WEBVTT 00:00.040 --> 00:02.660 I'm going to start with one of the very 00:02.660 --> 00:05.190 few , if not the only picture that 00:05.190 --> 00:07.810 doesn't have a person in it and that is 00:07.820 --> 00:09.920 a couple of military vehicles and 00:09.920 --> 00:11.920 there's a sign that says corporal 00:11.920 --> 00:14.690 Dunham dr uh 00:14.700 --> 00:18.250 yes , okay , that is located on 00:18.250 --> 00:20.580 camp Blue diamond in the heart of 00:20.580 --> 00:22.413 Ramadi , which is the provincial 00:22.413 --> 00:24.930 capital of Iraq , Excuse me , of the Al 00:24.930 --> 00:27.930 Anbar Province . Corporal Dunham was 00:27.930 --> 00:29.874 just recently awarded the Medal of 00:29.874 --> 00:31.986 Honor . And what I didn't know at the 00:31.986 --> 00:34.350 time though , when I took the photo is 00:34.350 --> 00:36.572 that he was being nominated . So I took 00:36.572 --> 00:39.140 the photo earlier in 2000 and six and 00:39.140 --> 00:41.970 as it turns out , he was just recently 00:41.970 --> 00:44.060 awarded the Medal of Honor where his 00:44.060 --> 00:46.227 parents received it from the president 00:46.227 --> 00:48.800 I think about a month ago . So corporal 00:48.800 --> 00:51.740 Dunham is a very special marine who 00:51.750 --> 00:55.480 um in no uncertain terms , 00:55.490 --> 00:58.340 basically saved the life of two other 00:58.340 --> 01:01.300 marines as he shielded their bodies 01:01.300 --> 01:03.430 with his own body when a grenade fell 01:03.430 --> 01:06.510 right at his feet , he jumped on it and 01:06.510 --> 01:08.940 it saved the lives of two marines here 01:08.940 --> 01:12.570 in Fallujah . So he was named , The 01:12.580 --> 01:15.490 sign was special because they named a 01:15.500 --> 01:17.500 street after him on a small camp in 01:17.500 --> 01:21.170 Ramadi . Uh , interesting . I wonder , 01:21.180 --> 01:23.660 you know , the recognition from the 01:23.660 --> 01:26.760 President of the United States is huge . 01:26.770 --> 01:29.900 But also , you know , a medal . But 01:29.910 --> 01:32.080 here's a piece of plywood , somebody 01:32.080 --> 01:35.660 painted and put up on a signpost . It's 01:35.660 --> 01:38.080 not as glamorous , but I imagine it for 01:38.080 --> 01:40.302 corporal Dunham . It would mean as much 01:40.302 --> 01:43.650 if not more well sure when I saw the 01:43.660 --> 01:46.080 sign , I knew I had recognized his name 01:46.080 --> 01:48.130 because there had been talk about 01:48.130 --> 01:50.186 nominating him for the Congressional 01:50.186 --> 01:52.297 Medal of Honor . And there was a book 01:52.297 --> 01:55.210 written called The Gift of Valor by an 01:55.210 --> 01:57.321 author who is also a journalist . And 01:57.321 --> 02:00.150 so he did extensive research with his 02:00.150 --> 02:03.280 family and more about the history of 02:03.280 --> 02:05.590 the Congressional Medal of Honor . And 02:05.590 --> 02:07.320 I had had a chance to meet the 02:07.320 --> 02:09.431 journalist at a conference . But then 02:09.431 --> 02:11.598 when I came to Iraq and I saw his name 02:11.598 --> 02:14.220 on a sign located in front of the 02:14.220 --> 02:16.620 command headquarters of his command 02:16.620 --> 02:20.440 when his unit was here 23 years ago 02:20.450 --> 02:22.672 that I knew that was gonna be special . 02:22.672 --> 02:24.728 And I knew that the buzz circulating 02:24.728 --> 02:26.617 around whether or not he would be 02:26.620 --> 02:28.880 receiving the Medal of Honor . I didn't 02:28.880 --> 02:31.047 know at the time , but when I took the 02:31.047 --> 02:33.269 photo , I knew that it would be special 02:33.269 --> 02:35.324 to somebody , especially his parents 02:35.324 --> 02:37.436 just to let them know that he has not 02:37.436 --> 02:39.547 forgotten . And in many places , even 02:39.547 --> 02:41.824 in Iraq people still remember his name . 02:41.824 --> 02:44.230 Of course there are a couple of 02:44.230 --> 02:46.610 pictures is there's a picture of you 02:46.610 --> 02:48.780 standing next to two Iraqi police 02:48.780 --> 02:51.450 officers . Uh and then there's , I 02:51.450 --> 02:53.617 think another , another picture of you 02:53.617 --> 02:55.750 with two women in burkas . I think 02:55.750 --> 02:58.650 you're inside inside a house there . Uh 02:58.660 --> 03:00.970 and then I guess some other uh some 03:00.970 --> 03:02.914 other photos of , I guess what I'm 03:02.914 --> 03:05.370 getting at is the interaction with you 03:05.380 --> 03:08.020 and the Iraqis and with some others , 03:08.020 --> 03:10.380 there there are a couple of pictures is 03:10.380 --> 03:12.510 more than one picture that you took . 03:12.520 --> 03:15.430 That includes american military and 03:15.430 --> 03:17.486 Iraqi , either police or civilians . 03:17.486 --> 03:20.020 Why ? Why those pictures ? 03:20.030 --> 03:23.920 Well , I think to capture what 03:23.920 --> 03:26.031 we're doing over here , you'd have to 03:26.031 --> 03:27.976 say the interaction with the Iraqi 03:27.976 --> 03:30.198 people has got to be the most important 03:30.198 --> 03:32.031 thing that we're doing here . So 03:32.040 --> 03:34.970 whenever I get a chance to interact 03:34.970 --> 03:38.690 with the Iraqi police or women or 03:38.700 --> 03:41.310 um when I see other marines and service 03:41.310 --> 03:43.650 members interacting with the locals , 03:43.660 --> 03:46.070 that's me says it right there says 03:46.070 --> 03:48.400 everything . And so if I could just 03:48.400 --> 03:50.940 stand next to the Iraqi police in 03:50.940 --> 03:53.660 Fallujah and that was actually my first 03:53.670 --> 03:56.600 mission outside of Camp Fallujah . So I 03:56.600 --> 03:59.230 ventured into the city on a mission and 03:59.230 --> 04:01.370 when I saw them , I definitely wanted 04:01.370 --> 04:03.730 to stand next to them and take a 04:03.730 --> 04:05.970 picture . Not to mention the fact that 04:05.970 --> 04:08.192 any time that you can take a picture of 04:08.192 --> 04:10.026 Iraqis , they love it . And on a 04:10.026 --> 04:12.280 digital camera , if you can show them 04:12.280 --> 04:15.310 the way the picture looks and you just 04:15.320 --> 04:17.720 snapped a moment in time and then you 04:17.720 --> 04:19.776 get to show them on the , on the LCD 04:19.776 --> 04:22.220 Viewfinder , the screen . They love it 04:22.230 --> 04:24.740 and they think that's just the neatest 04:24.740 --> 04:27.530 thing . And so proves that I was here 04:27.540 --> 04:30.250 with these people on this day . I'm 04:30.250 --> 04:32.472 sure there's a story behind this . When 04:32.472 --> 04:34.694 there's there's a gentleman looks rocky 04:34.694 --> 04:36.583 and an Iraqi uniform holding up a 04:36.583 --> 04:38.639 picture of a little girl . I had him 04:38.639 --> 04:41.790 hold it there so I can take that photo . 04:41.800 --> 04:43.911 And I just think it says everything . 04:43.911 --> 04:46.460 It just shows his pride that they are 04:46.460 --> 04:49.050 so much like us , like americans that 04:49.050 --> 04:51.106 they just , they have their pictures 04:51.106 --> 04:52.994 and they want to show them off to 04:52.994 --> 04:55.560 everybody . There are a couple that are 04:55.570 --> 04:57.792 more long lines of what we think is war 04:57.792 --> 05:00.930 photography . There's three , I assume 05:00.930 --> 05:04.140 they're three marines , uh , walking 05:04.140 --> 05:07.170 patrol . You take the picture from 05:07.170 --> 05:09.281 looking back at them into the kind of 05:09.281 --> 05:11.448 into the face of the one walking point 05:11.448 --> 05:15.370 on the patrol . Uh , I mean they 05:15.370 --> 05:18.630 look serious and they looked tense , 05:18.920 --> 05:21.130 described to me . I imagine that's not 05:21.130 --> 05:24.040 uh , even for you being in the 05:24.050 --> 05:26.050 situation that probably wasn't the 05:26.060 --> 05:28.116 safest , the safest place to be . So 05:28.116 --> 05:30.393 tell me why you took that picture . Uh , 05:30.393 --> 05:33.270 well , we at the point that I took that 05:33.270 --> 05:35.492 particular photo , we had been out on a 05:35.492 --> 05:37.548 foot patrol for about four hours and 05:37.548 --> 05:39.714 the northern part of Ramadi , which is 05:39.714 --> 05:42.000 a real hot spot at that time . So just 05:42.010 --> 05:44.260 being on a foot patrol in the broad 05:44.260 --> 05:47.010 daylight , of course you take the risk . 05:47.010 --> 05:50.780 You run the risk of sniper fire or 05:50.790 --> 05:53.980 are any dangers that lurk around every 05:53.980 --> 05:57.420 corner . This gunnery sergeant was 05:57.430 --> 06:00.240 showing them , basically had to do a 06:00.240 --> 06:03.700 patrol and I got in front of them and I 06:03.700 --> 06:06.620 was able to snap that picture that says 06:06.620 --> 06:08.620 it all right there about what we're 06:08.620 --> 06:10.953 trying to do here in the Anbar province . 06:10.953 --> 06:14.390 Uh , the other one that I guess is 06:14.400 --> 06:16.720 would fall into the war photography is 06:16.730 --> 06:20.000 I think you labeled it mortar . And 06:20.010 --> 06:23.090 let me see if I can . Uh , does that 06:23.090 --> 06:25.860 ring a bell ? Um It looks like it's the , 06:25.940 --> 06:28.730 it looks like a mortar round has landed 06:28.740 --> 06:31.070 between a fence and one of the one of 06:31.070 --> 06:33.500 the buildings . So tell me about that 06:33.500 --> 06:36.000 one . Right . Well , that's probably a 06:36.000 --> 06:38.150 better video clip . But what had 06:38.150 --> 06:40.930 happened about two minutes before we 06:40.940 --> 06:43.190 came up on the scene is that a mortar 06:43.190 --> 06:46.680 round had landed right on camp Fallujah , 06:46.690 --> 06:49.740 Right at some they were building , 06:49.750 --> 06:51.639 there were barracks , they're not 06:51.639 --> 06:53.694 barracks , but trailers where people 06:53.694 --> 06:55.750 lived . And the mortar was basically 06:55.750 --> 06:59.210 still smoldering with hot searing 06:59.210 --> 07:02.410 metal . And I had taken the photo just 07:02.410 --> 07:04.521 to say this is where it landed . This 07:04.521 --> 07:06.743 is where the mortar landed , just steps 07:06.743 --> 07:09.520 from somebody's front door to their 07:09.520 --> 07:12.970 room and to basically document 07:12.980 --> 07:15.870 how dangerous it really is . That was 07:15.870 --> 07:18.870 probably about 100 m from my office 07:18.870 --> 07:22.670 space . So the danger 07:22.670 --> 07:25.680 still lurks here , even on camp where 07:25.690 --> 07:28.860 you think you're safe , but we still do 07:28.860 --> 07:32.580 take indirect fire and that 07:32.590 --> 07:34.812 luckily no one was injured , no one was 07:34.812 --> 07:37.710 in their room that day . But it just 07:37.710 --> 07:40.550 shows that the mortar land as it laid 07:40.550 --> 07:42.772 right . There was just still out in the 07:42.772 --> 07:45.380 open . We rolled up right on it after 07:45.380 --> 07:47.491 we heard the explosion , we rushed to 07:47.491 --> 07:49.658 where it was to make sure everyone was 07:49.658 --> 07:51.658 okay . So I snapped that picture at 07:51.658 --> 07:53.547 that moment when you take all the 07:53.547 --> 07:55.769 pictures as a whole and you spread them 07:55.769 --> 07:57.991 out and you look at them , you know I'm 07:57.991 --> 08:00.158 gonna , he doesn't look like the war I 08:00.158 --> 08:02.269 see on tv or it doesn't look like the 08:02.269 --> 08:06.000 war I read about in the newspaper and 08:06.010 --> 08:08.900 I'll leave it as you want . Why is that ? 08:08.910 --> 08:12.070 Well maybe it's because I've been 08:12.080 --> 08:14.710 either lucky to not be in the wrong 08:14.710 --> 08:18.470 place at the wrong time or um 08:18.480 --> 08:22.150 not having been able to capture the 08:22.160 --> 08:25.090 the spectacular video that you see a 08:25.090 --> 08:28.220 car bombs and and I . E . D . Explosion . 08:28.230 --> 08:31.320 Thank goodness . I haven't been , my 08:31.330 --> 08:34.810 actual job . Here is a videographer . 08:34.820 --> 08:37.930 Um And so taking the 08:37.940 --> 08:40.550 snapshots . The still pictures was 08:40.550 --> 08:42.610 really an afterthought , but I knew 08:42.610 --> 08:46.210 that still pictures can mean so much to 08:46.210 --> 08:48.630 so many more people because you can 08:48.630 --> 08:51.600 linger over them and you can send them 08:51.600 --> 08:53.767 on the internet or through email . And 08:53.767 --> 08:57.420 so I didn't make that my primary 08:57.420 --> 09:00.790 mission . Um But I'm glad at least I 09:00.790 --> 09:04.340 captured some that I thought would show 09:04.350 --> 09:06.294 what we're doing here from sitting 09:06.294 --> 09:08.461 state , that we assume everybody is on 09:08.461 --> 09:10.683 the front lines all the time . And that 09:10.683 --> 09:12.850 we forget that there is a lot going on 09:12.850 --> 09:15.120 that there are many who many people 09:15.120 --> 09:17.400 serving overseas who aren't directly 09:17.400 --> 09:19.456 the mortars can reach you but aren't 09:19.456 --> 09:21.733 directly in the line of fire every day . 09:21.733 --> 09:23.733 And it takes a lot of people to get 09:23.733 --> 09:25.789 people on the front line certainly . 09:25.789 --> 09:28.011 And but every time that someone does go 09:28.011 --> 09:30.067 outside the wire , as we call it our 09:30.067 --> 09:32.178 off camp , they run the risk of being 09:32.178 --> 09:34.067 the target of an I . E . D . Or a 09:34.067 --> 09:36.122 sniper that you have to still do the 09:36.122 --> 09:37.789 mission . And so missions are 09:37.789 --> 09:40.200 successful and completed every day by 09:40.200 --> 09:42.590 hundreds and thousands of people here . 09:42.600 --> 09:44.440 But what you see on tv is just a 09:44.440 --> 09:46.970 spectacular video that makes it . One 09:46.970 --> 09:49.600 picture in particular why I included it 09:49.600 --> 09:52.420 in the group was one of corporal 09:52.420 --> 09:55.760 murillo and Captain Meagan McLaren Lung . 09:55.770 --> 09:57.603 And the three of us are standing 09:57.603 --> 10:00.210 together as we deployed together in a 10:00.210 --> 10:02.377 small group here in the Public Affairs 10:02.377 --> 10:05.390 section and what was she had been 10:05.390 --> 10:08.130 promoted to ? Major Megan mac lung ? 10:08.140 --> 10:11.780 The center redhead . Um , Major Megan 10:11.780 --> 10:14.260 McLaren was killed in an I . E . D . 10:14.270 --> 10:18.000 Attack in Ramadi in december . And so 10:18.010 --> 10:20.121 that picture is special to me because 10:20.121 --> 10:23.440 it reminds me of , she's just 10:23.440 --> 10:26.420 one example of people that have been 10:26.420 --> 10:28.230 killed or injured here to other 10:28.230 --> 10:30.341 soldiers were killed along with her . 10:30.341 --> 10:33.430 So who , who we knew . And so that 10:33.430 --> 10:35.620 picture is special to me . But the 10:35.620 --> 10:37.842 stories behind those pictures , some of 10:37.842 --> 10:40.009 those marines maybe were injured later 10:40.009 --> 10:43.660 on or you just never know . And so , 10:43.740 --> 10:45.962 um , anytime you get a chance to take a 10:45.962 --> 10:47.796 picture , I always encourage the 10:47.796 --> 10:49.950 marines here to take a picture and 10:49.950 --> 10:51.860 capture that moment because when 10:51.860 --> 10:53.860 someone does die or when someone is 10:53.860 --> 10:56.920 injured , the treasure , those pictures 10:56.930 --> 10:59.010 like you wouldn't believe because we 10:59.010 --> 11:01.232 take a lot of video and a lot of photos 11:01.232 --> 11:03.121 here . And so any time someone is 11:03.121 --> 11:05.288 injured or killed , they'll come to me 11:05.288 --> 11:07.399 and say , we want those pictures , we 11:07.399 --> 11:09.670 want the video because because they can 11:09.670 --> 11:12.750 just savor the pictures of them . And 11:12.750 --> 11:15.700 so that's why they're so special to me . 11:15.800 --> 11:19.190 The now , if I just , so when the only 11:19.190 --> 11:21.190 a few minutes left , I want to make 11:21.190 --> 11:23.830 sure your , what you do is you say your 11:23.830 --> 11:27.120 combat videographer is your primary is 11:27.120 --> 11:30.730 your primary job right out on 11:30.730 --> 11:33.670 patrols or just any aspect of marine 11:33.670 --> 11:37.540 life in Iraq right now . Uh , that's 11:37.540 --> 11:40.800 right . Any aspect of life . I'm out 11:40.800 --> 11:43.700 there with the marines on patrol trying 11:43.700 --> 11:46.360 to capture their story and I do 11:46.360 --> 11:49.240 reporting for the Pentagon channel and 11:49.240 --> 11:51.520 the american Forces Network . And so 11:51.530 --> 11:54.390 most of my footage ends up on those 11:54.400 --> 11:56.640 military channels and sometimes it ends 11:56.640 --> 12:00.640 up on Fox News or MSNBC or any 12:00.640 --> 12:02.780 other local station that wants access 12:02.780 --> 12:04.840 to it , they can have that . So 12:04.850 --> 12:06.739 although I haven't really capture 12:06.739 --> 12:09.660 anything too spectacular . But what I 12:09.670 --> 12:12.050 like to do is just showcase what we're 12:12.050 --> 12:15.960 doing and try to tell people and 12:15.970 --> 12:19.150 from from an insider's perspective of 12:19.150 --> 12:21.317 all the hard work and sacrifice that's 12:21.317 --> 12:24.600 going on out there . Um , what I hope 12:24.600 --> 12:27.540 to do when I returned to California , 12:27.550 --> 12:29.700 what I did last time and it was an 12:29.700 --> 12:32.890 evolving project . Uh much to my 12:32.890 --> 12:36.450 surprise is I had about 35 photos that 12:36.450 --> 12:39.910 I took from Afghanistan and I put them 12:39.910 --> 12:43.260 on poster board and I created a small 12:43.270 --> 12:46.250 photo collection and created a 12:46.250 --> 12:49.010 display . And I took it to my college 12:49.010 --> 12:51.121 that I was attending to their library 12:51.121 --> 12:53.540 and that generated media interest . And 12:53.540 --> 12:55.651 then I had several more requests from 12:55.651 --> 12:57.980 city halls and libraries to display the 12:57.990 --> 13:00.910 photo collection . And so I was really 13:00.910 --> 13:03.077 surprised that anybody would really be 13:03.077 --> 13:05.188 interested in it . But I haven't seen 13:05.188 --> 13:07.410 too many others like it floating around 13:07.410 --> 13:09.632 the SAn Diego area . And so what I hope 13:09.632 --> 13:11.799 to do is take some of these photos and 13:11.799 --> 13:14.990 more and add them to um to other photos 13:14.990 --> 13:17.570 from other photographers , professional 13:17.570 --> 13:20.350 photographers maybe and get them in 13:20.350 --> 13:22.720 displays and libraries and educational 13:22.730 --> 13:25.300 institutions , city halls . I think 13:25.300 --> 13:27.920 people don't get a chance to see the 13:27.920 --> 13:30.360 pictures . And so I learned a lot from 13:30.360 --> 13:32.582 that experiment . And hopefully it will 13:32.582 --> 13:34.804 be the same when I get home that people 13:34.804 --> 13:36.916 are still interested in taking a look 13:36.916 --> 13:39.082 at some of these captured moments . We 13:39.082 --> 13:41.193 talked about it briefly about the big 13:41.193 --> 13:43.360 picture . You're trying to tell people 13:43.360 --> 13:45.582 in those few moments and those who have 13:45.582 --> 13:48.030 shot the story . And what is that ? 13:48.040 --> 13:50.040 What is that story you're trying to 13:50.040 --> 13:52.590 tell them ? Well , most of those photos 13:52.590 --> 13:54.812 were just photos that I could send back 13:54.812 --> 13:57.410 to my family . Uh some were published 13:57.410 --> 13:59.632 on our website . But what I want people 13:59.632 --> 14:01.890 to take away what they can linger over 14:01.890 --> 14:04.390 people's faces . The picture of the 14:04.390 --> 14:06.840 Iraqi soldiers showing me his picture 14:06.840 --> 14:10.010 of his daughter that says that they're 14:10.010 --> 14:12.121 like us . They want to show off their 14:12.121 --> 14:14.680 Children or my arms around to Iraqi 14:14.680 --> 14:16.870 women is as the marines are searching 14:16.870 --> 14:20.170 the house , I immediately was drawn to 14:20.170 --> 14:22.337 the women of the house and so I wanted 14:22.337 --> 14:24.559 people to say , I've got my arms around 14:24.559 --> 14:26.940 you . It's going to be okay , we're 14:26.940 --> 14:29.162 here to help . And I think that they're 14:29.162 --> 14:32.370 more symbolic than anything . And so 14:32.470 --> 14:34.820 the pictures of the collection I think 14:34.820 --> 14:38.320 can show a very , a varied perspective 14:38.320 --> 14:40.420 of what we're doing over here . Good 14:40.420 --> 14:42.770 batter and different people have their 14:42.770 --> 14:44.990 own opinions about what we're doing . 14:45.000 --> 14:48.690 But pictures are proof positive of 14:48.690 --> 14:51.590 what the work and the sacrifice that 14:51.590 --> 14:53.534 marines and soldiers , sailors and 14:53.534 --> 14:55.757 airmen are making over here . Thank you 14:55.757 --> 14:57.868 very much for taking all the time . I 14:57.868 --> 14:59.868 really do appreciate it . Thank you 14:59.868 --> 14:59.330 very much for your service .