Moonrise DC
February 8th, 2012 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
This NASA photo released February 8, 2012 shows a United States Marine Corps helicopter (HMX-1) flying through this scene of the full Moon and the US Capitol on February 7, 2012 from Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. (Bill Ingalls/AFP/Getty Images)
Marine One Arriving
January 27th, 2012 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
Marine One, center, with President Barack Obama aboard, prepares to land at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
AP Photographer Searches For Wounded Marine
December 29th, 2011 | Photography The Wires | Posted by Mike Morones
In this Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011, photo, injured United States Marine Cpl. Burness Britt reacts after seeing pictures of his evacuation laid out on his bed in the Hunter Holmes Medical Center in Richmond, Va. Britt is facing a long recovery after a large piece of shrapnel from an IED in Afghanistan in June 2011 cut a major artery on his neck. During his first operation in Afghanistan he suffered a stroke and became partially paralyzed. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
AP photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus has covered war and conflict for 20 years. She has received a Pulitzer Prize and the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage in Journalism Award for her work. She has spent considerable time covering the Afghan conflict and spent 2 1/2 weeks in June with the U.S. Army’s “Dust Off” Medevac unit in southwest Afghanistan.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Inside the medevac helicopter in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Cpl. Burness Britt bleeds profusely from his neck. He and two other Marines have just been hit by shrapnel, with Britt’s injuries the most serious. The medevac crew chief clutches one of Britt’s blood-covered hands as he is given oxygen. I take hold of the other.
With my free hand, I lift my camera and take some pictures. I squeeze Britt’s hand and he returns the gesture, gripping my palm tighter and tighter until he slips into unconsciousness. His shirt is ripped, but I notice a piece of wheat stuck to it. I pluck it off and tuck it away in the pocket of my body armor.
In my 20 years as a photographer, covering conflicts from Bosnia to Gaza to Iraq to Afghanistan, injured civilians and soldiers have passed through my life many times. None has left a greater impression on me than Britt.
I knew him only for a few minutes in that helicopter, but I believed we would meet again one day, and I hoped to give him that small, special piece of wheat. Click to continue reading here
In this Saturday, June 4, 2011, photo, injured United States Marine Cpl. Burness Britt reacts after being lifted onto a medevac helicopter from the U.S. Army’s Task Force Lift “Dust Off,” Charlie Company 1-214 Aviation Regiment. Britt was wounded in an IED strike near Sangin, in the Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan. At the Hunter Holmes Medical Center in Richmond, Va., Britt is facing a long recovery after a large piece of shrapnel cut a major artery on his neck. During his first operation in Afghanistan he suffered a stroke and became partially paralyzed. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
First Kiss
December 21st, 2011 | The Wires | Posted by Mike Morones
Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta, left, kisses her girlfriend of two years, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Va., Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2011, after Gaeta’s ship, USS Oak Hill, returned from 80 days at sea. It’s a time-honored tradition at Navy homecomings – one lucky sailor is chosen to be first off the ship for the long-awaited kiss with a loved one. On Wednesday, for the first time, the happily reunited couple was gay. (AP Photo/The Virginian-Pilot, Brian J. Clark)
Last Troops Leave Iraq
December 18th, 2011 | The Wires | Posted by Mike Morones
KHABARI AL AWAZEEM, KUWAIT – DEC. 18: The last American military convoy to depart Iraq from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses over the border into Kuwait on December 18, 2011 in Khabari Al Awazeem, Kuwait. Around 500 troops from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division ended their presence on Camp Adder, the last remaining American base, and departed in the final American military convoy out of Iraq, arriving into Kuwait in the early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2011. All U.S. troops were scheduled to have departed Iraq by December 31st, 2011. At least 4,485 U.S. military personnel died in service in Iraq. According to the Iraq Body Count, more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died from war-related violence. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
President and First Lady Visit Fort Bragg
December 14th, 2011 | The Wires | Posted by Mike Morones
First lady Michelle Obama hugs a soldier in the 440th Structural Maintenance Hangar at Fort Bragg, N.C., Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. President Obama and the first lady traveled to Fort Bragg to pay tribute to soldiers returning from Iraq. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Winding Down in Nasiriyah
December 5th, 2011 | The Wires | Posted by Mike Morones
U.S. Army Sergeant Bruno Sicilia from Fort Hood, Texas of the 2-82 Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, goes on one of his last patrols before heading back to the United States from Camp Adder on December 4, 2011 in Nasiriyah, Iraq. The Army continues to send its soldiers and equipment home as the base is prepared to be handed back to the Iraqi government later this month. Camp Adder is one of the few bases remaining that the United States controls as America’s military continues its pullout of the country by the end of this year, after eight years of war and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Blackhawk over Nasiriyah
December 4th, 2011 | The Wires | Posted by Mike Morones
A U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter flies over the desert on Dec. 1, 2011, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. The U.S. military continues its pullout of the country by the end of this year, after eight years of war and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Tip of the Spear
December 1st, 2011 | Photography The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
Active U.S. Army servicemen from the U.S. Army Drill Team practice a routine ahead of the British Military Tournament at Earls Court on Dec. 1, 2011, in London, England. Around 700 participants, including active servicemen from the Army, Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, will perform at the The British Military Tournament, which includes a motorcycle performance by the Royal Signals White Helmets, more than 100 horses and an array of military vehicles. The show takes place Dec. 2-4, 2011, at Earls Court Exhibition Centre. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
November 30th, 2011 | Photography The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
Marine Corps Maj. Reginald McClam, a military aide to the President Barack Obama, holds onto his cover as rotor wash from Marine One generates a strong wind while landing on the South Lawn of the White House to pick up President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)