Home for the Holiday
November 28th, 2011 | Photography The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
Sgt. Sharon Stallworth greets family and friends upon arrival at Sacramento International Airport, in Sacramento, Calif., for leave from Iraq for Thanksgiving with her family. At left is her daughter, Shaymyia Stallworth, 12, and at rear right is her mother, Joyce Smith. (AP Photo/The Sacramento Bee, Renee C. Byer)
Home for Thanksgiving
November 24th, 2011 | The Wires | Posted by Mike Morones
Valerie McElwaney, 51, McDonough, hugs her son, Spc. Miles Crook, 22, of Kennesaw, Ga., as members of the Georgia Army National Guard Dragon Masters (1-171st Aviation Regiment) arrive home from a yearlong duty in Iraq just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday at the Clay National Guard Center at Dobbins Air Base Nov. 23. It was Crook’s first deployment. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Curtis Compton)
Nomad Camp, Argandab
December 4th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
A Kuchi herder – Pashto nomads – tends to his flock of sheep outside of Rajan Kala, near the Argandab valley, during the closing night of Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim holiday that marks Abraham’s sacrifice – and ends up being a kind of Thanksgiving feast.
New FOB #2
December 2nd, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
After scouting some new desolate hills about 1000 yards away from the last compound, Staff Sgt. Matthew Sanders, Charlie Co., 1-17 Infantry, takes in his newly assigned patrol base, an empty hilltop outside of town. Who needed walls or buildings anyway for the winter? C-wire is just as good.
That Was Fast, Yet Again
December 1st, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
So that new FOB that 4th platoon just secured, and built up guard defenses, a proper bathroom with a door (minus some walls), dug up an entrance path for the Strykers, and whatnot for two days? Four hours after he visits the FOB with no official name, the battalion commander decides the site is no good and tells the men they have to move. Back to work, but in reverse… Looks like we’ll get no walls now, either – moving out to some field or hill, it seems.
No Vacancies
November 30th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
4th Platoon, Charlie Co., 1-17 Infantry’s sleeping arrangements – and the sole building on the compound? Those warm spots are reserved for a few cows that the landlord owns, part of the rental agreement. Now I know where we stand, cheers.
That Was Fast
November 28th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
After about an hour and half break from building the FOB, it’s back to work for 4th Platoon, Charlie Co., 1-17 Infantry. Their Thanksgiving meal is quickly worked off by digging out an entrance for the Strykers, filling sandbags, and building guard towers on the compound.
Happy Thanksgiving
November 27th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Members of 4th Platoon, Charlie Co., 1-17 Infantry, eat their Thanksgiving meal after taking over a compound for a brand new FOB near the Argandab valley in Kandahar. Most of the troops said the dinner was decent enough – although there was one loud dissent, “the mashed potatoes taste like shit! And that’s the best part of the meal!” It was universally agreed, though, that flying and trucking in a hot holiday meal was a very, very good thing.