A photo taken of Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard of New Portland, Maine in Afghanistan and published by the Associated Press has caused much controversy.

The published photo shows Bernard, 21, wounded after being struck by a rocket propelled grenade in a Taliban ambush in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan.

The image shows fellow Marines helping Bernard after he suffered severe leg injuries before he was evacuated to a field hospital where he died on the operating table August 14.

A senior Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee called the Associated Press' decision to circulate a photograph of wounded soldier in Afghanistan truly appalling, The Hill reported.

Bernard was the 19th American to die in Afghanistan in August. Fifty-one Marines, soldiers and seamen lost their lives that month. Of the 739 Americans killed in and around Afghanistan since 2001, 151 died last year and 180 so far this year.

The picture was taken by Associated Press photographer Julie Jacobson.

View photo here.

Afghanistan