Once were heroes

WASHINGTON - A cigarette hung from his mouth in the manner of John Wayne or Humphrey Bogart, his grime-covered face showing the exhaustion of battle.

This image of US Marine Lance-Corporal Blake Miller, taken during the battle of Fallujah, instantly captured the public imagination and for a while he was known simply as "Marlboro Man".

His image was seized upon by the pro-war pundits. CBS News presenter Dan Rather once told his viewers: "For me, this one's personal. This is a warrior with his eyes on the far horizon, scanning for danger. See it. Study it. Absorb it. Think about it. Then take a deep breath of pride. And if your eyes don't dampen, you're a better man or woman than I."

But 15 months after that photograph appeared in more than 100 US newspapers, the 21-year-old is back from Iraq, back on civvy street and talking about the trauma of what he experienced and the scars he still bears, physical and mental.

The once unquestioning Marine is now also questioning whether US forces should be in Iraq.

The experts call his condition post-traumatic stress disorder, but Miller describes it in more immediate language: nightmares, sleeplessness and periods of "blanking out", not knowing where he is or what he is doing.

"I could tell you stories about Iraq that would make the hair stand up on the back of your neck," he says. "And I could tell you things that were great over there. But that would still not tell you what it was actually like. You had to go through it to really understand."

Miller is not alone. The Veterans Affairs department said last week that up to a third of US troops returning from Iraq or Afghanistan - 40,000 - suffer mental health problems.

The department is to spend an extra US$29 million ($42.4 million) on troops who have PTSD. Days ago, we reported the suicide of another veteran of the Iraq war, Doug Barber, who struggled with his experiences after he returned to civilian life.

Miller, who was honourably discharged in November after psychologists decided he would be a threat to himself or colleagues if he remained in service, said there remained a stigma about mental health issues.

He told Knight Ridder Newspapers: "I want people to know that PTSD is not something people come down with because they are crazy. It's an anxiety disorder, where you've experienced something so traumatic that you're close to death."

Miller's photograph was taken in November 2004 during the battle for Fallujah.

The two-week operation resulted in the deaths of up to 50 US soldiers, an estimated 1200 insurgents and an unknown number of civilians.

Miller says he now questions US tactics and believes troops should have been withdrawn some time ago.

"When I was in the service my opinion was whatever the Commander-in-Chief's opinion was. But after I got out, I started to think.

"The biggest question I have now is how you can make a war on an entire country when [only] a certain group is practising terrorism against you? It's as if a New York gang went to Iraq and blew some stuff up and Iraq started a war against us because of that."

Miller's image was captured by the LA Times photographer Luis Sinco. At the time, he smoked five packs a day. Now, recently married and looking to make a fresh start, he has cut down to just one. 
 

'Others don't talk about it - we knew what to expect' 

LONDON - Corporal Gordon Pritchard was one of several soldiers pictured posing proudly alongside Tony Blair as the Prime Minister visited Shaibah base near Basra days before Christmas.

Little over a month later, the 31-year-old father of three became the 100th British soldier to die in the war, killed when a roadside bomb detonated near his Land Rover.

Born into a military family, Pritchard had gone to Iraq to serve his country as a professional soldier - fully aware of the dangers his occupation entailed.

"One of the last things Gordon said before he left for Iraq was, 'Dad I'm going to get you a medal'. He was determined to prove himself," his father, Billy, said yesterday.

Corporal Pritchard died when insurgents targeted three 7th Armoured Brigade vehicles collecting water and supplies in the port of Umm Qasr, south of Basra.

He was commanding the lightly armoured lead Land Rover and was "top cover", with his head and shoulders exposed to the blast when a roadside bomb went off.

Three years ago, Gordon's brother Peter was among the first British troops to cross the border into Umm Qasr at the start of the invasion of Iraq and helped to liberate the town.

Billy Pritchard, formerly of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, said the family had been aware of the risks.

"Other families don't talk about it but we did and we knew exactly what to expect and discussed it all - even down to the funeral arrangements."

Born while his father was stationed in Germany, Gordon Pritchard had always wanted to be a soldier.

He was a junior leader, went to the Queen Victoria School in Dunblane - a boarding school for children of servicemen - and joined the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards on leaving.

"Scotland's cavalry", as his father proudly proclaims, was formed by the union of the 3rd Carabiniers and The Royal Scots Greys, whose origins date back to 1678.

For more than 40 years there has been a Pritchard serving in the regiment.

"I joined up in the 1960s, Gordon's older brother was in the regiment and Gordon was proud to be too. That's 40 years of family tradition which has abruptly come to an end," Billy Pritchard said yesterday at his home in Edinburgh.

He was wearing the regimental badge on the lapel of his jacket.

"Gordon served in Kosovo and Bosnia but this was his first time in Iraq. He wanted to go. He had done all the training and was happy to go."

Pritchard went out to Iraq in October and had been due to return to the regiment's base in Germany in May.

Yesterday, his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ben Edwards, described him as one of the regiment's finest junior non-commissioned officers. "He was a soldier with very great potential and had been identified in the past year as one for whom the regiment had high hopes," he said.

"Corporal Pritchard demonstrated leadership qualities above and beyond those expected of a junior non-commissioned officer.

"He was highly proficient at all aspects of his job, remaining calm under pressure and adapting well to the intricacies of an operational environment. Always quick with a smile, with an especially dry sense of humour, he led his men by example."

Gordon Pritchard's widow, Julie-Anne, was yesterday staying with their three children at her parents' home in Somerset.

- INDEPENDENT