Audio Commentary Transcripts
Commentary by Spc. Edward A. Garibay
When I first took this shot, I was on a battlefield circulation with the command team for FORSCOM; Sgt. Maj. Riling and Gen. Thurmond. We were going around to a bunch of forward operating bases in southern Afghanistan. We got to one base operated by Second Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, and they had a layout of all these high-tech weapons that they used straight on the battlefield. Now normally, when I think of a high-tech weapon, I think of a laser-guided missile system, or some sort of surveillance satellite. But these weapons, were things that were used directly in combat, and when you look at this picture of the XM-25, you can see the scratches on the side of the weapon and the dirt on the handle. You can tell this weapon has been in combat. But more than that, when you look at the scope, you see in the glass, the reflection of the sunset and it almost looks like the weapon is thinking. It almost looks intelligent, which really sort of struck me. It has the old grit and feel of the old Army but yet up top, it's got the intelligence and the strategy and the thinking, of our new Army. The XM-25 has got to be one of the coolest weapons I've ever seen up close and personal, and that's one of the reasons I love being a public affairs Soldier; because you get to see all these cool things that not a lot of people get to see. And you get to talk to a lot of people including the command team of FORSCOM or even the Soldier just out on the battlefield doing his job. You get to see the full spectrum of operations and that's why I really love what I do. I wouldn't give it up for the world.
« Back to the Photo
Commentary by Spc. Ken Scar
I was out on my very first mission in Afghanistan. While waiting for a flight to get to Forward Operating Base Tillman, I was hanging out with Adam Ferguson, photographer for TIME magazine, when we heard the howitzers going off again and again on the other side of the FOB. We decided we might as well run over there to see if we could get a couple of pictures. If you never heard a howitzer going off, it's just incredibly loud. It feels like it's going off right next to your ear even though it was way on the other side of the FOB. So, we ran over there. They were firing enemy positions somewhere over the mountains but by the time we got there, they stopped firing. So, I went ahead and asked one of the NCOs if he had a Soldier in his unit who had a unique story or might benefit morale wise from having a profile piece written about him and they sent me over to this Pfc. Eric Park so I just followed him around for the next couple of days while he and his gun crew were doing what they do. The platoon is 3rd Platoon, they call themselves the 'Dirty Third.' They're with Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment. The next day, they started calibrating their weapon to get it to aim correctly. After so many rounds going off, the cannons dig themselves into the ground, they back themselves up into the earth with their spades. They try to keep them from doing that by stacking sandbags on them, putting stakes on them. There's really not much you can do, there's so much force coming out of the barrels of these weapons. This weapon dug itself into the ground, like 3 or 4 feet so they had to get around with shovels and by hand to try to dig these spades out of the ground. Then, they put this rod into the barrel of the gun and they jump up and hang from the rod and try to rock it back and forth until they can get the spades come loose and that's what you see in this photo. These three Soldiers are jumping up on the rod trying to get the spades on the other side of the cannon come up out of the ground. It's backbreaking work. It was exhausting as I tried to help in between taking photographs. We were all just tired by the end of it. They're balanced so well, you can actually roll the cannon by hand with like five people, one gun crew. They rolled it back into position and started firing again. It's an amazing weapon, even though it's so heavy, I was amazed that four or five guys could move this thing around because it's balanced so well.
« Back to the Photo
Commentary by Mollie Miller
When Spc. Cory Castro got home from Iraq and held his hands out to grab his daughter, Abigail, the little girl looked away shyly, seemingly not sure exactly who the man in uniform was. After a little prodding from her mom, Abigail cautiously wrapped her arms around her daddy's neck and laid her head on his shoulder. Though they had been apart for more than half of Abigail's life, this 1st Infantry Division daddy-daughter team came together as if not a single moment had passed. The importance of this first hug was written all over the little girl's face as she clung to her daddy. This father-daughter hug lasted a long time with both seemingly reluctant to let go and I left them to their moment before it ended. For Army families, hugs like this can never last long enough.