I got an email asking if this photo was one of mine.
Actually it isn't, but it was first published here in a recent slideshow. The photographer is named Ken Jasik, a Marine Combat Correspondent who was on patrol with me in Helmand, Afghanistan.
"It was when we were walking back to [the combat outpost]. It was the last stop before we got back," Jasik told me. "Lamaire says 'hey combat camera.' I look over he says "take my picture my girlfriend will love this." then he strikes the pose."
"There was no way i could not take the photo, and i love the meme."
Jasik is home now from Afghanistan, but, worth noting, the lens he took this shot with didn't make it — a Taliban gunman put a bullet in it during a particularly close call with Jasik (fortunately, the Marines with Jasik returned the gunman's favor).
The Marine in the photo is Cpl. Kyle Lamaire, and he embodied the definition of "quiet professional." A cold blooded killer on the battlefield, rocking a mustache quite out of regulation, he did have a goofy streak in him, like many Marines I've known.
Dog tired and battle worn, Lamaire noticed the camera and threw down this pose. We posted it, and the internet ran with it.
Last I checked, the meme had a few hundred shares and a thousand likes on the facebook site that posted it.
Lamaire and his unit, 2nd Battalion 5th Marines, have been home from Afghanistan for a few weeks now.
Jasik's lens on the other hand, didn't make it home in one piece:
NOW SEE: This Is What Happens When "Red Air" Strands Marines In Taliban Territory >
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