Me, a self portrait, on the road to self discovery?

I have always carried a camera, though not technically trained, nor did I know what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to do this forever.

Accomplishing a great many thing I have set out to do, when I was Nineteen, I thought it would be cool to be an Emergency Medical Technician, (EMT).  I never knew how hard I would have to work to realized that dream, but then everything good is rarely ever easy, After countless missions, I set my sights on Surgical Technician training, and it 2000 that dream was realized.  I would never miss being a medic until the collapse of the first tower in New York. It wasn’t until several years as an Orthopedic Surgical technician; that I realized the dream called, Combat Camera.

 I have spent my life working with local doctors in the Philippines, Japan and Korea providing minor and major medical procedures to villages, who haven't seen medical professionals in several years

From the surgical suite, no matter where it may be.  This particular surgical area was in the dining facility of the Philippines village school.  It was an area largest to host our equipment and us and still had high enough celling’s so the bats would not be an issue.  That day we performed over 35 circumcisions, most without anesthetic, only a lollypop, which the children held in their mouths and did not break, we should be so tough at 3.  There was one particular case where we were taking a tumor from a gentlemen’s head, I held the skin of the skull opened as the surgeon removed it carefully, as I held the skin of the skull opened with my bare hands, guess it was a time before we considered Hepatitis and HIV/AIDS were a concern from the medical worker.

Spent just as many years working in broadcasting, basically I call it "pimping the message".  This is me back in Korea 20 some years after I left the first time.  On monday, I had a Top 40 show in the  mid to late 80's.  It was exonerating, taking a break from the day to day military operations to spend 2 hours on the air Monday and Thursday nights.   Of course Thursday nights were my passion, Jazz, where I played requests, classics and fusion along with the up and coming - I remember debuting the first vinyl of Dave Kozz.

 Now I leave a dream life, with my bonded family, Combat Camera, The last nearly 10 years of my military career have be exhausting, frustrating, exhilarating, exciting and rewarding.  And no photojournalist’s life would be complete without a picture with Wilmer Valdarama.

Camp LeMonier, Djibouti

Going Native in Ethiopia

Laying in wait undisclosed location

Local Shoot, Henderson, NV

Where oh where is the stained glass??

The art of the stained glass is gradually finding itself absent from the very venue it was created for, churches. I have always enjoyed look at and photographing stained glass. During my recent trip to Augusta Georgia, I made a side trip, as I always do, to the local church hoping to find some old and distinguished glass, low and behold, I find painted glass instead. Although I love stained glass, the intricacies of the painted glass have caught my eye and my lens.

Pararescue

Each branch of the Military has its special brand of bad assess.  The Air Force is no different we have the most elite of elite in combat search and rescue, Pararescue, the pinnacle of Air Force battlefield medicine and personnel recovery Units, whose sole purpose in life is combat search and rescue, and their motto pays true homage to their life and their life choices, and really explains them to the core "These things we do so that other's can live." really explains them to the core.

It is not an easy task to become a rescueman, many have tried, but only the best of the best make it through their qualifying courses, and that is before they get into the medical portion of their school. 

Once fully graduated from the program, they willingly take on the position as battle field doctor, although they do not have a Doctorial in Medicine degree, even the on ground physician yields to their knowledge and instructions.   

When they perform a task, whether it is for personnel recovery, combat rescue of hostage rescue,  rest assured they have practiced it for months before the mission and they are always ready.    To the Men and Women of Luke Air Force Base Pararescue Squadron, I salute you.

This is a simulated patient care exercise, no actual patients were used for this training mission.  The military member playing the part of the patient was not actually injured. 

Faces

They say that eyes are the windows to the soul, with this being true, then faces are it's window dressing.  here are some of my favorite window dressings.

Spending time in South Korea is great, all the shopping, all the hand tailored clothes and shoes, it is a shopper's "wet dream", so to speak. But for the Men and Women stationed at the DMZ, that's the De-Militarized Zone, for you non-military types or the 38th parallel for us older guys, all the perks that come with living in South Korea are fleeting thoughts as these soldiers train for the unthinkable ... another war with North Korea.

North and South Korea have not known peace since June 25, 1950, the beginning of the Korean War, where North Korea dreamt of a unified Korea and decided to place that dream in to motion, the Korean War has been in armistice since November 1954.  Notice I said nothing about the war being over, they simply decided, after the United States pushed the communist Korean forces back to the 38 parallel. 

Each year since, there have been scheduled and unscheduled tests of the South Korean’s resolve and military might along side their American counterparts.  These exercises are extremely intense.  Having played both sides of the exercises, as a participant, sleeping in a General Purpose (gp) tent with a heater in the middle of a blizzard, and then as a photojournalist living in the same conditions (yea love those conditions), it is with them men and women, two countries, one goal, Freedom.