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 p.1 #1 · Vet Day: Peaceful images from a military photog 1985-93 | |
Hi all. Never really shared this part of me, but I was in the U.S. Army as a military journalist for 8 and a half years, from 1985 to 1993. I was stationed in Schwaebisch Gmuendt, West Germany, in 1985-87 as part of a Pershing missile unit, then to Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX, from 87-89, and then my final three and a half years as a writer and photographer for The European Stars and Stripes, based in Darmstadt, Germany, from 1989-93. I got out of the military as an Army sergeant.
This morning, my old BDU is being worn by my 12-year-old daughter, Mia, to middle school. I was explaining my rank and unit patch to her and she seemed especially interested in the Pershing missiles. As a military journalist, I explained to her, I was one of the few people in the world who ever took a picture of the missile in its firing position out in the field. I pulled out one of my pics to show here and she really liked that. Since I had them out, thought I'd share a few here.
These are my Samsung Galaxy Note5 pics of these prints that are dated 25-30 years. Hard to believe it's been that long. But my point is that there is going to be gradation, color shifting, etc. I'm not really interested in fixing them, at least not at this time. I like the aging quality.
For those of you who shot film back in the old days, I can't remember the name of the B&W film I used back then -- if someone mentioned, i'd remember. It was very popular among journalists. As for the color, I used mostly Kodachrome back then, either 32 or 64. I processed all my own B&W film back then, but shipped my color off to a lab.
1. I had been a college tennis player, so continued competing in the military. This is a good friend, an Army helicopter pilot if I recall correctly, and we competed together in the VII Corps and USAREUR tournaments. 1987.
http://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5692/30281463234_4db9e87cb8_b.jpg
2. Two big old Army trucks somehow sandwiched this soldier. Fortunately, they were barely moving and so he wasn't killed. This picture was used in an article I wrote that week about.... you guessed it, safety. 1985.
http://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5709/30281399284_4ae2b098f6_b.jpg
3. This is Shane. He had been a cheerleader at the Univ of Nebraska, and he was an absolute stud. When we went out in the field, he went all out. 1986.
http://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5502/30281399794_460fd83623_b.jpg
4. A ritual at least in our battalion. If you got promoted to sergeant, you got doused with water from the mop bucket. This is 1985-86.
http://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5695/30281401324_d227812236_b.jpg
5. I told you these would be peaceful images. :-) During my stint with Stripes, I spend part of my time as an entertainment writer. That meant I got to go to a lot of concerts. I'm a little surprised I'm the guy shooting these shots as our staff photographers (I was technically a writer) loved to photograph concerts, esp big bands like Rush. This is 1993.
http://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5759/30281401694_0b068302bf_b.jpg
6. This is a crappy shot, I know it. I'm not even sure how I did it, but I ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, apparently carrying a camera with me. Back in those days, of course, you couldn't just pull out your IPhone or some little point and shoot camera. I just wanted to share the craziness of the scene once you get inside the coliseum. July 1992.
http://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5615/30281402544_fde4cb3d45_b.jpg
7. This is my German girlfriend, Geli, in Frankfurt in 1991.
http://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5348/30281403074_24ea37b9e0_b.jpg
8. Our unit changed from the 1st Battalion the 41st Field Artillery Brigade to the 2nd of the 9th. So naturally, we had to do a military ceremony and a changing of the battalion flags. Probably 1986.
http://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5665/30281403284_633e34453a_b.jpg
9. As a reporter for a major daily newspaper that covered all of Europe, we go to do travel stories. So here's a shot of yours truly (by the late Ken George) while doing a story about skiing in Kitzbuhel, Austria. It was a really tough job, I don't even want to tell you what I had to do at night for that story.
http://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5528/30281403554_e031b842e1_b.jpg
10. This is probably July 1986 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. The VII Corps tennis finals played on clay with the German Alps as a backdrop. I had lost to the guy in the near court either in the quarters or semifinals.
http://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5764/30281403794_68b001ebaa_b.jpg
11. Another ski trip story for Stripes, and this time I dragged Geli along. 1991 or 92. Photo by Dave Casey.
http://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5505/30281403954_0888e451d6_b.jpg
12. This is the picture I showed Mia this morning. One of the missiles is up in a firing position, and that's what makes this a relatively rare picture.
http://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5685/30281404114_06c07742a7_b.jpg
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