![]() After Saddam Hussein’s regime was toppled, Busch and his unit expected to leave the country in two weeks. It was a foreshadowing: his reserve unit was activated in 2003 for the invasion of Iraq.Īs a major, Busch commanded Delta Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance battalion, as they pushed deep into Iraq. What followed was a crash course that involved loads of extra work that eventually led to speaking roles, in television shows like Homicide, The West Wing, and films such as The Rules of Engagement, in which Busch was cast as a combat Marine. So I went into extra work to study it was my film school.” “I saw that I could do that if I could learn the technical aspects. “The scale was immense, but I had a lot more to deal with as a platoon commander than the director, Robert Zemeckis, did,” says Busch. On the set of the $90-million movie, something clicked. Had it paid better, he might not have responded to a call for movie extras in Washington, DC, which landed him a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part as a spectator at a Congressional hearing in the film Contact with Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. in history at Georgetown University, Busch spent his days doing backbreaking landscaping work for little more than minimum wage. “You wake up every day and you know you’re supposed to do something - that’d been built in - but you don’t know what.” While his wife, Tracy Nichols ’91, was getting her Ph.D. “During that transition period I was listing,” says Busch. The only time Busch was unsure of what role to play was when he left the Marine Corps for civilian life in 1996 (he remained in the reserves). He was going to fulfill at least one of his childhood ambitions: he was going to be a Marine. But when he told them at a cafe on Collegeview Avenue that he would be attending Officer Candidate School after his junior year, he did so with a sense of certainty. They were never in favor of Busch becoming a soldier - and, frankly, they thought they were in the clear after he arrived at Vassar and immersed himself in sculpture and drawing. Busch’s father, Frederick, an acclaimed novelist and literature professor, and mother, Judith, a librarian, raised him in the company of academics and artists. “They’re different disciplines, but in my soul, anyway, they’re related.”īenjamin Busch as Major Todd EckloffAs a child, Benjamin Busch dreamed of being a knight and warrior and, after seeing Star Wars, being a filmmaker. “You need great discipline to be an artist just as you do to be in the military,” says Busch. In his photography exhibitions ( The Art in War and Occupation), his independent film ( Sympathetic Details), and his roles in The Wire and now in Generation Kill, HBO’s miniseries about the invasion of Iraq, which airs in July, he’s deftly managed to combine his vocations. For Busch - a studio art major who enlisted in the Marine Corps, a platoon leader who dove into acting, a recalled reservist who discovered he was an art photographer in a war zone - a seemingly schizophrenic, careening career is actually a continuum. It was an early indication that Busch, who served two tours of duty in Iraq and was decorated with the Bronze Star, is the exception that proves the rule: making art and military service are not warring impulses. “I was a pretty weird character - a ‘hair-band’ enthusiast who was interested in history and stone masonry and cubism.” “I never wanted to compromise my personality,” he says. Any crack in his façade or unwanted detail revealed could potentially undermine his ability to lead. His audience - 1st platoon, Fox Company, 2nd battalion of the 8th Marines - kept a close, constant watch. I think all Marine officers and staff sergeants are phenomenal actors - they have to be.” Busch cast himself as a stern, physically fearless, emotionally inscrutable badass, and he played the part well. ![]() “You learn to create a myth about yourself pretty quick. I was staring down a pool of alpha males all looking to prove their prowess, and here I was coming from Vassar,” he recalls. While the newly minted second lieutenant had missed the first Gulf War, his men had not. I was not particularly happy that day.” Inset: Benjamin Busch as Major Todd Eckloff on the set of Generation Kill in South Africa.Ĭall it a command performance: Busch accepted a commission in the Marine Corps after graduating from Vassar in 1991. “The photo was shot in a dust storm by Sergeant James Letsky, USMCR, my LAV-25 turret gunner,” Busch says, “with my 35mm Canon camera. Benjamin Busch during the invasion of Iraq, April 2003.
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