I just came across this video. I met these people at 2AM when I flew through Bangor, Maine on my way here. These are the kind of movies our country should be producing. Nobody deserves fame more than these people. To the producers of this movie, THANK YOU!
The Way We Get By - Trailer from The Way We Get By on Vimeo.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Medal day
March 29, 2009 I was awarded the NATO Service Medal for my efforts here in Afghanistan as a part of NATO forces. In this picture General Carr is shaking my hand after pinning the medal on my uniform. He asked me what I did during my deployment to which I replied, "I ran the ISAF combat camera teams." He said he thought only the Air Force took pictures but I had to tell him that the best military photographers all come from the United States Navy!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
One last trip
With my relief just a week or so away, I think my trip to Regional Command West this past week will probably be my last outside the wire. My time is getting short and there's no reason to take any unnecessary risks in my final days in Afghanistan.
The goal of the trip was to help my friends over at US Forces Afghanistan escort a CNN crew to a place called Shindan. That's where insurgents started a firefight with US forces last year that resulted in the death of dozens of wedding party guests. The insurgents purposly posted themselves ontop of the wedding party to cause mass casualties. We were going to do a story on the incident one year later.
Long story short, we got all the way to Herat when the skies opened up and rain cancelled all flights to the area. We only had a small window of opportunity and it turned out to be opportunity lost. Perhaps it was a sign the Big Guy didn't want us down there in the first place. This is one of the MOST DANGEROUS areas in Afghanistan and this trip has now been cancelled four times for various reasons.
While it turned out to be a three day wasted opportunity, I had a great time hanging out with Col. Greg Julien and LT Adam Clampett.
The goal of the trip was to help my friends over at US Forces Afghanistan escort a CNN crew to a place called Shindan. That's where insurgents started a firefight with US forces last year that resulted in the death of dozens of wedding party guests. The insurgents purposly posted themselves ontop of the wedding party to cause mass casualties. We were going to do a story on the incident one year later.
Long story short, we got all the way to Herat when the skies opened up and rain cancelled all flights to the area. We only had a small window of opportunity and it turned out to be opportunity lost. Perhaps it was a sign the Big Guy didn't want us down there in the first place. This is one of the MOST DANGEROUS areas in Afghanistan and this trip has now been cancelled four times for various reasons.
While it turned out to be a three day wasted opportunity, I had a great time hanging out with Col. Greg Julien and LT Adam Clampett.
Leaving a mark
A couple months ago I had the chance to go to a local TV station and lecture to the news department on how the western media put stories together. Yesterday, I had a chance to talk before a group of Afghan public affairs professionals and offer my insights on how they can, "use the media to their advantage." That's the name of a seminar I've given several times to different PR groups back in the states.
This is a developing nation and everything here is becoming more modern, more advanced, more westernized. It's pretty cool to thing I played a VERY SMALL part in that change.
A big part in my lecture is buying your own camera and laptop editor and shooting your own stories. This way you can drop off a tape at TV stations instead of waiting for them to show up and cover your event. This gives you more control over your message and most stations will use your material if it's shot properly. The cost is only a few hundred bucks for the right gear. Next time, however, it would be nice if someone would remind me these people only make a few hundred bucks a year!!!!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
A sad day for the Navy
Ventura County Navy Lt. killed in Afghanistan
The Associated Press
VENTURA, Calif.—A 26-year-old Navy lieutenant from Ventura County was shot to death in Afghanistan just days before he was to return home to see his wife and relatives.
Francis L. Toner was killed Friday by an Afghan insurgent dressed as a soldier at a base in northern Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said Saturday. Toner, who was in Afghanistan for five months to train Afghan soldiers, was scheduled to come home Wednesday, his aunt Linda Moosekian said.
Moosekian said Toner, known by his friends as Frankie, enjoyed working with the Afghan soldiers and even tried to teach them how to play baseball. In one of his last e-mail messages to family, Toner appeared optimistic about the situation in Afghanistan.
"There are still hundreds of recruits for both the police and army, almost on a weekly basis," he wrote. "This shows the insurgents are not having as much impact on the local communities."
Toner attended Westlake High School where he played football. He decided to attend the Merchant Marine Academy in New York after being offered the chance to play for the academy's team, his high school football coach Jim Benkert said.
"He wanted to continue to play," Benkert said. "He was really proud to be a Merchant Marine and proud to be a warrior."
Although he attended the academy and served in the Navy as a garrison engineer, Toner was assigned to a blended military unit called Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.
A fellow sailor, Navy nurse Florence B. Choe, 35, of El Cajon, was also killed in Friday's attack.
Toner requested to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Associated Press
VENTURA, Calif.—A 26-year-old Navy lieutenant from Ventura County was shot to death in Afghanistan just days before he was to return home to see his wife and relatives.
Francis L. Toner was killed Friday by an Afghan insurgent dressed as a soldier at a base in northern Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said Saturday. Toner, who was in Afghanistan for five months to train Afghan soldiers, was scheduled to come home Wednesday, his aunt Linda Moosekian said.
Moosekian said Toner, known by his friends as Frankie, enjoyed working with the Afghan soldiers and even tried to teach them how to play baseball. In one of his last e-mail messages to family, Toner appeared optimistic about the situation in Afghanistan.
"There are still hundreds of recruits for both the police and army, almost on a weekly basis," he wrote. "This shows the insurgents are not having as much impact on the local communities."
Toner attended Westlake High School where he played football. He decided to attend the Merchant Marine Academy in New York after being offered the chance to play for the academy's team, his high school football coach Jim Benkert said.
"He wanted to continue to play," Benkert said. "He was really proud to be a Merchant Marine and proud to be a warrior."
Although he attended the academy and served in the Navy as a garrison engineer, Toner was assigned to a blended military unit called Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.
A fellow sailor, Navy nurse Florence B. Choe, 35, of El Cajon, was also killed in Friday's attack.
Toner requested to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
It works, it really, really works!
A couple of nights ago, President Obama told the nation on live television his strategy for winning the war in Afghanistan. When the president speaks, the media will always scurry for reaction, so it's no wonder after his address that we got a call from CNN wanting to do a live interview from ISAF HQ.
Before the new studio, it would take us a minimum of an hour just to set up for a live interview. We have to hook up the satellite, run cables, move furniture. But not anymore.
CNN's call came in at 8PM. I had the guys in the studio at 8:15PM. We were tuned into their satellite by 8:19PM General Blanchette was talking to their producer at 8:25PM and we were on the air worldwide at 8:30PM.
If I've left any mark on Afghanistan, it's the studio. I'm very proud of this.
Before the new studio, it would take us a minimum of an hour just to set up for a live interview. We have to hook up the satellite, run cables, move furniture. But not anymore.
CNN's call came in at 8PM. I had the guys in the studio at 8:15PM. We were tuned into their satellite by 8:19PM General Blanchette was talking to their producer at 8:25PM and we were on the air worldwide at 8:30PM.
If I've left any mark on Afghanistan, it's the studio. I'm very proud of this.
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