02 May 2012

This image was made seven years ago today.   There had been a great deal of combat.  It’s been said that the “Deuce Four” was the most decorated unit in the Iraq war.  I do not know if this is true, but if not, it is probably close.

There had been a suicide car bomb that attacked in a civilian neighborhood.   The Soldiers did their best to help the people.  Little Farah, seen here, cradled by Major Mark Bieger, would soon die of her wounds.

As the months unfolded, fighting remained intense and many Soldiers in the Deuce Four would be wounded or killed.

On the home front, some veterans went off to school and got degrees, or in some other way kept living their lives.  Others took routes that we so often hear about.  Substance abuse, trouble with the law, broken families.

The years unfolded, and many returned to Iraq for more combat tours.  They kept fighting and more were killed and injured.  Others went off to Afghanistan.  I would meet many of them in combat in the following years in Iraq or Afghanistan, and there they always shined.

This image seems like it was made just yesterday, and like a million lifetimes ago.  Without the photo, this day was just one of countless others that would rip across the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and even Bangkok.  The day Farah died was average for Iraq.   Terrible?  Yes.  Unique?  Others were far worse.  Only the camera made this day unique.

Please read: LITTLE GIRL

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