Captain Bryan Patterson

Captain Bryan Patterson leads Bravo Company into Iraq radiating an eagerness his Marines find equal parts endearing and absurd. Nicknamed 'Captain America' for his gung-ho enthusiasm, he wants contact, wants to prove his unit's worth, and approaches the invasion with a sincerity that sets him apart from the exhausted cynicism around him.

Michael Kelly plays the earnestness completely straight, which is what makes it funny and, eventually, quietly poignant. Generation Kill surrounds him with men who see through every bit of martial performance, and Patterson's genuine belief in the mission becomes a kind of running commentary on the gap between command and ground truth.