Former Marine-Turned-Journalist Returns to Afghanistan to Cover the War

Former Camp Pendleton Marine Marian Anthony has found himself back in the middle of the war, but this time he's documenting the events instead of fighting on the front lines.

Anthony deployed to Afghanistan in May as a journalist to follow the soldiers with whom he once served. The Carlsbad local has kept close ties with his former command, 1st Marine Division, which offered him the opportunity to reunite with his remaining platoon members in theater.

“It’s an honor to be invited back in by 1st Marine Division and journal through the end of this war,” said Anthony.

Anthony used his allotted vacation time for the year to make the trip back to the Middle East. He returned to Carlsbad in June with more than 100 hours of raw video footage. The former Marine plans to feature exclusive interviews and findings in his new book, Holiday in Afghanistan, scheduled for release in late 2011. Told from the perspective of a Marine-turned-journalist, the working manuscript will include firsthand interviews with Marines, and give a detailed account of the war and the cost-benefit analysis of Operation Enduring Freedomin total.

At his own expense, Anthony chose to reunite with his former platoon, which was conducting patrols in the poppy lands of Southern Afghanistan in the Helmand Province. The author welcomed a cross section of reader queries he proposed to U.S. Marines fighting in Afghanistan.

For more information, on Holiday in Afghanistan, click here.

You can see some of Anthony's video footage by clicking on the YouTube video at the right.