(T-G File Photo by Kay Rose) [Click to enlarge]

The photograph, by now-retired Times-Gazette editor Kay Rose, portrays the son of slain Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski, who grew up in Lewisburg. Her photo shows an 8-year-old boy receiving the American flag that had been draped across his father's coffin at Wheel Cemetery.

Phil Valentine of his own Red Live production company in Las Vegas, Nev., explained he wanted to use the picture in a music video for "Who Will Stand" as sung by Clint Holmes, and as an image during a documentary that explores issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

An early cut of the music video may be seen at www.whowillstand4us.com. The site did not yet include the photograph by Rose when viewed early this week. Valentine said he hoped to reach Marc Golczynski's widow Heather in Maryland, and/or his parents here in Tennessee. Henry Golczynski is a Murfreesboro businessman. Marc's mother, Elaine Huffines, teaches science at Forrest High School.

Rose agreed that the photo should be available for the Red Live productions so long as it wasn't used to advocate or oppose the war, she said Sunday. The Times-Gazette has had a policy of sharing its images with other media that acknowledge the source. Valentine has agreed to that.

The director's videos are avoiding any "political spin," he said, by focusing on what the documentary reveals from speaking with soldiers, Marines, their families and doctors.

"It's such a powerful photograph," Valentine said Friday. "People see it and it brings things together; the pain and sacrifice that the families go through."

The sacrifice of families of soldiers and Marines was recognized late last year in Lewisburg where the Golczynskis, Huffines and survivors of Todd Nunes and David Heirholzer were honored by the Elks Club where members expressed their respect for what survivors experience.

"It was a very emotional moment," Rose said of that afternoon of April 4 in the Wheel Cemetery. "I left in tears and I didn't know the family."

Her photograph shows a boy to be "as brave as his dad, who straightened his shoulders and held back tears," the retired Shelbyville journalist said.

Photos taken by Rose appear on the web sites for this newspaper and the Marshall County Tribune. The boy's mother is seen in the Tribune photo to his left. The T-G photo shows the boy's grandmother to the right. Rose stood between the burial tent and seven Marines who fired the 21-gun salute for their fallen comrade.

"It's very hard to be there and be compassionate and not intrusive ... during their moment of tragedy, but it's something that's made an impact which is why I was there," Rose said.

Valentine said the photo may appear during the music video and documentary for several seconds. That's "not a fleeting image" in terms of the time an image might be seen, Valentine said.

However great the impact of the photo -- to reflect the sacrifice of families -- Valentine's documentary extensively explores the psychological impact of war on soldiers and Marines.

It is "documenting the plight of wounded soldiers coming back from Iraq and their high suicide rate, drug abuse and alcoholism," he said. "The amputees are being given state-of-the-art prosthetics that cost $60,000 to $250,000."

However, the psychological needs of the warriors don't get similar attention, he contends.

One of several scenarios for the documentary includes military servicemen and women who are offered attention to psychological effects of war. However, Valentine said, "A lot of them refuse because they don't want it on their record. If you ask a soldier if he thinks there's something wrong with him, he will say 'No.'"

Valentine said he's been told of a questionnaire asking soldiers if they saw people get killed. They tell each other if they say yes, they're sent for evaluation when they just want to go home. Evaluation can be refused in the military, but not in other government jobs.

"Who Will Stand" executive producer Gerald Gillock was motivated for the documentary, in part, because of a Vietnam veteran who suffered PTSD long after that war. It prompted him to wonder why the man was still trying to get help from the Veterans Administration.

Veterans of World War II "don't suffer that much from PTSD," Valentine said. Their journey home included a sea voyage during which comrades could talk among themselves and compare experiences. More recent combat veterans are flown back to the USA in 48 hours.

"We do talk pretty extensively about the VA and how they need more help..." Valentine said, referring readers to his web site and that of woundedwarrior.org.

"Who Will Stand" is to be displayed at film festivals, including one this month in Nevada. It is Valentine's intention to have it available on DV D for sale.

He said he hopes it will raise awareness among non-military people about the needs of military people.

Some of what Valentine explains is substantiated by Ashley Gilbertson, a photo journalist who's published a book, "Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot." Before signing copies of his book recently in Vienna, Va., Gilbertson took questions and said that PTSD is afflicting more people than soldiers and Marines.