Marlboro Marine Documentary:  Must-See Video  
Sunday, November 11th, 2007

You probably remember his photograph.  The Marlboro Marine, James Blake Miller, became almost an icon of the Iraq War, after Times photographer Luis Sinco took a candid shot of Miller that was splashed across hundreds of newspapers in 2004, and picked up by former CBS News anchor Dan Rather.

The photo was taken while Miller's Marine unit was talking part in the assault on Fallujah.  Fallujah - which was originally one of most peaceful areas in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein - erupted in siege and violence, and the U.S. reinvaded twice.

The new Marlboro Man, local celebrity to Pike County, Kentucky.  He survived the war, came home, married his sweetheart.  Repeated their vows in a second ceremony provided by well-wishers.  But it hardly ended there.  What happened to the Marlboro Marine is something that is happening to returning military all over the U.S., and is something that our politicians and the mass media need to address.

That question:

"Do you want to stay and be evaluated, or do you want to go home?"

The Los Angeles Times has a video on their site, a three-part mini documentary that follows the Marlboro Marine home, through his disappointing trip to Washington D.C. to talk about PTSD, his depression, his plan to commit suicide, and his return from the brink.

"After Fallujah, I didn't know how to react, and I more or less just tried to put it in the back of my mind and act like it never happened.  Even right now, my eyes are starting to hurt just talking about this."

The story is heart-wrenching, and it made me cry.  It is an unfinished tale, though, as the L.A. Times is using it to reach out to James Blake Miller and ask him to seek the help he so deserves.

Things like this are why CBS fired Dan Rathers.  This is what the media is not showing you.  This is what Bush is sugar-coating with his pre-Veteran's Day photo-ops and his bullshit.

So watch the videos, they are must-see, and I'm going to go blow my nose.  Also, here is the full story from the photographer himself, who drove Miller to the hospital, who broke the journalist-subject relationship, and reached out. 

James - you have the support of the country behind you.  You fall, America wants to catch you.  You need us, you walk into any house on any block in this country, and tell them who you are.

Don't give up.

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