Baghdad at last

The trip to Baghdad proved to be a very arduous journey once leaving the Air force Hotel in Germany. We didn’t have all the papers we needed for next leg of journey, something the Colonel expressed worry about before leaving Jackson MI. We were missing our orders-showing up at the airport without them is like showing up without a plane ticket.
In the nick of time, we were able to reach one of the PO officers in Balad who emailed over documents we needed-after a very tense couple of hours. The plane was held up on our behalf. (Same C-17 we came over on-though this time filled with cargo and military) We made a run through customs skipping the x-ray of our luggage and other formalities. Making the flight felt like a small miracle.

After settling in, I got to visit the cockpit and photograph as the sun went down. Before landing in Balad, things got serious-all the passengers strapped on their weapons and vest and helmets. Me too. My first time wearing the Kevlar protective gear which proved to be heavier and more restrictive I imagined. Hard to move in It, to say the least, but I still got off a few shots.

In Ballad we found out our onward flight to Baghdad had been canceled due to weather conditions-we were meant to leave later that night. After eating a large meal at a mess hall that had limitless food one could gorge themselves we were taken to the Catfish Air Terminal to get an early flight out, opting to sleep on cots rather then checking in to sleep at a transient hotel. The Helicopter ride never materialized and sleep proved to be impossible. The cots in the terminal were fine, but the two large screen TVs were blaring making sleep impossible. One with a football game that either never ended or was playing in a loop, the other, Fox news. Our morning flight was cancelled and the next one was over full so were advised to take the fixed wing plane, which turned out to be another c-17, though with it came a bust ride into Bagdad.
We were taken to a different terminal on the other side of the base-giving me a sense of how big the operation in Ballad is.

Next stop was the terminal in BIAP, at Camp Victory. Upon landing at 1:30 in the afternoon, we found the next leg of the route via a “Rhino” bus wouldn’t leave till sometime between midnight-4am, leaving a nice chunk of time to wait and take things in.

The Rhino bus goes leaves from Camp Stryker part of the Victory base. The bus travels on a route that was deadly in the early days of the war, but now relative safe. We traveled in a convoy or armored buses equip with Blackwater security guards and an armored escorts.

All I have seen from Iraq so far is airfields and concrete pylons lining different bases. Miles and miles of the American war machine in Iraq. I write from the media room in Baghdad where Iraqi journalist watch Batman on a large TV screen while eating lunch.

Getting the holiday shoot organized is the next task at hand, No easy one at that as our visit and project was buried in someone’s paperwork. Impressions to follow but I need to ready myself for an impromptu tour of the green zone

Flight to Germany in route to Iraq

I woke up somewhere over the Atlantic and climbed out of my sleeping bag. Who knew sleeping on a metal floor could be so comfortable. I didn’t miss the constant interruptions of a stewardess waking me throughout the flight with offers of food and items to buy. The other passengers, military, and family members related to someone in the military, spread out causally on the floor. One family had its’ own air mattress. Some had big ear protectors. My fellow passengers struck me as experienced travelers.

At the airport in Ramstein, Col David Buck worked out logistics for Phin and I for the next day before taking us to the Air Force Inn. We have slowed him down since we have unique paper work.

After a night on the town with members of the Air Guard, I got a little better picture of what we are flying into- but really wont know till I get there. From Ramstein, more flights are going to Afghanistan then ever. The Air guard move supplies and patients back and forth from both countries. Later today we fly onward to Iraq where we will be credentialed. I will get to take pictures in the cockpit of a C-17 on the way.

Snow falls in New Orleans

I woke up to hearing someone exclaiming, “ I wish I had my camera to take pictures of the snow”. I looked out my window and there it was – snow -coming down in New Orleans. I suited up and went out camera in hand. There was a real magic feeling in the French Quarter with snow blanketing the streets. After taking tourist shots at Jackson Square I got in my car and drove the 9th Ward. My first look around since the summer. The place is as messed up as I remember it. The snow blanketing the destroyed homes made the scene that much more surreal. to see more images click here http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliedermansky/sets/72157611156726318/

The Intrepid Museum reopens

Bush will visit the Intrepid making a grand entry landing on the flight deck of the Intrepid, and then saying some words on Veterans Day.

Saturday I went to the opening of the Intrepid Museum where thousands turned out despite the rain. A retired battleship that has been renovated into a museum with interactive displays. There are hands on displays where you can play with some of the military’s devices, beds you can try out and a mash helicopter you can sit in. The Museum opening had a festive mood. There was a tug of war between the NYC firemen and a group of servicemen. The Firemen won twice in what became a best of three matches after the firemen easily one the first round. The only somber reminder of the cost of war in the museum is a display of the names of those killed when kamikazes attacked the ship. Three Hundred lives were lost.

New York has one of its’ tourist destinations back. A place one can get a history lesson and some macho adrenalin from the military hardware at the same time.

Halloween Parade in New York City

New York on Halloween had a festive energy this year every where I went. It was the 35th anniversary of New York City’s Halloween Parade and my first time attending. Over two million people came to see and/or participate. People in mass, took advantage of having a chance to cut loose. Click here and this link will take you to a set on flickr of more images I shot at the parade . The theme of the parade this year was ghosts. There were Santas, Batmen, witches, fairies, dominatrix and playboy bunnies. I also found a few mummies, who all used unique wrapping techniques to make their costumes. A couple wearing king and queen playing cards, where my favorite. I found them at the subway station on 8th Ave. and 14th Street, while waiting for the A train. I chatted with them on the train ride uptown. They told me they were gaint fish last year.

 My flash got a great work out, and I have a deeper perspective of what Halloween means to New Yorkers.

Obama - Harlem's icon of choice

Walking around Harlem I  found signs of Obama everywhere. 

McCain and Palin have conceded Harlem - no traces of advertising for them to be found anywhere. Obama has a great look to be plastered on product. Haven't seen any McCain t-shirts around but I'm sure they are out there somewhere.

Concern about having a maverick as president

My friend , the poet Ann McGarrell, wrote a letter to the editor of her local paper in Vermont about mavericks. It struck a chord with me so I looked through my archives and  have posted it with images I think illustrate her text well.

To the Valley News Forum:

As a reader whose childhood was spent in the American Southwest and whose father was a cattleman, I am alarmed at the possibility of a “maverick” president. In my experience, mavericks – wild unbranded cattle – are irredeemably ill-tempered feral creatures, so traumatized by life that they are dangerous to those around them. They are usually culled from the herd and end up as dog food.- Ann McGarrell