Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard.
The Associated Press released a photograph of Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard who was hit by a rocket propelled grenade during a firefight against the Taliban in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan on August 14.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates called this move appalling.
Is it? Or is it just the realities of war that the majority have been shielded from? I googled Bernard and came across the photograph. It's heartbreaking. Bernard's mouth is slightly open, eyes are closed, his weapon lay beside him as if his hand just went limp, his tan uniform is stained with bright red blood...the only color you pray not to see over there, two other Marines attempt to help him, he later dies from his wound.
I'm not sure if I should post the picture here. According to the AP the Marine’s father had asked – in an interview - that the image not be published.
A dad doesn't want his sons helpless body all over the internet. RIP Bernard. You died too young.
Article here.
posted by GI Kate at 2:23 PM
5 Comments:
Maybe, it is the time that all the american people to stand against this war. Maybe, this photo ia a kind of message, which should wake up the sleepy americans...
For me, I have to view it from a family perspective. My best friend is a war widow and I suppose she puts it best for me. His death was such a small part of who he was, he doesn't want that to be what is focused on. It was too much for her to catch a glimpse of her husband's vehicle after the IED hit on Al Jazeera.
I want America and the world to know the reality of war but not at the expense of the families. They deserve to have the memories of happy times and not their last moments.
Maybe, just MAYBE, Kate, it'll wake people up, so they don't follow the line of FAUX News and support these clusterfuck wars. Sucks for Bernard's family's PRIVACY yes, but what sucks EVEN MORE is the fact that he's joined the needlessly dead. The whole land-war-in-Asia (and the mideast) debacle (a waste of money, lives, bodies and minds) will never be "won". You know what I envision when I see these endless wars? I see an insane general up to his shoulders in quicksand STILL rattling a sabre, rapidly sinking. That's the state of the country now. Nobody learned from Vietnam. It's a pity. And the problematic fallout we'll see years down the road affecting YOUR crew of vets will exponentially dwarf Vietnam's, which was bad enough. But the generals and the MICC continue to get rich, and all but a few people follow along like lemmings. The Pentagon needs to stop being the world arms dealer (because deaths such as Bernard's are part of the ripple effect), revert to being "the village gunsmith" only, we also need to remember that it's the United States of AMERICA, not the United States of THE WORLD. Then maybe more kids and older folks won't be sent to the meat grinder. Sadly, methinks Bernard won't be the last.
I'm so sick of the information blackout/head in the sand approach to these 8+ long years of war. I'm so saddened that less than one percent of Americans have served or know someone who has.
Godspeed LCpl Bernard, thank you for your service and peace be with your family.
Thanks for writing it up Kate.
If the parent expresses wishes that the photo not be shown, it shouldn't be shown. I wouldn't expect the press to seek such approval prior to publishing, however. The American public needs to see and hear about the wars. THE WARS. Are citizens without military family and friends even remotely cognizant of the men, women, and resources being fed into these machines?
Our sincere condolences and gratitude to LCpl Bernard's family and friends.
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