14-Hour Humvee Ride

During one of my days in Iraq I had the pain of taking about a 14-hour convoy trip from Camp Anaconda, north of Baghdad, to Tallil Airbase in Southern Iraq. Not the most exciting ride in the world since I was crammed in the back seat of a Humvee, at least this time I wasn't occupying the seat with the gas tank directly below it.
There isn't a whole hell of a lot you can shoot from the back seat of Humvee, except some Humvee TV pics, but I have already posted a few of those. Here is what you can get from a 14-hour convoy ride.
The ride broke me off pretty good and my knees were killing for days after that. I'm not sure how these guys do it day after day.

Another Episode of Humvee TV

I started shooting this series my first trip to Iraq and always enjoy the diversion of shooting while stuffed into the back of a Humvee. It helps keep the mind off things that tend to happen while riding in the back of a Humvee. And usually, as a journalist, you end up sitting in the seat that is on top of the gas tank. Not the best place to be if something bad is to happen.
This could be the last series of Humvee TV since the MRAPs are starting to replace the Humvees. The MRAPs are beastly vehicles that don't lend themselves to interesting window photos. My time in Baghdad was split between rides in Humvees and MRAPs. The MRAPs are safer but I still prefer a ride in a Humvee just because I can see what it is going on.

Enough with the words here is the latest installment of Humvee TV. These are just the images maybe later in the week I will get the slideshow together with some catchy Iraqi music.

The Shabakar Market aka The Fish Market

When Lt. Larry Pitts and other soldiers from the 2nd Battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment arrived a year ago, the market area was a place to get killed. Criminals and insurgents terrorized the neighborhood. Over the next several months, the soldiers raided hideouts and rid the area of gangs and terrorists. Once the market was cleared, it became the center of the soldiers’ reconstruction effort.

A Man with a Gun Over There

Kids and the Iraqi Flag

Stickball COP War Eagle

IED Blast

(a note from me: My newspaper requested I take the photo that was here down, so I have taken it down.)

Our first night out on a patrol was suppose to be a night of checking up on check points manned by the Sons of Iraq. Not long after we rolled out of Combat Outpost War Eagle there was a call over the radio that a VBED exploded down the street. So the paratroopers in their MRAPs tore down the street to the explosion. When we got there flames were shooting from the remnants of a van with debris covering the street. It took a few minutes for the paratroopers to realize that their was a body inside the van and half a body lying 10 feet from the van. Photographing the scene was nearly impossible since there was no lights except for flashlights quickly passing over the scene.

Seeing the body lying there in the gutter never felt real. Like it was just a movie set and the man was going to lift his legs out of a hole after the scene was filmed and go over to the craft services table for a cup of coffee and a muffin. But it wasn't. After the fact I'm more disturbed by the picture than the actual scene I laid my eyes on.

Later we found out the two were killed when an IED they were transporting went off in their vehicle, after members of the Sons of Iraq fired shots at them for failing to slow down for a check point.
--------------------

Here are a couple of pics from the event that doesn't show the bodies.