Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/07/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Philip, I think that you will adjust over time. My dad was in the 3rd army from the landings in N. Africa through Anzio into Rome and the south of France. Especially at Anzio casualties were very high; his comments consisted mostly of sending 10 replacements up the hill at dawn and bringing 11 casualties down at dusk. He declined promotion as he didn't want to order friends killed(assumption on motive). War is very nasty business indeed. Here in the southern U.S. the devastating losses during 1860 to 1865 were/are not regretted; only losing.(The ending of slavery is not regretted) If you are ever in Marc Small's part of the world stop by the University of Virginia and examine closely the main administration building. Maybe 80% of the classes were killed during the 1860-1865 period. However, the LUG is not the place for this. On 7/20/07, Philip Forrest <photo.forrest@earthlink.net> wrote: > > It is horrible and it's put me off journalism forever. The career I loved > & > made my life's pursuit only lasted a few years. Now I just want to take > landscapes with my 6x12, or some street photography of old women shopping > at > fruit stands and the like with my M4. Candid portraiture. > The war in Iraq ended for me in January of 2005, but still is with me > every > moment. I smell & taste the burning city of Fallujah once in a while & > call > my mother to tell the family that I love them all dearly. The > psychological > toll of veterans must be incredible because I got to see only a little bit > of > the war. I never killed anyone, I never fired a shot in anger or > defense. I > documented the destruction that the Marines caused & my Seabee battalion's > efforts to reconstruct the infrastructure of Fallujah. I was in the city > for > only 6 months during the "liberation" from insurgent control. Here we are > several years later & it's still going on with no progress made so to > speak. > I'm curious to think what my generation will do in the world (I'm 30 years > old) after this war has ended, if it ends. I like to think that we're > creating a society of "peacenik" veterans by sending the hundreds of > thousands of troops over there. If that's the "silver lining" of this > war, > then perhaps there's hope for the future. > Apologies to the LUG for my political posting. > I took the photos with my Leica, does that count? :) > > Philip > > > > On Friday 20 July 2007 15:41, Lottermoser George wrote: > > Philip, what can I say? My heart goes out to you for what you saw and > > felt in that place. I cried all the way through the reading of the 12 > > page Nation article. We are not only alienating the Iraqi people we > > are destroying the mental health of our military folks. And for what? > > It is such a horrible inhumane mess. > > > > Regards, > > George Lottermoser > > george@imagist.com > > > > On Jul 20, 2007, at 2:34 PM, Philip Forrest wrote: > > > Thanks George, for posting the article. > > > I took this photo in December, 2004 of a mass grave that my unit > > > dug to bury > > > the bodies of several thousand Iraqis who were classified as > > > collateral > > > casualties. This was the "nicest" photo of death that I took out > > > there. > > > > > > http://tinyurl.com/33mvgf > > > > > > Leica M2, Kobalux 28 > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- Don don.dory@gmail.com