James Blake Miller
Encyclopedia
James Blake Miller is an American
Iraq War veteran, who served in the United States Marine Corps
and was dubbed "the Marlboro Man
" / "Marlboro Marine", after an iconic, close-up photograph of his scarred, dirt-smeared, battle-weary face, with a cigarette in his mouth, was published on the front page of more than 150 American newspapers in 2004.
Because of his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder
, Miller is now separated from his wife and family and currently lives alone. He is unable to discuss certain things that happened in Fallujah
, and has joined the Highwaymen
, a motorcycle club under constant scrutiny by law enforcement.
. As a boy, he embraced religion, even going so far as to become an ordained minister. Not interested in working in the coal mines, Miller joined the United States Marine Corps
with the intention to eventually work in law enforcement
. Before shipping off, Miller took his high school
sweetheart, Jessica Holbrooks, to the mountains outside Pikeville, Kentucky
and asked her to marry him after his return; she agreed.
, 8th Marine Regiment, a unit which took part in the November 2004 assault on Fallujah. Entering the city on November 8, 2004, they encountered heavy fire almost immediately, and were pinned down all night at a traffic circle
. In the morning, the unit took fire again and elements took cover in a house. After securing the house, Miller, the platoon's radioman, called in tank
fire on a nearby house. In the moments after the tank blasts shook the home in which they were located, embedded
Los Angeles Times
photographer Luis Sinco took a photo of Miller propped against a wall, smoking a cigarette; Miller's face was smeared with camouflage paint, blood trickled from his right ear and bridge of his nose, and he was momentarily deafened by the cannon blasts, staring
at the sunrise. In explaining the photograph, Sinco stated 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." Miller was 20 at the time.
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 notoriety, but shared information with Sinco. The two would remain friends thereafter.
After his identity was made public, people sent him care package
s, including lots of cigarettes; President George W. Bush
sent cigar
s, 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.
The photograph was nominated by Slate
in 2011 for a list of "New Classics", products of the culture since 2000 that will withstand the test of time.
in North Carolina
. He was married in June 2005 to Holbrooks in a civil ceremony; the couple had a lavish reception at a country club in Prestonsburg, Kentucky
, paid for by donations from admirers of Miller throughout the USA.
, he blacked out only to regain consciousness when his wife called his name, finding himself pointing the shotgun at her. He reported problems to his superiors, who promised help. Problems came to a head while he was deployed to the Gulf of Mexico
in September 2005, to help assist with recovery in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
. With a second large storm, Hurricane Rita
, moving in to the area, the Marines were ordered to remain out at sea for safety reasons. Inside a Navy
ship, he assaulted a sailor who whistled in a way that reminded Miller of a rocket-propelled grenade. On November 10, 2005, he was medically discharged
with a "personality disorder", exactly one year after his iconic picture made worldwide news.
for long rides. Although Miller had hoped to go into law enforcement, his PTSD and discharge made it impossible as no one could trust him with a weapon. Hearing that he had encountered problems, donors from across America and local businesses banded together to fund a traditional wedding ceremony for the Millers. Blake and Jessica renewed their vows on June 3, 2006, in a lavish ceremony at a hilltop clubhouse. In lieu of a honeymoon, the couple went to Washington, D.C.
at the invitation of the National Mental Health Association, which wanted to honor Miller for going public about his PTSD and have him visit congressmen to share his experience. After returning home from Washington, Miller quickly sank into depression and his marriage deteriorated. He asked for a divorce from his wife, which made the front page of the local newspaper.
Luis Sinco, the photographer who had made Miller famous, had been following the Millers for some time to do a follow-up story; at this point Sinco decided to push the line of professional journalism and take Miller to get help. Sinco took Miller to Errera Community Care Center, a veterans' treatment program, in West Haven, Connecticut
. Miller checked into the program, and his Veterans Benefits paid for the treatment. Miller initially opened up to therapy sessions, but did not do as well in group therapy; he began talking with his wife, and dropped out just two months into a program that was supposed to last six months to a year.
In August 2006, the couple moved to Princeton, West Virginia
. However, by mid-October 2006, Miller had again slipped into depression. Jessica moved out and the two agreed to proceed with the divorce. Miller moved back to Kentucky, next to his father's house, and began working at a motorcycle repair shop. He joined a motorcycle club called the Highwaymen
, which was under scrutiny by law enforcement but appealed to Miller because their uniforms and codes of conduct reminded him of the Marines.
, suffered from PTSD and died at age 35.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Iraq War veteran, who served in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and was dubbed "the Marlboro Man
Marlboro Man
The Marlboro Man is a figure used in tobacco advertising campaign for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by Leo Burnett in 1954. The image involves a rugged cowboy or cowboys, in nature with...
" / "Marlboro Marine", after an iconic, close-up photograph of his scarred, dirt-smeared, battle-weary face, with a cigarette in his mouth, was published on the front page of more than 150 American newspapers in 2004.
Because of his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
, Miller is now separated from his wife and family and currently lives alone. He is unable to discuss certain things that happened in Fallujah
Fallujah
Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....
, and has joined the Highwaymen
Highwaymen Motorcycle Club
The Highwaymen Motorcycle Club is a one-percenter outlaw motorcycle gang that was formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1954. The club has undergone a number of large-scale police and FBI investigations, most notably in 1973, 1987 and 2007...
, a motorcycle club under constant scrutiny by law enforcement.
Early years
Miller grew up in Jonancy, KentuckyJonancy, Kentucky
Jonancy is a small unincorporated community in Pike County, Kentucky, United States, in the far eastern part of the state. The latitude and longitude are 37.316N and -82.583W. Jonancy is in the Eastern Coal Field region...
. As a boy, he embraced religion, even going so far as to become an ordained minister. Not interested in working in the coal mines, Miller joined the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
with the intention to eventually work in law enforcement
Law enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
. Before shipping off, Miller took his high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
sweetheart, Jessica Holbrooks, to the mountains outside Pikeville, Kentucky
Pikeville, Kentucky
Pikeville is a city in Pike County, Kentucky. The population was 6,903 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Pike County.-History:On March 25, 1822, the county's government officials decided to build a new county seat named Liberty, one and one-half mile below the mouth of the Russell Fork...
and asked her to marry him after his return; she agreed.
Fallujah
Miller became part of Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion1st Battalion 8th Marines
1st Battalion, 8th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina...
, 8th Marine Regiment, a unit which took part in the November 2004 assault on Fallujah. Entering the city on November 8, 2004, they encountered heavy fire almost immediately, and were pinned down all night at a traffic circle
Traffic circle
A traffic circle or rotary is a type of circular intersection in which traffic must travel in one direction around a central island. In some countries, traffic entering the circle has the right-of-way and drivers in the circle must yield. In many other countries, traffic entering the circle must...
. In the morning, the unit took fire again and elements took cover in a house. After securing the house, Miller, the platoon's radioman, called in tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
fire on a nearby house. In the moments after the tank blasts shook the home in which they were located, embedded
Embedded journalist
Embedded journalism refers to news reporters being attached to military units involved in armed conflicts. While the term could be applied to many historical interactions between journalists and military personnel, it first came to be used in the media coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq...
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
photographer Luis Sinco took a photo of Miller propped against a wall, smoking a cigarette; Miller's face was smeared with camouflage paint, blood trickled from his right ear and bridge of his nose, and he was momentarily deafened by the cannon blasts, staring
Thousand-yard stare
The thousand-yard stare or two-thousand-yard stare is a phrase originally coined to describe the limp, unfocused gaze of a battle-weary warrior...
at the sunrise. In explaining the photograph, Sinco stated 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." Miller was 20 at the time.
Marlboro Marine
Sinco's photograph of Miller appeared on the front page of over 150 newspapers. CBS Evening NewsCBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
anchor Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
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 notoriety, but shared information with Sinco. The two would remain friends thereafter.
After his identity was made public, people sent him care package
CARE Package
The CARE Package was the original unit of aid distributed by the humanitarian organization CARE...
s, including lots of cigarettes; President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
sent cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
s, candy and memorabilia from the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. The forward command center soon featured a large blowup of the photo. The Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division, Richard F. Natonski
Richard F. Natonski
Richard F. Natonski is a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general whose last assignment was as the Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command. He assumed the post in August 2008, having previously served as the United States Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and...
, 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.
The photograph was nominated by Slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
in 2011 for a list of "New Classics", products of the culture since 2000 that will withstand the test of time.
Marriage
After his tour, Miller returned to Marine Corps Base Camp LejeuneMarine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune is a United States military training facility in North Carolina. The base's of beaches make it a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports allows for fast deployments.The main base is supplemented by five satellite...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. He was married in June 2005 to Holbrooks in a civil ceremony; the couple had a lavish reception at a country club in Prestonsburg, Kentucky
Prestonsburg, Kentucky
Prestonsburg is a city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Kentucky, United States. It lies in the eastern part of the state, along the banks of the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River. It was founded in 1797 by Col. John Preston—for whom it was named—along with Solomon Stratton, Matthias...
, paid for by donations from admirers of Miller throughout the USA.
PTSD & discharge
Miller began to suffer from PTSD; he had nightmares, and while cleaning his shotgunShotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
, he blacked out only to regain consciousness when his wife called his name, finding himself pointing the shotgun at her. He reported problems to his superiors, who promised help. Problems came to a head while he was deployed to the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
in September 2005, to help assist with recovery in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. With a second large storm, Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
, moving in to the area, the Marines were ordered to remain out at sea for safety reasons. Inside a Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
ship, he assaulted a sailor who whistled in a way that reminded Miller of a rocket-propelled grenade. On November 10, 2005, he was medically discharged
Military discharge
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve.-United States:Discharge or separation should not be confused with retirement; career U.S...
with a "personality disorder", exactly one year after his iconic picture made worldwide news.
Civilian life
The Millers returned to Kentucky. He and Jessica took time off while living on a monthly disability benefit of about $2,500. Miller bought a motorcycleMotorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
for long rides. Although Miller had hoped to go into law enforcement, his PTSD and discharge made it impossible as no one could trust him with a weapon. Hearing that he had encountered problems, donors from across America and local businesses banded together to fund a traditional wedding ceremony for the Millers. Blake and Jessica renewed their vows on June 3, 2006, in a lavish ceremony at a hilltop clubhouse. In lieu of a honeymoon, the couple went to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
at the invitation of the National Mental Health Association, which wanted to honor Miller for going public about his PTSD and have him visit congressmen to share his experience. After returning home from Washington, Miller quickly sank into depression and his marriage deteriorated. He asked for a divorce from his wife, which made the front page of the local newspaper.
Luis Sinco, the photographer who had made Miller famous, had been following the Millers for some time to do a follow-up story; at this point Sinco decided to push the line of professional journalism and take Miller to get help. Sinco took Miller to Errera Community Care Center, a veterans' treatment program, in West Haven, Connecticut
West Haven, Connecticut
West Haven is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 52,721.-History:...
. Miller checked into the program, and his Veterans Benefits paid for the treatment. Miller initially opened up to therapy sessions, but did not do as well in group therapy; he began talking with his wife, and dropped out just two months into a program that was supposed to last six months to a year.
In August 2006, the couple moved to Princeton, West Virginia
Princeton, West Virginia
Princeton is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 7,652 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 111,586. It is the county seat of Mercer County...
. However, by mid-October 2006, Miller had again slipped into depression. Jessica moved out and the two agreed to proceed with the divorce. Miller moved back to Kentucky, next to his father's house, and began working at a motorcycle repair shop. He joined a motorcycle club called the Highwaymen
Highwaymen Motorcycle Club
The Highwaymen Motorcycle Club is a one-percenter outlaw motorcycle gang that was formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1954. The club has undergone a number of large-scale police and FBI investigations, most notably in 1973, 1987 and 2007...
, which was under scrutiny by law enforcement but appealed to Miller because their uniforms and codes of conduct reminded him of the Marines.
Family
Miller's father, Jimmy Miller, lives in Kentucky; he is estranged from his mother. Miller has two younger brothers, Todd and Mike. Miller's grandfather had served in the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, suffered from PTSD and died at age 35.