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Marine Pictured in Photo Unfazed by Fame.
Yahoo! News ^ | Sun, Nov 14, 2004 | AP

Posted on 11/14/2004 1:05:57 PM PST by lizol

Marine Pictured in Photo Unfazed by Fame

PIKEVILLE, Ky. - An eastern Kentucky Marine whose battle-grimed face has quickly become a symbol of the fighting in the Iraqi city of Fallujah says he doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.

But his mother is thrilled. Maxie Webber, of Robinson Creek in eastern Kentucky, said the close-up of Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller let her know that her son was OK.

Webber said she first saw it Wednesday on CBS.

"I just sat here and I thought, that's my son," Webber said. "I couldn't believe it."

The photograph, taken by a Los Angeles Times photographer and transmitted by The Associated Press, has been printed in more than 100 newspapers and shown on network television.

Miller, 20, is shown with smudged camouflage paint and a bloody scratch on his nose, a cigarette drooping from the side of his mouth. He was exhausted and grimy after more than 12 hours of nonstop fighting.

Miller, a graduate of Shelby Valley High School, is serving with Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, scene of fierce battles over the past week.

He didn't know about the photo and his spreading fame until two Los Angeles Times staffers traveling with his unit told him about it.

"I was just smokin' a cigarette and someone takes my picture and it all blows up," Miller told them Friday.

The picture, which appeared in the Times on Wednesday, was taken on the afternoon after Charlie Company entered Fallujah under intense hostile fire.

Miller and his fellow platoon members had spent the day engaged in practically nonstop firefights, fending off snipers and attackers, and hadn't slept in more than 24 hours.

"It was kind of crazy out here at first," Miller says. "No one really knew what to expect. They told us about it all the time, but no one knows for sure until you get here."

He grew up in rural Jonancy, named after his great-great-great grandparents Joe and Nancy Miller, the first settlers in the area. His father, James Miller, is a mechanic and farmer, and the young Miller grew up working crops of potatoes, corn and green beans. His mother is a nurse.

His mother said she stays home as much as possible in case he calls.

"I don't want to miss his call because you never know if that call will be the last one," Webber said.

She said she bought an answering machine in case Miller, the oldest of her three sons, calls while she's out. She has one message on the 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.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Kentucky; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 15minutesoffame; blakemiller; fallujah; iraq; marines; sexobject; smokes; stud; war; wot
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1 posted on 11/14/2004 1:05:58 PM PST by lizol
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To: lizol
Marine Pictured in Photo Unfazed by Fame

Ya....he's sort of busy right now.

Why don't you press f*cks leave him alone and let him concentrate on not being killed by fascists?

2 posted on 11/14/2004 1:09:19 PM PST by Psycho_Bunny (“I know a great deal about the Middle East because I’ve been raising Arabian horses" Patrick Swazey)
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To: lizol

Can I get a pic?


3 posted on 11/14/2004 1:10:48 PM PST by Teezme (4 more years and many more to come BUSHHHHH)
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To: lizol

4 posted on 11/14/2004 1:14:38 PM PST by Paleo Conservative (Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Arlen Specter's got to go!)
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To: Teezme
On one of these threads you can.
5 posted on 11/14/2004 1:16:55 PM PST by A.A. Cunningham
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To: Teezme

I think the Ann Coulter/Bush twins picture-posting rule should also apply to the Marlboro Man for the ladies here. ;) lol


6 posted on 11/14/2004 1:17:56 PM PST by nodumbblonde
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To: lizol
doesnt know what the fuss is about
geesh.......
it cuz HE'S HOT
7 posted on 11/14/2004 1:18:17 PM PST by groovychick
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To: groovychick

A definate "10"


be still my heart


8 posted on 11/14/2004 1:19:26 PM PST by bonfire
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: Psycho_Bunny

The saddest thing about the reaction to this brave marine's picture is that there is a sizeable segment of our population that don't have a clue about what Cpl. Miller is doing.Political correctness has gone rampant.


10 posted on 11/14/2004 1:25:31 PM PST by ardara
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To: lizol
This guy has likely seen friends killed. It's no game or photo opportunity to him.

Now if John Kerry was over there, he'd be posing for the camera and scratching himself with a rusty razor blade in hopes of going home. I would love the opportunity to tell Kerry what I think of his worthless hide.

11 posted on 11/14/2004 1:28:32 PM PST by O.C. - Old Cracker (When the cracker gets old, you wind up with Old Cracker. - O.C.)
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To: ardara

Was is Hell...but actual combat is a bitch!


12 posted on 11/14/2004 1:31:58 PM PST by crabpott (Please send guns, money and lawyers and the rest of my Buffett CD's....)
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To: lizol

It's a shame they published his name and picture. I'd hate to see him taken out by some militant who knows he'd get a lot of publicity for whacking the "Marlboro Marine".


13 posted on 11/14/2004 1:32:17 PM PST by jess35
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To: bonfire; lizol
"When I get out, I just want to chill out. Go back to my house, farm a bit, do some mechanical stuff and call it a day. I'll just sit on my roof and smoke a cigarette."


14 posted on 11/14/2004 1:34:06 PM PST by WildTurkey
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Comment #15 Removed by Moderator

To: groovychick; bonfire
doesnt know what the fuss is about geesh....... it cuz HE'S HOT

A definate "10"
be still my heart

Ummmm, ok - if you ladies say so.


16 posted on 11/14/2004 1:36:56 PM PST by Hank Rearden (Never allow anyone who could only get a government job attempt to tell you how to run your life.)
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To: jess35
It's a shame they published his name and picture. I'd hate to see him taken out by some militant who knows he'd get a lot of publicity for whacking the "Marlboro Marine".

True enough, but at three packs a day already at his age, this war is likely to kill him one way or the other. Sad.

17 posted on 11/14/2004 1:38:16 PM PST by Hank Rearden (Never allow anyone who could only get a government job attempt to tell you how to run your life.)
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To: Made in USA
I'm originally from Louisville, KY and I can attest to the fact that KY DOES have a conceal carry law. Here's a link to the CCW info.
18 posted on 11/14/2004 1:42:04 PM PST by Severa (I can't take this stress anymore...quick, get me a marker to sniff....)
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To: lizol

His mother has every right to be proud.


19 posted on 11/14/2004 1:43:00 PM PST by expatguy (Fallujah Delenda Est!!)
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To: Hank Rearden

Why is it sad when someone exercises the freedom to live their life in the manner they choose?


20 posted on 11/14/2004 1:46:38 PM PST by jess35
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