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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Picture of the Day - 4















I find myself wondering if I saw this Marine shot on CNN today....


(In this undated photo released by his family, U.S. Marine 2nd Lt. Joshua L. Booth, 23, of Sturbridge, Mass., is shown. Booth was killed Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2006, by a single sniper shot in Haditha, Iraq. Born in Virginia Beach, Va., Booth leaves his wife, Erica, and an 18 month old daughter.)

posted by mikevotes at 5:07 PM

7 Comments:

  • I know it's highly unlikely that he was in the video. He was killed just Tuesday, and CNN said that the killings in that video appeared to be mainly in Baghdad, but that video had a big impact on me and putting a face to it just made it stronger.

    Whether he was one of the soldiers shot in the video or not, with this article on his death,I now have a picture of it.

    This marine in full gear (still ccrisp, he'd only been in combat two weeks) talking to locals, and then going down, taking a fatal shot to the head.

    http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/10/19/sturbridge_marine_killed_in_iraq/

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 5:49 PM  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Blogger -epm, at 11:19 AM  

  • I find this photo reminiscent of a Civil War era portrait....

    You mention his 18 mo old daughter... The growing ranks of newly fatherless children is an unsung tragedy of this maniacal war.

    By Blogger -epm, at 11:22 AM  

  • I think the photo looks civil war, probably because he went to the Citadel, and I would guess this is their uniform.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:33 AM  

  • actually, it was the piercing eyes... though you're right about the uniform.

    By Blogger -epm, at 11:38 AM  

  • Mike, what do you think about CNN airing that video? I can't watch it. Don't have the stomach for it.

    I tend to think they should not have aired it.

    By Blogger Bravo 2-1, at 5:05 PM  

  • I've gone back and forth, but I think they should have. They handled it as well as they could. They cut out all the US soldier's faces and identification, didn't show anyone actually getting shot. They cut out or dubbed the propaganda bits. They cut in and out of the tape just to show what they were talking about.

    They even explained within the piece that it was propaganda and how it was being used.

    I think that was the right call. It is news, and it is a picture of the war we aren't seeing. The job of the media is to present a picture, and that is a small part of the picture from that side. It filled out a bit of the situation for me. These guys are approaching killing not in the stereotypical screaming crazy terrorist way, and that helps understanding.

    The hardest part to me was the soldier describing it from the US side. He took that long pause when decribing losing a marine on the rooftop. I could feel his pain and regret. That's also an image we don't see that's part of the picture.

    My only objection is the way they used the gunshot sound. I thought that was a bit exploitative.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 8:49 PM  

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