{{short description|United States Marine}} {{Other people|James Miller}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox military person |name=James Blake Miller |image= |caption= |birth_date={{birth date and age|1984|07|10}} |death_date= |birth_place=Jonancy, Kentucky |death_place= |nickname=Marlboro Man<br/ >Marlboro Marine |birth_name=James Blake Miller |allegiance={{flagu|United States|1960}} |branch={{Marines|United States}} |service_years=2001–2005 |rank= |unit=8th Marine Regiment |battles= Iraq War<br /> * Second Battle of Fallujah }}
'''James Blake Miller''' (born July 10, 1984) is a United States Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War, who fought in the Second Battle of Fallujah and was dubbed the "Marlboro Man" (and the "Marlboro Marine") after an iconic photograph of him with a cigarette was published in newspapers in the United States in 2004.<ref name=LAT111107>{{cite web |first=Luis |last=Sinco |url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-marlboro11nov11-story.html |title=Two lives blurred together by a photo |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 11, 2007 |access-date=August 5, 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Pettegrew |title=Light It Up: The Marine Eye for Battle in the War for Iraq|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NfEyCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT170|date=October 28, 2015|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-1-4214-1786-8|pages=170–172}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Regina Lee Blaszczyk|title=Producing Fashion: Commerce, Culture, and Consumers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRKu_r1VnAUC&pg=PA187|date=October 3, 2011|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-0605-0|page=187}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Guy Westwell|title=Parallel Lines: Post-9/11 American Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=plUZBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA158|date=October 21, 2014|publisher=Wallflower Press|isbn=978-0-231-17203-5|page=158}}</ref> Miller suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after the war.<ref name=LAT111107 />
==Early life== Miller grew up in Jonancy, Kentucky.<ref name=LAT111107/> Miller's parents' inspiration of his middle name was the show ''Dynasty'', and both grandfathers served in the military with one serving in combat during the Vietnam War.<ref name=SFGate2006>{{cite news |last=Stannard |first=Matthew B. |date=January 29, 2006 |title=The War Within |url=http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/THE-WAR-WITHIN-2505577.php |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=December 1, 2016 }}</ref> He became an ordained minister.<ref name=LAT111107/> Not interested in working in the coal mines, Miller joined the United States Marine Corps, with the intention of eventually working in law enforcement.<ref name=LAT111107/>
==Iraq War== ===Second Battle of Fallujah=== Miller was part of Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, a unit which took part in the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004. ''Los Angeles Times'' photographer Luis Sinco took a photo of 20-year-old Miller leaning against a wall, smoking a cigarette. In explaining the photograph, Sinco said 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."<ref name=LAT111107/>
===Marlboro Marine=== thumb|The "Marlboro Marine" photo of Miller by Luis Sinco|alt=A man with dirt and ash on his face in a military helmet, staring intently forward while he smokes a cigarette Sinco's photograph of Miller was published in many newspapers. ''CBS Evening News'' 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 fame, but shared information with Sinco. The two would remain friends thereafter.<ref name=LAT111107 />
After his identity was made public, people sent him care packages, including many cigarettes; President George W. Bush sent cigars, 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.<ref name=LAT111107 />
The photo was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 2005.<ref name=RS2008>{{cite magazine |last=Eliscu |first=Jenny |date=April 3, 2008 |title=The Troubled Homecoming of the Marlboro Marine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/the-troubled-homecoming-of-the-marlboro-marine-20080403 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=March 29, 2017 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/new_classics/2011/10/the_new_classics_the_most_enduring_books_shows_movies_and_ideas_since_2000_.single.html|author=Heather Murphy|title=The New Classics|work=Slate|date=November 6, 2011|access-date=November 7, 2011}}</ref>
==Post-war== {{update|section|date=October 2024}} After his tour, Miller returned to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.<ref name=LAT111107/> He was married in June 2005.<ref name=LAT111207>{{cite web |first=Luis |last=Sinco |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/photography/la-na-marlboro12nov12,0,3838305,full.story |title=Rescue operation aims to save a wounded warrior |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 12, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528025116/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/photography/la-na-marlboro12nov12,0,3838305,full.story |archive-date=May 28, 2008 }}</ref> Divorce papers were filed a year later.<ref name=LAT06272006>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jun-27-na-marlboro27-story.html |agency=Associated Press |title='Marlboro Man' Divorcing Wife After Dream Wedding |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 27, 2006 }}</ref> He was deployed aboard {{USS|Iwo Jima|LHD-7}}, to assist recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina. During that period he blacked out during a PTSD episode.<ref name=RS2008 /> In November 2005, Miller was medically discharged from the Marine Corps.<ref name=LAT111107/>
In 2008, Miller was living in his hometown and having difficulty receiving care from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.<ref name=RS2008 /> By 2013, he had reunited with his wife and, with the help of Sinco, has sought psychological help.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Marine haunted by Fallujah |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2013/03/18/natpkg-marlboro-marine.cnn |work=CNN |date=March 18, 2013 |access-date=March 29, 2017 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *McDonnell, Patrick J. (November 13, 2004).[https://web.archive.org/web/20090527050837/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/marlboromarine/la-na-marlboroman-mcdonnell11nov11,0,5500222,full.story "Marine Whose Photo Lit Up Imaginations Keeps His Cool"]. ''Los Angeles Times''. *{{cite AV media |people=Luis Sinco, Chad A. Stevens, Mary Cooney, Alan Hagman, James Blake Miller |date=November 16, 2007 |title=The Marlboro Marine |url=https://mediastorm.com/publication/the-marlboro-marine }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, James Blake}} Category:1984 births Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Iraq War Category:Living people Category:People from Pike County, Kentucky Category:People with post-traumatic stress disorder Category:United States Marines Category:War photographs