Posted on 11/13/2004 1:22:27 PM PST by wagglebee
PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- The mother of a Marine from eastern Kentucky now fighting in Iraq said she was thrilled to see her son's photograph on the front pages of newspapers this week.
Maxie Webber of Robinson Creek in Pike County said the close-up of Lance Cpl. Blake Miller, his face covered with dirt and a cigarette hanging from his lips, let her know that her son was OK.
Miller, 20, a graduate of Shelby Valley High School, is serving with Charlie Company of the U.S. Marines First Division in Fallujah, an insurgent stronghold.
Fallujah has been the site of some of the most severe battles with the Iraqi insurgency, and this week U.S. troops began a fierce battle for control of the city.
The photo, taken by Los Angeles Times photographer Luis Sinco, has appeared in newspapers across the nation. Webber said she first saw it when CBS News anchor Dan Rather showed it to viewers on Wednesday. Photo editor Alan Hagman confirmed Friday that the photo was of Miller.
"I just sat here and I thought, that's my son," Webber said. "I couldn't believe it. To me, it's just God's way because Blake is a Christian. It's just like God saying, 'I'm letting you know he's OK.'"
Webber said she stays home as much as possible in case her son calls.
"I don't want to miss his call because you never know if that call will be the last one," she said.
Webber said she also bought an answering machine for her phone just in case Miller, the oldest of her three sons, calls while she's out. She has one message on the answering machine from Aug. 1.
"And when I get lonely, and it's been a few days, I play that tape," Webber said.
Webber said her son's decision to join the Marines has changed the way she thinks about America.
"Until my son went into the Marines, I never really realized what that flag stood for - but now I do," she said.
I just his cleaned up picture on Fox..looks younger and has a nice face.
Lucky Strike.."Luckies go to war.." in WW II and Korea, they sent unlimited free cigarettes to all the military hoispitals..I believe that sometime after Vietnam, Congress passed a law that made it illegal for the DoD to accept free tobacco products..
That was kind of my (wrong) approach...smoked for 31 years, was a Marine for 28. How I could do two packs a day and run six miles still confounds.
I shoulda quit long before the heart attack.
Semper Fi,
I get a kick out of the women fawning over this Gyrene.
It's like they suddenly woke up and said, "Hey! That's a MAN!"
Yep! He symbolizes manhood, and it's about damn time manhood is appreciated for what it is instead of accepting the creation of the PC crowd.
The Marine Corps builds men, and he and thousands of others are the products of that construction.
"has shown a whole generation of girls and women what REAL men look and act like."
good point!
no more "girlie men" ! ;)
I'll bet that will drive those girlymen crazy, that a real man can woo the women by doing a job and doing it right.
In the "Marlboro Man" one, he looks so much older, world-weary and war-weary, but brave and determined.
In the "cleaned-up" pic, I thought "this can't be the same guy: he's just a baby"! (To me, 20 years old is a baby!)
Anyway, he may be baby-faced in the cleaned-up pic, but he's a man, a Marine, a true American hero.
I couldn't imagine getting thru Basic Training without smoking. I still remember fondly those crisp autumn days in Ft. McClellan, Aniston Alabama, sitting on benches outside some green-painted building, waiting for the next lecture or training session, sharing smokes with my fellow trainees. Ditto for those times we sat around blacking our boots. Ditto for those pre-dawn freezing mornings when we policed the area for butts.
Amen!
This picture is so WW II. It's like an old still from the 60's TV show Combat.
Any idea how many Charlie Companies there are in 1stMARDIV?
Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
They fight AND smoke at an early age in eastern Kentucky!
Use the Marine locator.
Exactly!
We have generations of girls who were raised on Brad Pitt, Leonardo De'Caprio, Johnny Depp etc. Boy-faced me without chest hair, who would faint at the sight of blood.
This guy however...
~~sigh~~ (Write me cutie!)
No ones business if he smokes, we need to stop trying to mind others' business and take care of our own.
It has nothing to to with this young man,(or maybe it does!) but I just LOVE that speech--I could listen to it over and over because of the passion and honesty he has for America and the right things to do!
Amen! Who wants some faux-man getting in touch with his feminine side? We want REAL men! (Even if they do leave their socks on the floor and pee on the toilet seat. lol)
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