echo5delta

xepherys sort of inspired me with his photos from The 'Stan, so I feel just barely confident enough to post a few of my own (although it's not a contest!).

Someday, I aim to sit down and make photography a serious hobby, but until then I'll go around taking random snapshots with mediocre cameras. These were taken during my last tour, Feb. '07 through last month.



One of our little patrol bases was far enough out that they could get away with violating the 'no pets' rule. I stopped by every chance I got to visit with my 'girlfriend'.



Sunrise, Camp Ripper/Al Asad.



Looking south across the Euphrates from atop Haditha Dam.



The dam itself - completed in 1972, built mainly by Yugoslavian contract workers and engineers.



The Chaplain's office at the dam. Couldn't resist a shot of that one...



Isn't this a snapshot from pretty much any American conflict since the early 50's?



Eating lunch during a day patrol, at the homeowners' invitation. DAMN, that food was good - every single time it was offered.



The inaugural match at the Haqlaniya municipal soccer field we funded & built. We didn't provide any of the equipment, but it was odd to see two teams have matching, fitting uniforms that mysteriously fell out of the sky...



One of the railroad station managers I worked with. He spoke English quite well, so he understood whenever I called him "James Bond" or "Mr. Connery".



My favorite of all that I took. I sort of wish the scale was better on the minaret of the mosque, but I like the elements of the former car bomb, the damaged building, the beautiful weather, and the date palm. I rotate this shot through my desktop background pretty regularly.

I've got a bunch of other very nice shots, but most of them are of me goofing off with crowds of mostly children (which would violate the forum rules). I had a blast during this deployment, primarily because I could always get out on a patrol and visit with people whenever I wanted. Less stress to be outside the wire than it is to be sitting on base, oddly enough.

Anyway, there you go. Hopefully I'm not wasting a bunch of space with this thread...

__________________
"Peace" is when nobody's shooting. A "Just Peace" is when we get what we want. - Bill Mauldin

snowy

What a great batch of photos. Thank you for sharing them with us. It's a refreshing perspective. I love the one of the men playing soccer.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

mixedmedia

Nice shots. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing!

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Plan9

Nice, bro.

Memories of 2006.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Charlatan

Great shots... thank for posting them.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

abaya

Thanks for sharing with us... I like the one of you all sitting down to eat lunch.

The last photo could have been taken in Beirut... right down to the car bomb aspect.

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

paddyjoe

thanks for sharing a slice of your life. much appreciated.....

sapiens

I don't understand your lack of confidence in posting your photos. They were all very interesting. Thank you for posting them.

SteelofUtah

This was BEYOND Great. I am always interested in Photos NOT filtered through the Media.

This was a BEAUTIFUL Collection.

I would LOVE any more you would like to post. I think we all would.

And in case someone didn't thank you for what you are doing for our country today......

THANK YOU SOLDIER

Steel

__________________
~~~Nothing worth Having in this life will ever come easy, but just because something is hard does not mean it is something worth having~~~

smoore

more please.

Not to pick nits but he appears to be a Marine. Some of them get a little antsy if you call them soldiers.

__________________
smoore

Nimetic

Thanks for that. It brings it home...

(Given all the ongoing debate re this situation)

genuinegirly

Dam Chaplain. hehe.

__________________
"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy

Fotzlid

I really like that one as well.

Aladdin Sane

Thanks! Thanks for the photos. Thanks for your service. Cheers!

__________________
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

echo5delta

True enough on both counts, but I really don't get riled about that, even in person.

Thanks for all the good feedback. I'll try to dig up some more from all the places I have pictures stored. I went through 4 digital cameras, one laptop, and a 500GB hard drive (which I restored to .CHK files), and there's pictures scattered all over them.

Found some more:


Way, WAY out in the middle of somewhere near Syria. This is also one of my favorite pictures from the deployment - it looks SO rough, like we've been slogging through firefights for a week or something... but it's really just that we rode about 80 miles in the back of an uncovered truck on dirt roads.



Having a spot o' chai at the grand opening of one of Haditha's city government projects. (Yeah, the photo was taken off base, if that tells you something...)




Another one of our dinners we were invited inside for - lamb, rice, raisins, peanuts, flatbread, etc. Can not tell you how friggin' yummy it was. No, seriously!



From one of our many, MANY weekly city council meetings. Three cities, plus the district, each with their own councils... each meeting at LEAST three hours... yarrrrgh.



One of our "Expeditionary Patrol Bases" I had to stay at a few times. It's basically just someone's house that we occupy (and pay a lease for) with a squad of guys.

We're moving away from that, though, and building "new" bases:

Yes - out of PLYWOOD. Sucks for us, but it means more Iraqis get their damn houses & schools back when we move out.

But at least the bathrooms are nice!



The sign left behind when the seabees finished our new base:


And indeed, it did actually SNOW there one night. Totally unheard of in our part of the country:


The read board at the entrance to the chow hall; hilarity as always:


And last but not least... while out on patrol one day, waiting to pick up a few more Marines who needed a ride with our convoy, I decided to pose down for a blatantly cheesy "ninja action killer man" pose:


I think it turned out pretty decent for a guy who didn't see SHIT for firefights or IEDs or anything. Goes to show that backgrounds are crucial sometimes for photography... and also that I had too much time on my hands.


I just organized everything I found into a set on flickr, so if you go there you can see pictures of me goofing off with kids, too. Some great pictures there!

__________________
"Peace" is when nobody's shooting. A "Just Peace" is when we get what we want. - Bill Mauldin

*Nikki*

Wow those are wonderful, I really enjoyed them. Thanks so much!!

Looking at your slide show photos I really liked:

The alcohol related incidents sign
The puppy
The kids

Halx

A look into another life. Always interesting.

__________________
You have found this post informative.
-The Administrator
[Don't Feed The Animals]

genuinegirly

Snow!! What a great experience!

__________________
"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq

"violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy