Lusthog Squad

The Lusthog Squad is a fictional United States Marine Corps squad introduced first in the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers (1979) by Vietnam veteran Gustav Hasford. The squad was also featured in its sequel, The Phantom Blooper, albeit with most of its members changed. Stanley Kubrick depicted the squad in his 1987 film Full Metal Jacket.

Squad Members:

Corporal/Sergeant/Private James T. 'Joker' Davis: The protagonist and narrator of the book, Joker is sent on a mission to join the Lusthog Squad (which is being run by Cowboy then) at Phu Bai along with Lance Corporal Compton ('Rafter Man'). Promoted from Corporal to Sergeant before starting this mission, Joker survives an encounter with a female sniper in the Citadel and mercy-kills her before returning with his report. Not long afterward, he incurs the wrath of a colonel for wearing an unauthorized peace sign button on his uniform; as a result, Joker is assigned to the squad as a fireteam leader. During a mission in the jungle where a sniper lures the team one by one to an ambush, Cowboy promotes him to squad leader before running into the trap to kill three wounded squad members. Cowboy's hand is blown away before he can kill himself, so Joker shoots him through the eye and leads the team away. In The Phantom Blooper, the reader learns that Joker has been demoted to Private for failing to recover the body.

Lance Corporal 'Rafter Man' Compton: A 'New Guy' taking pictures for Joker's articles, Rafter Man is constantly shocked by the horrors of war as he travels with Joker to team up with Cowboy. His nickname comes from an incident at an enlisted men's club in which he climbed up into the rafters for a better view of the stage, then fell onto the table of a visiting general. He kills the female sniper in the Citadel, which greatly excites him, but after seeing his reflection in glass he is disturbed. While returning to Da Nang, the still-shocked Rafter Man is run over by a tank, cutting him in half.

Sergeant John 'Cowboy' Rucker/Sergeant Robert 'Cowboy' Evans: Cowboy is Joker's oldest and best friend. The two meet at Parris Island, where he laughs at his jokes. Later on in 1968, Cowboy is the leader of the Lusthog Squad. After being wounded at the Citadel by the female sniper, he leaves Animal Mother temporarily in command. In the jungle, Cowboy sacrifices himself by shooting all his dying men so that nobody else will run into the trap to save them. Before he can kill himself, though, the sniper shoots the pistol out of his hand and wounds him repeatedly. Joker then shoots him, having been given command of the squad. His last words are an ambiguous rant: "I NEVER LIKED YOU, JOKER. I NEVER THOUGHT YOU WERE FUNNY--". Joker takes Cowboy's pearl-grey Stetson hat as a souvenir, wearing it and carrying it with him throughout The Phantom Blooper. Cowboy presents himself as being from Dallas, but Joker learns in this second book that he had actually lived in Kansas.

...
Wikipedia