Holi Soldiers
March 10th, 2012 | The Wires | Posted by Mike Morones
In this photo provided by the Indian Army, an Indian Army soldier, center left, and a U.S. Army soldier smear colored powder on each other to celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in the desert of Rajasthan, India, Thursday, March 8, 2012. India and U.S. started a two week-long joint military exercise Monday in the Rajasthan desert to engage each other in a series of anti-terrorist and urban warfare drills, according to news reports. (AP Photo/Indian Army)
Rear View U-2
March 2nd, 2012 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
In this photo taken Feb. 16, 2012, a U.S. Air Force U-2 spy plane pilot Major Colby drives a chase car to guide a U-2 spy plane attempting to land during a training flight at the U.S. airbase in Osan, south of Seoul, South Korea. U-2 pilots in chase cars _ at Osan they are white Pontiac G8s _ race down the runway at speeds of more than 120 miles per hour (200 kph) to meet each landing. They guide the pilot down, radioing in the plane’s altitude as it comes to a full stall with about two feet (less than a meter) to go and essentially drops down to the ground. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Funeral for Army Brig. Gen. Terence J. Hildner
March 1st, 2012 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
A riderless horse, left, leads a caisson carrying the remains of Army Brig. Gen. Terence J. Hildner, during a burial services at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Wednesday, February 29, 2012. Hildner died of apparent natural causes Feb. 3 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Hildner, 49, took command of 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Aug. 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Drinking Cobra Blood
February 18th, 2012 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
A US Marine drinks cobra blood during a jungle survival program as part of the annual Cobra Gold 2012 combined military exercise at a navy base in Sattahip on February 13, 2012. About 13,000 military personnel from seven nations, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, US, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia are involved in the exercise ending on February 17. (PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP/Getty Images)
Unconditional Surrender Statue
February 17th, 2012 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
The statue entitled Unconditional Surrender stands tall in the parkway along the waterfront Monday, Feb. 13, 2012 in San Diego. The statue, which was modeled after a photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt taken in Times Square on V-J Day at the end of World War II, is schedule to be moved at the end of the month. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
Caddyshack Sniper
February 15th, 2012 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
Actor Bill Murray, wears a ghillie suit, usually worn by hunters and snipers, while hitting from the third tee at Pebble Beach Golf Links during the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
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)
