The War Photographer

To be completely honest, sometimes my job just doesn't seem as important as the other people I'm taking photos of or writing about.

 Here are these people (like Cmdr. Smith above) who are changing the lives of others. I'm here just taking photos of what it is they do. Imagine being the in the heat of battle w/out a weapon, but with a camera around your neck. It's not a pretty sight. The ones working and doing the fighting don't quite look at you the same - neither do most people for that matter.

All awkwardness aside, I went w/ some of the people I met here to the Bataan war memorial. If you aren't up on history, basically one of the biggest battles in the Pacific happened here - three times within about a three-year span! Many thousands of both Filipino and American Soldiers, Sailors and Marines died fighting here. The Japanese unsuccessfully invaded the first time, but shortly returned to finish the job - resulting in thousands of American and Filipino troops being tortured as POWs by the Japanese. The POWs were marched and tortured/murdered as they marched nearly 30 miles in six days w/ no food and water. They weren't even allowed to stop and relieve themselves - the literally had to piss and shit as they walked. Like I said - it was torture.

The US Navy w/ Admiral Nimitz and Army General McArthur led a MASSIVE attack some years later and took the country back at the Gulf of Leyette. How do we know? Here's how.

The combat photographers of WWII and every battle since made history their legacy. There's a museum inside this memorial - essentially downstairs. I wasn't allowed to take photos - ironically there were almost nothing but photos all around. At that point I realized if you took the military photographer and public affairs professional out of the room (i.e. remove all the photos and writing) you would have a bunch of old guns and uniforms w/ no information.

History is the legacy of the military photographer. Next time you see one - let them know you appreciate their work. As military members we do a lot of really good (and even bad) things for the world. Photography undeniably and exponentially amplifies the effect of our service members' work.