock of white-blond hair…his blue eyes are so far apart Marines call him "Hammerhead" or Goldfish" …. The first night of the invasion, he had crossed the Iraqi border, simultaneously entertaining and annoying his fellow Marines by screeching out mocking versions of Avril Lavigne songs."

But under ambush in a town not identified by Wright, the lives of the men fall into Person's hands. Another excerpt explains:

"Now, as enemy gunfire tears into the Humvee, Person hunches purposefully over the wheel and drives. The lives of everyone depend on him. If he's injured or killed and the Humvee stops …odds are good that everyone will be wiped out …Ambushers drop cables from rooftops, trying to decapitate or knock down the Humvee's turret gunner. Person zigzags and brakes as the cables scrape across the Humvee, one of them striking the turret gunner who pounds on the roof, shouting 'I'm okay'"

There are moments when the soldiers joke and laugh, supporting one another, and others when they get on one another's nerves. And there are graphic tales of the death and carnage surrounding them.

Person has since been discharged from the Marine Corps, and now lives in Independence, Mo., where he still plans to pursue a long-term goal of becoming a rock star.

Larry DeLaney, whose son Randy is about the same age as Person, said Person and his son spent much time together in the garage at the DeLaney home in their youth, and some of the tinkering with cars in the garage came in handy for Person in the field in Iraq. Delaney said Person and his son, Randy, both signed up for the service. Person joined the Marine Corps and Randy DeLaney joined the United States Navy. Randy DeLaney became a corpsman and is now in Qatar. Friends say a current recall of some U.S. Army veterans doesn't affect Person, at least for now, because he served in another branch of the service.

Person has several family members in the Nevada area -- his mother, Cindy Person of Nevada, his dad, Joe Person and his wife Shirley, his brother and cousins, his sister, his grandparents, Joe and Isetta Person of Nevada and Betty and Ray Benight -- who are glad he's come home. In October, his aunt, Pat Houser, said, "He's only 23. He's seen more in his 23 years than anybody should ever see."

Person has been in combat twice during his enlistment -- first in Afghanistan, then in Iraq.

The book, which DeLaney said gives Person much credit for carrying out his duties in Iraq, is now on sale at a list price of $24.95, and is available at www.penguin.com.