Marlboro Marine - Three Years Later

[Jamie McDaniel]

My local paper carried a two-part story this week on the marine whose photo from 2004 was circulated in over 100 newspaper. Dubbed the "Marlboro Marine" he became a poster boy for Americans fighting in Iraq. And a boy he was, at just 20 years old. In the summer of 2003 he had been enlisted in the Marines after a conversation with a recruiter he met at a football game. A little over a year later he was in Fallouja, Iraq.

Now James Blake Miller, a Kentucky native, is really opening himself up and allowing his story to be reported. Perhaps with the horrors he has experienced, managing one's public image is of little concern. The extra billions that Bush is asking from Congress is small when compared to the cost of this war.

Here are the videos. I think you will find them powerfully moving.

LA Times: Marlboro Marine

[sailaway58]

As my nephew servers there I wonder once again how he is doing. Will he come home wounded like James Miller?
So far he is fine as he just started his second tour. Only time will tell if what we have asked our men and women to do has value or benefit. but those who serve will carry the load for us as we continue on our lives unaffected by the sacrifice we have laid at the feet of our soldiers.
In the words of James Miller, what have we gained?

[u-dog]

Originally Posted by sailaway58

As my nephew servers there I wonder once again how he is doing. Will he come home wounded like James Miller?
So far he is fine as he just started his second tour. Only time will tell if what we have asked our men and women to do has value or benefit. but those who serve will carry the load for us as we continue on our lives unaffected by the sacrifice we have laid at the feet of our soldiers.
In the words of James Miller, what have we gained?

I was listening to a report on NPR last night that suggested that discharges based on behavior were 25% higher than before the war began and that the behaviors in question were those consistant with PTSD. When a solder is dishonorably discharged the nation is not responsible for his/her medical/psychological care. When a soldier is discharged because of PTSD there is a huge medical bill to be paid.

The report also pointed out that diagnoses of "personality disorder" as cause for discharge was up 40% since the war started. If an army psychiatrist determines that a soldier has a "personality disorder" it means the soldier was "broken" before he/she enlisted and the army is off the financial hook again. whereas if the soldier got "broken" in the war then the army needs to pay to fix him/her.

"It was on fire when I lay down on it!" yeah... right!

Add to this the fact that the VA is woefully unprepared to provide psychological support and services for returning soldiers who ARE properly diagnosed and the whole thing is just a DISGRACE!
This is SO TYPICAL! we ask brave and intelligent young men and women to make the ultimate sacrifice and then try to wheedle out of the bill. George and Dick and Donald SHOULD BE IN PRISON! Dennis Kucinich is right. Impeachment proceedings should be under way even as we speak!

sputter, sputter, growl, snarl, schnickel fritzin popple flatz %#$@$

[sailaway58]

[scott snedeker]

This whole thing breaks my heart. Another revolution is overdue! It's time evermore to create a love movement, like the young generation did in the sixties

[rvantassel]

Two of my very best friends are also currently serving. They both have recently re-enlisted and both have been on two tours. It is devestating every time they leave. Luckily one is in the air-force and has never had to fight directly, but the other is a marine... on the front-line. Each time he has left I was a wreck, not knowing what would happen to him. I just hate that they are putting EVERYTHING on the line for their country, and they are not being taken care of properly. I desperately hope that we can get it together and provide the support these soldiers, my friends, need.

[sailaway58]

Originally Posted by scott snedeker

This whole thing breaks my heart. Another revolution is overdue! It's time evermore to create a love movement, like the young generation did in the sixties

Well that didn't work out to well. We don't need a revolution. We wouldn't have the fortitude to carry it out. We are a fragmented society only interested in our special causes. We seldom look to bridge gaps unless we are convinced it will somehow serve us well. We are a government of the people made up of professional politicians that have writers asking "Where Have all the Voters Gone?"

We bitch about the rich yet still hold to the 40 hour work week and complain if that isn't enough to live on. My Great grandparents worked as long as it took to to survive.
The shortage of workers created a middle class that was a new phenomenon. The workers had power to bargain. Look around, globally there is no shortage of workers and a revolution won't change that. You better get used to the idea of working late and a weekend job if you are depending on getting your piece of the American dream. What ever job you have is in jeopardy as we dilute the workforce with ever growing populations.
What the hell does this have to do with the topic? We are uninvolved as this countries citizens in the events of the world. There are exceptions of course but generally as long as the average Joe can make rent and drive a decent car his focus on world events is limited to what he sees as he flips through the channels on his rented 52" screen TV.
That's why it is easy to turn ones head as he walks by a homeless veteran and think he put himself there.
There will never be peace in the world and blame who you want, we will always be fighting someone.
Do we care about James Blake Miller? Sure, for about as long as it takes to switch to the next web page.
This rant is not directed to any individual but just a rant in general. I don't know what got me wound up but I hate to write this much and not post it.

[scott snedeker]

Originally Posted by sailaway58

Well that didn't work out to well. We don't need a revolution. We wouldn't have the fortitude to carry it out.
That's why it is easy to turn ones head as he walks by a homeless veteran and think he put himself there.
There will never be peace in the world and blame who you want, we will always be fighting someone.

But I see the love movement of the sixties very differently. It was a beautiful creation in response to the horror of war, racism and sexism. It transformed a nation and a society. Create something beautiful and attractive and you will draw attention away from what you don't like while directly opposing reinforces what you are fighting against.

I also see the world differently. There will always be peace in the world. If you don't see peace in the world then you simply must start looking in a different way. The seeds of peace we sow today will blossom in the decades to come, leading the future generations away from war and hostility and toward love. I see this as the maturing of the evolved sensibility that is the natural destiny of our species.

I myself have known ritualized violence, both physical and emotional over more than a decade. The result was a debilitating emotional disturbance that nearly cost my survival. I was nihilistic and nearly suicidally self destructive.
But then a very special person came into my life. His name is Adrain. He asked me why I was so self destructive. I answered him with what I believed to be the answer, that my spirit was broken and that it was no great loss if I were to die. He corrected me. "You are complete and whole but disconnected from your inner being who loves you."

I was stunned. It was the first hint of hope that I had felt in over a decade. Through the teachings of Abraham, Don miguel Ruiz, a reiki master and his guidence I embraced a spiritual paradigm for the first time. He taught me the pagan connection to spirituality through love-making. He showed me how to love myself.

I learned the Law of Attraction always applies and that radiation of love activates love, something that present in every human. Just the same hostility activates hostility and vulnerability activates predation.

What I discovered is that I have the power to choose my thought which in turn activates an emotional vibration. Good thought hygiene activates positive emotional vibrations which are then activated in others in whom I come in contact.

We are the weavers and the tapestry we create is activating and touching one another. This was Adrain's most recent message to me.

"We are all connected."

The revolution is upon us reflected in the words of the Beltaine chant I heard May 1 2007 at my first faerie gathering

We are the wave
We are the ebb
We are the weavers
We are the web