Marlboro Soldier Struggling With PTSD

Most people have seen the now-iconic photo of a young soldier's face covered with dirt and blood while he smokes a cigarette. It has become a classic photograph, like that of the recovery workers looking at the American flag hoisted at ground zero, or the sailor kissing a random woman at the end of WWII.

What most people don't know is that Jame Blake Miller, the soldier from that photograph, is now trying to live with severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

Now Miller is a different symbol in a different time. As the war has dragged on, Miller's life has collapsed in the face of post-traumatic stress disorder. He draws a disability pension for his condition and his personal life is a wreck. He suffers from nightmares, panic attacks and survivor's guilt. Despite the immense goodwill of a grateful nation, Miller has slumped into struggle and despair. Last week came the news that he and his childhood sweetheart, Jessica, were getting divorced.

Marlboro Man is no longer an icon for the American warrior ethic. He is a symbol of pain and suffering and the enormous problems endured by veterans returning home. He has become the public face of shell-shock. No longer the victor, Miller has become one of the war's victims.