Iconic Decline

Photo © Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times

As an amateur guitarist and rock-and-roll fan, James Blake Miller may well marvel that he's made "the cover of the Rolling Stone." But he's probably not thrilled about the context.

Miller's picture is not on this week's RS cover — that honor goes to Chris Rock — but Miller is the subject of one of the main feature stories: "Home From War: Tragedy of the Marlboro Marine." The story recounts the sad journey that Miller's life has taken since his face became famous in an iconic photograph (above) — a shot of Miller in Falluja, Iraq, made in 2004 by imbedded photographer Luis Sinco for the Los Angeles Times.

The picture — which seemed to capture at once the steely resolve, grimy entanglement, and weary disillusionment of U.S. soldiers in Iraq — became widely known and emblematic of the war. "To my surprise, the image became iconic, capturing a sense of the front line in a young Marine's face," Sinco wrote later in the L.A. Times.

But after his return home, Miller's life began to unravel, and he became a different kind of symbol: a medically discharged former vet who suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, wartime flashbacks, and social isolation. Sinco continued to follow Miller's story and created a moving multimedia piece called "The Marlboro Marine" on the photojournalism website mediastorm.org (as we recounted in American Photo's March/April story on "The Photographer as Director").

"We had stayed in touch, casually at first," Sinco recalls of his friendship with Miller. "Then something deeper had developed between us. I was one of the few people who could reach him, who understood what he had been through."

Though Sinco had written eloquently about Miller's plight for his own newspaper and MediaStorm's online audience, the Rolling Stone piece, by regular contributor Jenny Eliscu, brings this tale to a new realm — the nationwide following of a music publication with a strong political bent (in its last issue RS enthusiastically endorsed Barack Obama). As such, the Marlboro Marine has come full circle, from famous face to famous flameout, and a poignant reminder of the human cost of war.

As I was reading the Rolling Stone piece last night, PBS was airing a Frontline special, Bush's War, which recounts the current administration's internal debates and fateful decisions on the invasion of Iraq five years ago. (Part two of this engrossing special will air on PBS tonight.) This morning the New York Times brought forth its own report on six fallen soldiers and their telling communications with loved ones, as well as a photographic gallery of 1,000 recent U.S. casualties in Iraq.

Also this morning I received more than one photographic tribute via e-mail — mostly from friends who've strongly supported this war and the 2003 invasion — reminding us to support the troops and "Remember Their Sacrifice." Whatever your politics, you have to feel for the men and women on the front lines.

In a way, the experience of the Marlboro Marine encapsulates their condition. In his L.A. Times piece, Sinco quotes James Blake Miller on his memories of killing enemies: "To see somebody in your sights and to pull that trigger, it's almost like you're with them, seeing their life flash before their eyes as well as taking it. It's an insane connection that you make with that person at that point."

Those recollections continue to haunt Miller, and as Rolling Stone points out, this Iconic Marine has become a disillusioned soul, a singular reminder of what our nation, its elected leaders, and its brave volunteer armed forces have gotten themselves into. — Jack Crager

Photos © Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times

Comments

[john griffin]

wow. unreal image. can't believe the war has been going for 5 years now. that shot is a great metaphor for how tired and worn down everyone is with it. thank god we have such amazing troops.

[stephen connor]

Being "against the war" and "not supporting the men and women fighting it" are not the same thing. The war was started by a group of criminal morons - George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and a few friends - for reasons unfathomable (Oedipus? Oil? Oedipoil?), and now your children are dying in it. As are, of course, tens of thousands of Iraqis. The trouble now, of course, is that the best way to support American troops is to bring them home, and the best way to support Iraqis is to stay. Bummer, eh?

[Nicole Bock]

Political opinions aside, this series of images and articles was a bit of a tragedy mainly because I hadn't heard of this story or seen the initial image until now. That could more than likely be my own doing because I try to avoid certain things just because of the skewed representations of them. However, this seems like it might actually be a genuine documentary that puts the concept of war, specifically the current war into a negative light. I'm actually surprised that this photographer didn't lose his job over this. I haven't read all the articles associated with the story but there were a few interesting things that stuck out for me after watching the video. It was interesting to see that what prevented suicidal urges was a return to a militaristic group of friends, he may as well have rejoined the marines. It was a bit frightening to me that this wasn't addressed by the photographer, nor was it realized by the marine himself. That degree of conditioning is just unnerving as well as the lack of psychiatric involvement in the lives of veterans.