It was six years ago today, 6 April 2004, that 12 men of 2-4 Marines were killed in action in an ambush in east Ramadi, Iraq. On 6 Mar 2008, Gold Star father John Wroblewski visited the ambush site in Ramadi to perform a memorial service for his son, 2Lt. J.T. Wroblewski, and the other 11 heroes that fell with him in combat.
This is unedited video of the memorial service shot by USMC Cpl Angel. This is the first time this video has been published in its entirety.
These are the names of the fallen heroes: LCpl Benjamin Carman, LCpl Marcus Cherry, PFC Christopher Cobb, LCpl Kyle Crowley, PFC Deryk Hallal, PFC Ryan Jerabek, PFC Moises Langhorst, LCpl Travis Layfield, HM3 Fernandez Mendez, LCpl Anthony Roberts, SSgt Allan Walker, and 2Lt John Thomas Wroblewski.
Let's take a moment today to honor these 11 Marines and a Navy Corpsman and their families. We must always remember that freedom is not free! These men died fighting for what they believed in as the ultimate sacrifice for us.
08 January 2010
No MSM support for Indie photojournalists in Afghanistan
U.S. mainstream media outlets seem to be hesitant to use seasoned/experienced photojournalists with U.S. military embed experience lately. Why?
1) Cheaper: It is cheaper for MSM to pay UPI a small fee for "wire reports" from "local sources" (foreign media personnel whose sources may or may not be verifiable.)
2) Less liability: Using foreign media (local sources) also absolves the media outlet from defending the information if it is questioned later.
3) U.S. military is still very supportive of indie photojournalists, but is anyone listening back home?
Yes, military families and supporters stay involved. Many citizens have forgotten about our troops overseas. These brave troops have completed multiple deployments since 2003. Both they and their families are suffering the effects of multiple 12 - 15 month long deployments.
I am planning for a military embed in Afghanistan soon. When it happens depends upon finding a media outlet that will help defray expenses and publish the images and story, and military logistics.
In the meantime, I will become more involved in the milblogging community via milblogging.com this year to let you know what is happening as often as I can. Here is a link to my profile on milblogging.com:
View My Milblogging.com Profile
1) Cheaper: It is cheaper for MSM to pay UPI a small fee for "wire reports" from "local sources" (foreign media personnel whose sources may or may not be verifiable.)
2) Less liability: Using foreign media (local sources) also absolves the media outlet from defending the information if it is questioned later.
3) U.S. military is still very supportive of indie photojournalists, but is anyone listening back home?
Yes, military families and supporters stay involved. Many citizens have forgotten about our troops overseas. These brave troops have completed multiple deployments since 2003. Both they and their families are suffering the effects of multiple 12 - 15 month long deployments.
I am planning for a military embed in Afghanistan soon. When it happens depends upon finding a media outlet that will help defray expenses and publish the images and story, and military logistics.
In the meantime, I will become more involved in the milblogging community via milblogging.com this year to let you know what is happening as often as I can. Here is a link to my profile on milblogging.com:
View My Milblogging.com Profile
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