Hoover Street vs. Main Street Shootings Recall 'Bad Old Days'

An intense outbreak of gang violence has residents of two Southside neighborhoods flashing back to the dreaded 1980s after a swarm of shootings between the Hoover Street Criminals and the Main Street Crips left one dead and at least two people wounded.  

"It's getting like the '80s again," said a man Friday afternoon as he walked past a "Murder Memorial" set  up at 97th and Main streets. "The bad old days are coming back. It had slowed up, but now the kids born in those crazy years are starting to act like their parents."

Thursday morning, 28-year-old Douglas Wooley was shot and killed at that corner shortly after 10 a.m. as he was walking. Police and local residents say Wooley was not a member of the Main Street Crips, long a force in this neighborhood, but that members of his family are. "He never bothered anyone," was the most common comment about Wooley. 

Sandwiching his death were two shootings on Hoover Street that left two males wounded, one critically. Four men along Hoover Street near 83rd echoed the concerned man on Main Street, dreading a return to the violent days of the 80s and 90s. "It's getting really hot again," one said.  

Thursday and Friday the LAPD was out in force and vowed an increased presence in the area for as long as it takes to quell the violence. "Unlike the projects, the two areas are very large, but we are in suppression mode," said Capt. Phil Tingirides, commander of the Southeast Division who is helping coordinate the efforts with 77th Street Division and Criminal Gang Homicide Division. "We have a high visibility. and the detectives are working the cases hard. Plus, we're working closely with [gang] interventionists."  

(Warning :The following story comes from a man who was legally drunk and freely admitted it. ). 

Hours before Douglas Wooley was killed, he called 911 out of concern for a drunk neighbor who was intoxicated to the point where he collapsed  "I got drunk, a little too drunk, and people were concerned, but I guess he was the only one concerned enough to call the paramedics," said a man who goes by La Vigga, a 60-year-old local aritst. "They came and left. But, when I really woke up from my drunken stupor, he was dead."

The Beautiful Farewell of Sam Benton, The "I'm Blessed Man"

I have attended more than 100 funerals, but save services for my closest family, I have never been more moved at one than I was today for the funeral of a 62-year-old homeless man who was stabbed to death two weeks ago near Nickerson Gardens.

I called him the "I'm Blessed Man" here when I wrote of his  ignominious St. Valentine's Day death on 112th Street and Evers around 6:30 p.m., his body found laying face down, half on the sidewalk, half on a brown lawn next to a chain link fence and a plant. That's what he would say, "I'm blessed",  whenever a lady - the lady who found him laid out - would ask him how he was doing. I was struck how no one I talked to the next day in the projects, the tightest-knit community in town, knew who this guy was. So I vowed to find out.

He was Samuel Lee Benton, Jr., born Nov 4, 1951 and raised in Compton, on Piru Street. He graduated from Centennial High School and enlisted and served in the United States Marine Corps as a medic in Vietnam.  He was well-read, a jack-of-all-trades, a single man eager to help his family and friends. He was a car salesman at Sopp Chevrolet in Bell. But, after he lost that job, he started to skid. He lived in the small homeless encampment near the 105 Freeway and Central Avenue where he panhandled the off-ramps .He was a crack smoker.

And as addled by drugs as he was, Sam would tell anyone who bothered to ask how he was that he was "blessed."

"When i read what you wrote about Sam always saying 'I'm blessed', I thought, yeah, that was my brother," said Dianne Grey a few days ago as she and her sister and daughter reminisced about Sam Benton.. 

But, you never can know a stranger until you go to their funeral.

I didn't know what to expect as I drove toward the funeral at the Simpson Family Mortuary in Inglewood. Would there be only the family I had visited? Maybe Cousin Keith, who I talked to, also.  Maybe a few of the homeless, though i doubted that. So when I pulled into the packed parking lot off Manchester near Crenshaw, I thought maybe there was another funeral going on there as well as Benton's. I even asked someone "Is this for Sam Benton?" It was.. 

Inside the Chapel of Roses were roughly 100 impeccably-dressed family and friends of Sam who shed few tears, perhaps because the shock of the two-week-old homicide had subsided.

Still, on this very rainy day, most seemed surprised, if not alarmed, to hear the words of Sam himself. On a February 28th, nine or 10 years ago, Sam Benton was sitting on the porch of his "Grannies" house on Piru Street when friend and neighbor Kim Curry-Goldsby walked up.

"I want you to read this at my funeral," Sam told Kim, adding "Promise me you'll read this at my funeral,"  Curry-Goldsby promised she would with one condition; That he accept the lord. He did.

Today, Kim Curry-Goldsby, looked back at the American flag-draped coffin holding Samuel Lee Benton, Jr, and made good on her promise. 

"I can no longer afford to be nonchalant about my future. Today will be the day my life becomes on track. Life not is a total bust. I need to make a drastic change. I'm making a mistake only living one day at a time."

Curry-Goldsby went on reading more of Benton's words, then added that the paper was signed "February 28, but no year listed. It was either 2004 or 2005. I can't remember.  Anyway, his funeral was supposed to be yesterday, February 28."

Then the song "Goin' Up Yonder" by Walter Hawkins and Lady Tramaine came on. If ever a song and moment went together, it was right here and now.

"If you want to know  ...    where I'm going...., where i"m going ...soon,........ if anybody asks you....., .where I'm going....... where I'm going....., soon. ......I'm goin' up yonder...... I'm goin' up yonder....I'm going up yonder... to be with my Lord."

Man, I'm not religious but, Jesus, hearing that song in that setting. that got to me. I hope you listen to that song. Here it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGBr42HNlKY

After that song, Rev. D. D. Alexander spoke eloquently, not just about Benton, but about the homeless in general. "Sometimes we need to look at a person through their eyes. Sam, in his own way, was successful. Now Sam is done with the troubles of this world."

Others spoke fondly of Sam. "Sam had a lot of love," said a man who would only give his name as Dave. His sisters, his family, his friends would come by the off ramp and give him food, give him some money. They want him to come home, but Sam didn't want to be a burden to anyone." 

His niece Tanisha said her uncle was a good handyman and always there for her when she needed him. "Whenever he came over, I was like thinking, 'What do I need fixing?'"  He will forever be missed. I love you Uncle Sam.". 

One of Sam's sisters, who works near Watts and didn't want her name used, said  "He said he saw some some action in Vietnam, but not a lot. He didn't talk about it. When he came back from Vietnam i was so happy to see him, I just hugged him hard and i didn't notice anything wrong with him."

 Another sister spoke about how it was difficult to know her brother was out on the streets, but she had come to accept it. 

"A lot people, see someone living on the streets and think, 'How does someone's family member end up like that?'", said Benton's sister Dianne Gray. "I still don't understand it. But, Sam, he really was content. He really meant it when he said he was blessed. You're thinking outwardly he looks like a bum. But, inside, deep down he mean it. I heard someone said Sam thought  he was blessed. My brother knew he was blessed.'

And that plant his head lay next to as he bled to death on East 112th Street, four miles from his sister Dianne's home on West 112th., it was a Bird of Paradise. That's high drama, I know. But, it's true .

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LAPD Criminal Gang Homicide Division detectives Pete McCoy and James Jameson are actively working the case. The coroner's office said he was killed by a single knife wound to the chest. If anyone has information about who killed Sam Benton, call (213) 485-4341.

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You Don't Want Sam Marullo Knocking On Your Door

“If I was laying there dead on some Baltimore street corner, I'd want it to be you standing over me, catching the case.” – Fictional Baltimore PD Sgt. praising Jimmy McNulty of “The Wire”

“If I were ever murdered I would want Sammy investigating my murder because he would exhaust everything possible to bring the asshole or assholes to justice.”   –True LAPD Homicide Detective praising Sam Marullo of Criminal Gang Homicide Division.

###

It would be nice if nobody in town ever needed the professional services of Sam Marullo, but if they did – and, sadly, some will – they will be comforted in their darkest hours by a man fiercely determined to find whoever caused their anguish.

Marullo formally joined the ranks of LAPD homicide detectives last week in a ceremony at the Police Administration Building when one his mentors, detective Sal LaBarbera, pinned him with a detective’s shield.

When Sal LaBarbera first told me that “Sammy is being promoted to detective today”, I was kinda stunned. I said, almost incredulously, “Sammy Marullo? I thought he already was a detective.  

Turns out he was a “detective trainee” for South Bureau Homicide for six, seven years. No one on the streets took him for a “trainee”. Marullo even joked at the ceremony that no one knew he was “an imposter”.

“I’m honored by the position and hope I can live up to the expectations of the greats who have taught me and who worked a much more violent and stressful time. A special thanks to my detectives mentors Sal LaBarbera, John Skaggs, Rick Gordon, Chris Barling, John Zambos, Danny Myers, and Jeff Notle. And to my district attorney mentor , and now judge Joseph Porras.”

LaBarbera saw Marullo’s potential many years ago.

“I know early on that he was the perfect candidate to work homicide, but it took a while to convince him ” said LaBarbera. “He enjoyed the fast pace of field work. We finally convinced him that he could transition his expertise into becoming an outstanding homicide detective.”

One supervisor said Marullo so loved working the streets that he had to be “sat down and guided into doing something different."

“Sammy was doing 90 miles and hour in a 25 zone, “ said Southeast Sgt. Val Valenti, watch assistant watch commander at Southeast who was the OIC (officer in charge) of the gang unit when he supervised Marullo. “He was real stubborn and he loved working the streets. He’s a real hard worker.”

A guy who saw him going that 90 mph, maybe even a 100, was Det. Mike Levant who arrived at Southeast in April, 2000.

“Sammy and his partner, Ben Perez were known for being two hard working officers who always got into great capers usually involving gang members and guns,” said Levant. “I worked with Sammy a few times and there were always high expectations. Every time we went out, we came back with a good arrest.”

Once he did start working homicide, Marullo partnered up with veteran who gave no slack.

“I'm very hard on my partners as I don’t think most cops should work homicide or have the ability to work it properly,” said John Skaggs, current homicide coordinator of LAPD’s West Bureau, who was Marullo’s first partner in Southeast. “But, Sammy adjusted very well as officers with south end gang experience are usually the best to step into homicide. During his first year in homicide we cleared every case we were assigned.”

Skaggs and others praised Marullo because “cares about having open cases, cares about getting killers of the streets, cares about victims and their families.”

“To be successful in homicide you can "never drop the ball", Skaggs said. “When your phone rings you answer it. When the soonest a witness can meet is on your day off, you give up your day off. Sammy understands this.”

LaBarbera said, “Sammy is the kind of cop who was both feared and respected by gang members. He is one of the guys who is going to continue the tradition.”

Det. Sam Marullo, in uniform, with Det. Sal LaBarbera

Will Chapo Guzman Break Out of Jail? And if so, When? Top 10 Mac Park Quotes

This morning I heard that the Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, head of the mighty Sinaloa Cartel, has escaped from a maximum security prison for the second time, Guzman was last seen about 9 p.m. Saturday in the shower area of the Altiplano prison, 56 miles outside Mexico City, according to a statement from the National Security Commission,  Chapo likes to take a shower before escaping. 

This is the article from February, 22, 2014, the day after Chapo was taken into custody. 

In a Los Angeles neighborhood where kilos hurtled from Joaquin Guzman Loera's Sinaloa dope empire landed hard, news that "El Chapo" had been arrested Saturday morning in Mazatlan was met a jaded attitude that nothing will change in Mexico. The vast majority of the 30 people interviewed in and around MacArthur Park thought Guzman would break out of jail.  

Here were the top ten replies to the question "Do you think Chapo Guzman will break out of jail?"

1.  "Yes" - Jorge Garcia, 20,  worker at a smoke store at 6th and Alvarado. When asked "When?" the man smiled and replied "Three hours ago."

2. "Who's Chapo Guzman? You can go now." - A mirror sun-glassed 35ish man sitting atop of table in the Columbia Li'L Cycos 18th Street quadrant of MacArthur Park overseeing a group of 15 cash-clutching men gambling who listened as he spoke and laughed at some things he said. When pushed ( very lightly), he continued,  "I don't even know if it's really Chapo they caught. Last time they said they had him, they didn't. Come back when we know it's him. "

3. "Guaranteed. God is the lord of the sky, but Chapo is lord of the ground." - Alberto Cortes, 27, shopper.

4. "It's no problem for Chapo to break out. Minimum, one week, maximum, two weeks.  Money Money " - Carlos Casllo, 30,  taking time from watching Barcelona play soccer on a television set near the 6th street sidewalk with 19 others  (Barcelona lost 3 - 1 to Sociedad. Big upset, I hear.)

5. "Not this time, He's a headache for the Mexican government." - A guy who looked around nervously when I asked his name. He wouldn't give it up

6. "If the US doesn't push it and bring him here, Chapo Guzman will be free in a couple months. The people in Mexico love him. He builds houses. He brings water and power to them. He brings the needs of the people to the people," Osveli Orozco, 45, owner of a internet cafe/computer repair/shoe repair/printshop/video store.

7. "Two, three months, Corrupt cops will set him free," - Christian Garcia, 19, student.

8. "It might be in the works now," - Patrick, tall, muscular, heavily tattooed 30ish man leaving Bank of America across the street from the park .  "But, if he comes here, he's a goner."

9. "There's no need to break out. He's going to keep running the business from a prison in Mexico. And they won't extradite him - Eric Ayala, 33, manager of a different internet cafe  

10. "I'm not sure how long it will take, but why wouldn't he break out again? What history has shown us with drug lords is you don't know who is working under them.  And Mexico is very corrupt. It's going to be interesting." - Jesse Yaxon, 25, store manager.

### 

When told Chapo Guzman had been arrested, a 30ish white man in Hancock Park walking a boxer and a pit bull said "Is he some kind of Latino pop star?"

Kinda.

The Ignominious Death of The "I'm Blessed Man"

Whenever Stella Hancock asked a disheveled man walking along 112th Street in Watts how he was doing, he would always reply "I'm blessed." 

Friday night, the "I'm Blessed Man" was stabbed to death at Evers Avenue and 112th, near the northeast boundary of Nickerson Gardens.

I've covered with care scores of homicides in Watts, but something about this one struck me in a different way when I looked into it Saturday morning. I guess it was because nobody I talked to knew him, nobody seemed all that sad or shocked to learn someone had been killed nearby, nobody even seemed to care much. And all that is extremely uncharacteristic of this community. 

Hancock, long-time Nickerson resident who now lives across the street from the infamous projects, came home around 7:20 Friday night to see a face-down man who she believed to be sleeping, his body slumped half on her lawn up against a chain-link fence, half on the sidewalk.

"I told him 'You can't stay here', but he didn't respond," said Hancock. So, her friend nudged him. "She said he was cold. We called 911."

Two, three minutes later, the paramedics arrived, and took the man away.  

An hour or so later, 12 miles north, I was with my friend - and LAPD homicide detective - Sal LaBarbera when he got a text there had been a killing in Watts Where?, I asked. He checked. 1500 East 112th Street. "That's the Nickersons,"  I said. Sal checked further and learned it had been a stabbing, which is rare, and the victim was apparently an "old man". I figured I check it tomorrow.

I did. Intriguingly, outside the Nickerson Gardens  gym, Mission Control of the projects, nobody knew who the dead guy was. When I later told some friends that Stella Hancock said he always said "I'm blessed', Big Hank, legend, said "Smoker. Crack head. They always say that. 'I'm blessed'. I guess all the shit they've been though and if they are still standing they think they are blessed."

A little while later, I headed by back home. on the Harbor Freeway listening to a John Coltrane CD I had brought in the morning. Track 12 came on. I had never heard it, "Dear Lord." It was achingly beautiful and it made me think of the "I'm Blessed Man."

Who was he? I thought about Harry Bosch.."Everybody counts or nobody counts." Last night, Det LaBarbera found out the dead man's name, Samuel Benton He was 63. i'm gonna find out who Sammy Benton was.

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Orange Shoes May Have Led To Man's Shooting Death

"Why you got to keep wearing these shoes?" Leo Cisneros would ask his dear friend John Matthews, who had recently taken to wearing orange-trimmed Nikes. "He said they were a Christmas gift, but I told him not to wear them. You know what orange is 'round here, right?"

Orange "'round here" -- 89th and Vermont Avenue in Westmont where Matthews, 36, was shot and killed Wednesday night - is the color of the Hoover Street Criminals. Street sources suspected the shooter may have mistaken Matthews for a rival Hoover because of those orange shoes.

"People get mistaken around here all the time," said another friend of Matthews, Garry King.

Matthews, a handyman who was on his way to see his two young children, had apparently stopped to talk to a security guard at the 88th Street Temple Church of God in Christ when they where approached by a lone black man.

"The suspect walked up, said something to the two victims, then began firing," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Coleman, adding the shooting appeared to be unprovoked. Matthews was fatally wounded and the security guard was critically injured. As of early Thursday evening, no one had been arrested, but the many surveillance cameras in the area may provide detectives with valuable clues. 

After being shot, the guard, "Johnny", ran about 70 yards north into the church's parking lot before he collapsed. He was conscious and telling a church worker that he had "been hit." Thursday afternoon, a large blood stain remained in the parking lot.

"This is community here is the hottest, most dangerous in the city," said the church's pastor, Anthony Williams. "We need help."

In the bloody gutter of the sidewalk where Matthews was mortally wounded, a lone murder candle lay, smeared red.  Five feet away was the common Southside site of a makeshift memorial where, next to more - upright - murder candles, friends had placed a small. empty bottle of Hennessy cognac.

"We drank that bottle together at our Super Bowl  party," said Cisneros, smiling sadly.

"Yeah," chimed in King, "We invited all these people over for the Super Bowl, made all this food, barbequed chicken. but it was just us three at the party. It was great."

King said he had only known Matthews for two years, but they were like long-lost brothers. "When I met him, I had one of those feelings like "Where have you been?"

The Wonderful Transformation of Kartoon's Battlefield

Jan, 25, 2014

Back in the '70s and '80s, when Ronald "Kartoon" Antwine got into a fight, he was the Goliath, a six-foot four, 240-pound menace to Watts with a mad-at-the world scowl on his face and a sawed-off shotgun beneath a long, black leather jacket.

He was stationed on Monitor Avenue, the Eastern front in the battle between his gang, the Bounty Hunters, headquartered in Nickerson Gardens, and their deadly rivals, the PJ Crips of Imperial Courts. Across the street from his house there on Monitor between 113th and 114th, was an acre-sized lot with weeds as tall as Kartoon. Here, gang snipers fired, trashed was dumped,  hope was discouraged and darkness reigned.  For decades, it was a symbol of the despair and abandonment of Watts.  

But, on this lovely winter Saturday morning, thanks largely to Ronald "Kartoon" Antwine's determination, that ugly plot of earth became a symbol of all the things it wasn't -  hope, play and brightness -  as the first shovelful of its dirt was overturned, the opening  salvo in the transformation of the old battleground into Monitor Avenue Park. 

"Today I make amends to you," said Kartoon, as he spoke before a crowd of 150 that included California State Senator Keven De Leon, Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino and acting General Manager of the Dept. of Parks and Recreation, Michael Shull. "I helped destroy this neighborhood. I was a gang member. I was a drug seller. But, this is my amends."

Antwine details his battles against landowners Union Pacific, his fight against having a housing tract developed on the vacant lot, and how he refused to sellout, even with the promise of riches, in his own words here,  http://krikorianwrites.com/blog/2014/1/25/ronald-kartoon-antwines-fight-for-a-park-in-his-own-words

"We were the little guy against Goliath. We were the David," he said adding that blacks and Hispanics came together, signing petitions. going to meetings and overcoming obstacles, to make this park happen. "This is not my park. This is our park."

Antwine singled out Tori Kjer of the Trust for Public Land as a tireless advocate for the park. He called her "my baby mama": their "baby" being Monitor Avenue Park, Kjer in turn credited Kartoon with doing "the fighting for the park and getting other members of the community involved in the fight."

Antwine also thanked his lifelong best friend Greg Brown for his support.  

Local residents were thrilled the long-awaited park, which is expected to open toward the end of 2014,  was finally becoming a reality

"This park will lend a little life back into this community," said Angela Johnson who has lived in Watts for 11 years.  "I think it's great because we have some real men, like Kartoon, encouraging more young people to do the right thing."

Other people spoke, the state senator De Leon, council member Buscaino, even the pastor of the Macedonia Baptist Church down 114th Street, but this was Kartoon's day.

"My mom, Ruby Joyce,  was a religious person, but one day, about 40 years ago,  she lied and said there was a dead body in this lot, just so the police would come and clean it up."  For a moment, the big, tough guy was quiet. Then he continued. " It was a long fight, but this park is really going to happen. I am hopeful my kids' kids will be playing in this park long after I'm gone. I mean that, from the cavity of my heart and the depths of my soul."

(FTRecord : I've been  knowing Kartoon about 20 years. Here's how he  got his nickname. He would be at home on Monitor,  doing homework and the neighborhood boys would pound on the door wanting him to come out and play. Embarrassed to say he was doing homework, he would tell them he was busy in watching cartoons. The spelling of "Kartoon" is with a "K" because he was from Bounty Hunters and Bloods are not fond of the letter "c".)

Kartoon with Tori Kjer from the Trust for Public Land

"Southside" on "Big Deals" list, $1.99 for Kindle Version 'til Super Bowl

When I first saw that Amazon had lowered the price of the Kindle "Southside" to $1.99 I was bummed. What is it, some bargain basement shit? I'm like 'fuck those motherfuckers'. I'm talking more trash than Richard Sherman on Michael Crabtree. Then, the pubic relations guy at my publisher emails me with a "Congratulations "Southside" was selected by Amazon to be part of their "Big Deals". I'm told this program gets more readers for the selected books and, somehow, that even gets more people to buy the hardback..

Oh, Okay. Like good for Amazon, They're a smart juggernaut . I take back what I ranted.

Most of my 467 Facebook friends, they've been too busy to get and read my book.  I get that. Or even too broke. I totally get that. I know sometimes $20, $25 for a book is a luxury one can hold off on. I hear a lot of "I'm going to get your book". But maybe now, with it at two bucks, the Kindle version, at least, some of them can  get what the San Francisco Book Review called "One of the top thrillers of the year."

Now, anyone reading this far, they are friends and probably already have "Southside", my first novel. So I'm asking you folks to help pump up Southside and tell your friends, even Facebook friends, that it is only two dollars and give it a shot..

In the words of Michael Connelly, "Southside has muscle, insight and all the right stuff. Krikorian is an exciting new writer who has put all his experience and wisdom to work here. ”

http://krikorianwrites.com/book/

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Seven Questions with L.A.Times Photojournalist Luis Sinco

When I read recently the volatile Iraqi city of Falluja was back in control of various militant groups, I immediately thought of my friend Luis Sinco, who, as a L. A. Times photographer, covered the fierce "Second Battle" there in November, 2004 when the Marines took the city.

Lee, as Sinco is known to colleagues, took the iconic photo of the Iraq war,  a weary, cigarette-smoking Marine   resting for a moment after intense fighting on a rooftop. The photo, which became known as  "The Marlboro Man", catapulted Marine Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller to fame and garnered Sinco much admiration. But, both men were damage by the war.  

I e-mailed with Lee about Falluja shortly after he shot the BCS college football final Monday at the Rose Bowl

1. Krikorian Writes   -When you first heard Falluja had been taken over by militant groups, what were your thoughts?
 

Luis Sinco - I thought that less than 10 years after I covered the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War, the Marine assault to regain control of of the city from insurgents in 2004, nothing had changed. The U.S. shed a lot of blood and expended a great deal of money to destroy that city in order to save the country from complete chaos. Thousands of insurgents were killed as well. The dead consisted mainly of young men on both sides. And it didn’t change anything, really. It allowed a constitutional referendum and subsequent political processes to elect the Iraqi leadership. However, Iraq has been in a constant state of instability since the invasion of 2003 and American occupation. Our effort to instill democracy there resulted in one man, one vote --- and Iraq was and is 65 percent Shia Muslim. Did we really expect the Sunnis, who had held power for three plus decades under Saddam Hussein, to roll over? No. there’s simply too much at stake. Too much oil in the ground.

2. KW -  Are your thoughts any different today than from when you first heard this news?
 

LS - I have come to the realization that t’was ever thus, for the reasons I have stated above. Saddam Hussein was not a nice guy, even when we counted him among our “allies.” And then we invaded Iraq for completely bogus reasons --- non-existent links to 9/11 and Al-Qeda, non-existent weapons of mass destruction, our belief that democracy would fit among a people whose religion and culture generally treat half the population (women) as second-class citizens with limited civil rights or, in some cases, no rights at all. P.J. O’Rourke was on “Real Time With Bill Maher” and said it best: “We should have paid for the oil instead of trying to steal it.” Let’s be blunt. This was a war for oil. And for some $10 billion in infrastructure and political investments, the Chinese now are exploiting that resource. The U.S. bill reached into the trillions of dollars, and hundreds of thousands of American and Iraqi lives.

3. KW - Back on the rooftop with Miller,  i've read his account where he heard footsteps, turned around , rifle ready and then realized it was you . Can you take us through your point of view of that moment?
 

LS -  Everybody in that house was on edge. We had spent the entire night before pinned down behind a six-inch-high curb that ringed a traffic circle at the edge of town. In the morning, we came under heavy fire as we made our way through the streets of the city. It was estimated that some 2,500-3,000 insurgents had dug in and were waiting for the Marines. The company I was with got into an intense firefight right away, and we broke into a house to shelter from incoming small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. I had just transmitted some photos from the second floor and ran up to the rooftop to catch more of the action unfolding around us. In my haste, I did not identify myself as a “friendly” as I ran up the stairs. For all Blake and the other Marines knew, I could have been an insurgent running up to do them harm. It was that tense, chaotic and dangerous.

4. KW  - When was the last time you talked or communicated with Miller and how was he?

LS - I spoke with him by phone last last week and he is doing well. He has had intensive psychotherapy and is taking medication to help with his ongoing psychological trauma. He is worried that the Veterans Administration wants to cut off his disability benefits, and will do all he can to fight that. Despite having filed for divorce several years ago, he now is back together with his wife Jessica and they have a young son. They are also caring for a little girl that is his from another relationship. I cannot say much more than he is doing well. He is happy to no longer be in the public eye.

5. What affect did being in the Second  Battle of Falluja have on you?. I know that question could easily take a day to answer. 

LS - In short, I suffered psychological trauma as well, but was in deep denial about it for a long time. I am currently in intensive pyschotherapy. I came to the realization that I had a problem, when my wife of of 16 years and the mother of our three children, told me she had had enough and filed for a divorce. My journalistic career has been largely traumatic, whether through covering violent conflict, covering human poverty and misery, covering issues and people involved in crime, or covering environmental problems. Knowing the truth about the world as it is sometimes leaves you feeling despair and hopelessness. And that is trauma in itself.

6.  Any advice for a journalist going to the front?

LS - Do it if you feel the conflict is important enough for your readers to know about. But just realize most people don’t give a flying fuck.

7. . After being in Iraq with the Marines, can the BCS football game at the Rose Bowl be thrilling?

LS - I appreciate it for what it is — a game between two of the best teams in the country, with very fine athletes on both sides. Nothing more, nothing less. I do not consider it a stressful assignment or feel any undue pressure. After witnessing and documenting the state of so much of the world and its people, both within and without our borders, I can appreciate what real stress and meaning is.

Final Notes

Lee said  three photojournalists covering conflicts he really admires are Ed Ou, Javier Manzano and John Moore

After Lee answered my questions I was saddened to hear how tore inside he was and that covering the war had probably cost him his marriage. I emailed him. "I went to your wedding. wasn't it on the beach in san pedro? and the reception at some place down there.?  Clarence [Williams] and I got into a fight with some guys at another wedding. Your wedding was right on the sand, right?

He replied - You are right. It was beautiful