The Warriors
Photo Courtesy of: SPC Christopher Mayfield L-R: SGT Luther, CPL Erik Johnson, SPC Amador, SPC Matthew Bertles, 1LT James Modlin
2nd Platoon, Bravo Co., 1/9 Cav.
friends:
forgive me for adding yet 1 more message to sort through, esp. work addresses. all are bcc'd on this. but this is important. some of you don't know me well, but in this photograph is the essence of my tour in iraq. i want to share it. my memory is very short these days. i want to try to make a record of this time.
in this picture are 5 of the best of the best. 5 men from one of the most effective infantry companies in the iraq war. 2nd platoon, bravo co. 1/9 cav. with 50,000 men like this there, on the ground, this war would be over. all 5 made it home safely, a total mathematical improbability.
at left, sgt luther, on his way out of the army and home to Kentucky to be with his wife and his classic mustang racecar. 2nd to left, yours truly. center, spc amador, from miami, of cuban heritage and a black belt in aikido. 2nd from right, spc matthew bertles, who turned down a full-ride scholarship to a georgia university to join the infantry, recently married as well. he and i rode home on the same medevac transport after being wounded together on easter sunday, 11 apr 04. at right, 1st lt james modlin, west pointer, 5 times wounded, calm under fire, a great leader. he'll clown around with the joes, yes. but i swear, when talking to him, i feel like a crusty medieval pike-bearer talking with prince harry. as in henry v. and of course, as i say that, i can vividly imagine santiago, from watts, la, saying 'get off his nuts!' in a tone of such mocking dismissiveness it makes me want to delete this whole email.
to sum up, the photo attached--and this is one of many of this impact and quality, for my money anyway--was taken by spc christopher mayfield, saw gunner, on an inexpensive digital camera, probably purchased in ramadhi. thankfully, he had stored his images on memory cards, because the camera he shot this photo with was destroyed on 11 april, probably by the same rpg(s) that got me and bertles. Mayfield has another year in the army and then home to louisiana to go to college. i hope he'll include photography, and perhaps journalism, among his courses. i sound like somebody's old man talking. it's embarrassing. but i do have 15 years on him. and i care about these people. i want to see them succeed.
thank you for reading this. in time i think we'll collect some meaning from b co.'s tour in iraq. i think we had a positive impact there. we tried to be good to the people, and we were. at the same time, we were well respected by same. and, decidedly, feared.
yours, erik Johnson
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