Meet the Cast
Private Robin Perry ("Birdy")
A Boy Called RobinRambo. Joker. Cooler King. Big X. These are the kind of names we think of when we think "soldier nicknames." They're tough sounding names, for tough battle-hardened dudes.Which is...
Corporal Charlie Jones ("Jonesy")
There are a few deaths in literature and film that cut us deep. Beth March. Albus Dumbledore. Rue.…and Jonesy.Because Jonesy, right from the get-go, is larger than life. He's magnetic. He basical...
Corporal Marla Kennedy
Don't Mess with MarlaMarla's pretty much the living embodiment of "don't judge a book by it's cover." Because Marla's initially described as simply good-looking—"a tall blonde." (1.36)—you migh...
Captain Miller
Just MillerLike Madonna, Miller only goes by one name. She's technically Captain Miller—we never learn her first name. But everyone calls her just Miller soon enough. But Miller's no diva. The op...
Captain Coles
Captain Coles is a boss in name, but not in attitude. There's nothing bossy about Captain Coles: he's just a good family man trying to get everyone home in one piece.He's in charge of the Civil Aff...
Sergeant Robert Harris
Harris is…well, he's not Birdy's favorite. Sure, they're in the same unit, but Harris is kind of the opposite of Birdy. In the beginning, Birdy's nervous about whether they'll be ordered into Ira...
Major Spring Sessions
You'd think a character with the name Spring would be really perky—and, in fact, she seems that way at first. Sessions is Coles' superior, and Birdy describes her as: "cute, black, and had a smil...
Jamil Sidiqi al-Tikrit
Literally the wise old man in the corner, Jamil often sits off to the side of the soldiers' tent, spouting truth that the Americans don't always appreciate. The army has orders to hire Iraqis to do...
Phil Pendleton
The sad thing—well, one of the sad things—about Pendleton is that Birdy (and therefore, us) learns very little about him before he dies. We know he's from Leetown, West Virginia, that he has tw...
Soldiers with Birdy
There are plenty of other soldiers in and around Birdy's Civil Affairs unit that we don't get to know, or only meet in passing. Birdy mostly sticks with his squad, but he occasionally goofs around...
Army Higher-Ups
Because Birdy's unit is a flex unit, they're passed around from officer to officer, each one giving them new orders. Here are the officers who make an appearance beyond just a name-drop:Colonel Arm...
Named Iraqis
Birdy's unit moves so quickly that they don't get to know many Iraqis by name. There are only a few that they have conversations with, either because they speak English or through the help of a tra...