James Blake Miller the Marlboro Marine.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

Twenty years ago this month James Miller became known as the Marlboro Marine. Photographer Luis Sinco's picture of him inspired that name.

[The Thousand Yard Stare...one of the expressions I saw from my cousin Bob. He was older than me and went to Vietnam. I was his daughter's godfather. He got married. He moved out of Philly. He got divorced. He had PTSD and never addressed it, never got help.]

Anyway, James Miller grew up in Kentucky and became an ordained minister. He became a Marine and fought in the Second Battle of Fallujah. That's where he was when Sinco took his picture:

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blake_Miller

Sinco's photograph of Miller was published in many newspapers. CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather singled out the photo for its excellence, and turned the then-unidentified Marine into a celebrity. Sinco was told to find the Marine for a follow-up story and tracked down Miller four days later in an auditorium near Fallujah's civic center. Miller was embarrassed about the photo's fame, but shared information with Sinco. The two would remain friends thereafter.

After his identity was made public, people sent him care packages, including many cigarettes; President George W. Bush sent cigars, candy and memorabilia from the White House. The forward command center soon featured a large blowup of the photo. The Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division, Richard F. Natonski, made a special trip to see Miller, to Miller's surprise. The general shook Miller's hand and let him know that, because Americans had "connected" with his photo, and nobody wanted to see him wounded or dead, he was offered a trip home. Miller turned down the offer because he did not want to leave his comrades behind.

Where have I heard that before?

After his tour, Miller returned to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He was married in June 2005. Divorce papers were filed a year later. He was deployed aboard USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), to assist recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina. During that period he blacked out during a PTSD episode. In November 2005, Miller was medically discharged from the Marine Corps.
In 2008, Miller was living in his hometown and having difficulty receiving care from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. By 2013, he had reunited with his wife and, with the help of Sinco, has sought psychological help.

Sinco said that "His expression caught my eye. To me, it said: terrified, exhausted, and glad just to be alive. I recognized that look because that's how I felt too."

It's not new. I'm sure it's as old as war:
https://www.thereporteronline.com/2010/10/21/the-sacrifices-they-made-soldier-artists-portray-struggles-of-military-life/

[Docreed2003]

1. K&R

Thank you for this

[1WorldHope]

2. Thank you for that post.

How will we ever spread the meaning of the lesson of war? Why do we keep marching off to death and murder? Both sides, all sides. Pons for rich men to play army with. This has always been so.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

3. "Peace? That's an accident! It's what is!

...When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing. When the killing stops in one place, it starts in another, but that's okay... 'cause you're killing for your country. But it ain't your country who asks you, it's a few men up top who want it. Old men start it, young men fight it, nobody wins, everybody in the middle dies... and nobody tells the truth!" - [Monterastelli, Stallone & Morrell] Rambo