Our Military Men

In 2005 I photographed marines and sailors at homecomings, boot camp and advanced military training at Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, and 29 Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.

In December, 2011, most of the last U.S. military troops pulled out of Iraq.  At that time, since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and the United States’ invasion of Iraq in 2003, more than 6,200 U.S. military troops (men and women) were killed and 47,300 wounded,* including loss of limbs and brain injuries.   Several hundred thousand Iraqi civilians were killed,** most by warring militias, when the U.S.-Iraq war was set in motion.

Regardless of what one thinks of the wars, there’s something about walking around a U.S. military base at dawn and having each military man who passes by say, “Good morning, Ma’am."

*Source:  Associated Press

**Source:  John Tirman, Executive Director, MIT Center For International Studies, and author of the book "The Deaths of Others:  The Fate of Civilians in America's Wars"