Page 981 - Total War on PTSD

CHAPTER 29 - NAVIGATE ROUGH WATERS
Charlie the Black Labrador - Stacy: At the age of 17, I entered the delayed enlistment program for the Air Force with a guaranteed job in photography. Shortly after my 18th birthday, I left South Dakota for Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. As an Aerial Combat Photojournalist, I traveled across the globe documenting the military story spending anywhere from 120 to 280 days a year away from home. Some of my assignments included combat deployments such as Baghdad, Iraq, from September 2003 to March 2004, Horn of Africa from September 2004 to March 2005, and Baqubah, Iraq, from January to May 2007.
Uniquely, military photographers are artists and combatants at the same time. I carried a gun, but I always felt my camera was my greatest weapon. Through my unabashed, unfiltered frontline photographs, I updated Americans back home and informed military and government leadership alike. Often, my images evoked dialogue and influenced opinion. Most importantly, my images shared the story of the men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line every day for our Nation.
For future generations, my archive of photographs will be used as a reminder of what transpired in America’s history. Like so many of my predecessors, my images will be used in history books, documentaries and museums with the anonymous byline, DoD Photo. My legacy will never be
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