Johnny Rico is a U.S.-born freelance journalist and war veteran currently living in the U.K. He was born Stephen Hites but changed his name to that of the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of Robert Heinlein's political science fiction novel,

Starship Troopers ''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of F ...

. His works include two non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles. He graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a master's degree in criminal justice in 2001 and worked as a

probation officer A probation and parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probati ...

before enlisting in the

U. S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Rico served in the Army for 3 years, including a year in Afghanistan with the 25th Infantry Division. Rico published his first book, ''Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green: A Year in the Desert with Team America'' (Ballantine/Presidio, April 2007), based on his experiences as a U.S. Army Infantryman deployed to Afghanistan from 2004-2005. Critically acclaimed, Publishers Weekly hailed this work as "a timeless story of confounded youth and its eternal struggle for meaning, this book may well signal the birth of a titanic new voice". Rico's second non-fiction book ''Border Crosser'' was published on June 23, 2009 by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

. Johnny Rico has been asked to speak about his book, ''Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green: A Year in the Desert with Team America'', on multiple occasions. One such occurrence was on March 4–7, 2008 when he was hosted by Avila University. His book has also been featured in major national publications such as the Washington Times.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rico, Johnny United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) American expatriates in the United Kingdom Living people University of Colorado Denver alumni Year of birth missing (living people)