Memorial Day 2011

I was at the Gorge in George, Washington for Sasquatch Festival during Memorial Day. I was struck by the fact that none of the people there seemed to remember it was Memorial Day. In fact the opposite was true. During the Bright Eyes performance the lead singer, Conor Oberst made a personal point of talking about his pacifism and how horrified he was at the murder of Osama Bin Laden. The young crowd whistled and agreed...or did they?

I was standing next to a music reviewer and he asked me not knowing that I had just returned from Afghanistan what I thought about his statement. I told him I don't appreciate performers using an entertainment venue to make their personal opinion of a political nature. I'm there to be entertained. I also added I thought Oberst's statement was a sign of immaturity. The reviewer agreed.

The philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

What did you do this Memorial Day?

Afghanistan - Jalalabad

While the US was celebrating the death of Bin Laden, the soldiers who had just begun their year  in Nangarhar and Kunar Provinces were bracing themselves for the retaliation.

News from Afghanistan tells me that the Afghanistan Taliban is using this opportunity to retaliate while the world is looking at them.

Afghanistan Through My Eyes-At Ease

Not being a combat photographer or really a photographer at all I saw the war in a different way. The Army and Military strives to have everyone be the same. You dress the same, look the same, act the same...it's about being a team. On the mission you must be a unit, the unit of a platoon going out and accomplishing a task or goal to the big mission which you are a small part of the whole.

Life on the FOB is generally status quo...from one day to the next...if you survive, but your chance of survival increases if you're a synchronised team; think like a team and react like a team.

These photos were taken on FOB Joyce during the TOA (Transfer Of Authority) from the 101st division to the 25th division.

I was grateful to see moments when even in a simplistic way one could be an individual.

Afghanistan Through My Eyes-Montoya, NY Yankee Fan, Trapani & Sankbeil

On our C-17 from Manus into Bagram Senior Airman Bryan Montoya from NY out on the flight line caught my attention wearing a NY Yankee hat. Nice to see the yankee representation so far from home.

SRA Gna Trapani of Skaneateles, NY was also part of the fight crew, she's studying to be a pilot.

Tyler Sankbeil from Stoughton, Wisconsin was having a lucky day. He got to sit up with the pilot on the flight deck for the trip.

Afghanistan Through My Eyes-airplanes

There are many different kinds of airplanes in Afghanistan. When deploying from Hawaii, the 25th Division flew on a regular commercial charter DC-10. The service was nice and the crew changed everyplace we landed. The absolute best part of the trip was the hot towel service. It was almost as good as first class except of course the seating was too cramped even for me at 5'3" and 110 lbs.

When we got to Kyrgystan I took a few photos secretly.

I'm not sure what airline this is, but glad I wasn't flying it.

Then of course there is the country's airline: Kyrgystan Air. Little known fact...we are pouring millions of dollars in aide into Kyrgystan.

This is more like it. Our C-17 from Manus into Bagram...one fabulous place to another.