Thread: AP- photo of Mortally Wounded Marine Shows Reality of War

Originally Posted by jumpinjarhead

Originally Posted by Stonker

Embedded reporters, sharing the risks, getting to know and to depend on the troops they are documenting don't seem generally to behave like this parasite.

Not if they intend to go out on the next patrol with them.

I was thinking 'if they intend to come back from the next patrol'

Maybe that's just me.

Originally Posted by Stonker

Originally Posted by jumpinjarhead

Originally Posted by Stonker

Embedded reporters, sharing the risks, getting to know and to depend on the troops they are documenting don't seem generally to behave like this parasite.

Not if they intend to go out on the next patrol with them.

I was thinking 'if they intend to come back from the next patrol'

Maybe that's just me.

Shhhhhhhh :D

Full disclosure: I am a journalist, not a soldier. However:

(1) I am pretty sure the photographer had spoken with the Marines before embedding about what he could/could not shoot: such are common agreements. War photographers take (most of) the same risks as the troops, and are unarmed. The decision to use the pics was the editor's not the photographer's. As every soldier knows, there is a different between front and rear.

(2)I know and I am sure you know of many, many incidents in which enemy dead have been photographed and the pictures distributed. Is this OK...?

(3) As Goldbrick pointed out above, a picture of American KIA in the Pacific sparked an outcry in the US. However, he did not post the full story. The Marines whose unit it was had no problem with the pic and were supportive of the American public learning a little of what they faced. (The full story is told in Manchester's "Goodbye Darkness"- highly recommended reading by a Marine vet. Manchester makes the point that the dead Marines were in pretty good shape, compared to the butchered corpses that could have been filmed)

There is an odd issue here: If the public are to appreciate the horror of war, then they need to realise that those horrors are visited on their own men - not just the enemy.

(4) IMO, the British and Americans publics did NOT learn that lesson due to the relatively bloodless campaigns of the 1990s (Gulf 1, Balkans etc). Now there is (in my opinion at least) too much press/public attention on casualties and not enough on broader aspects of military operations. A further issue is that the politicians seem to have lost the stomach for the war and will not upgrade our troop commitment because men are being killed. (Again, this is a personal opinion.) If the public had been innoculated to this possibility before the troops went in, expectations would have been more realistic. Would this have made a difference to our deployent? Possibly.

(5) The most moving part of the much-praised Ross Kemp Afghan documentary was when one of the Anglians was KIA. Kemp then interviewed the family, who gave him permission to use the footage. This was the cost of war.

(6) One of the most famous images of the Falklands War was of a guardsman at Bluff Cove with his leg blown off. Should that image have been suppressed. Likewise, the murderd jews of the 3rd Reich. Should those images have been suppressed? What of "Saving Private Ryan" (recently chosen the best war film even according to the British Legion magazine. One reason it was considered so highly was because it showed, realistically, what a battlefield looks like.) And what would you think if someone wrote a report on the Marine's death? Is that permissable - but photographs are not?

Where do we draw a line?

If we follow the thinking that such images/reports are unpalatable, then forget any realistic coverage of war, and forget also much/any realistic writing of military history.

(6) All that having been said, I agree that if AP had asked the family, then been refused permission, then used them, they are very much in the wrong.

Still, these are not simple issues.

Originally Posted by Andy_S

(5) The most moving part of the much-praised Ross Kemp Afghan documentary was when one of the Anglians was KIA. Kemp then interviewed the family, who gave him permission to use the footage. This was the cost of war.

The marine's family took an opposite stance - and were ignored. Would Ross kemp be so admired were that shoe on his foot?

Originally Posted by Andy_S

(6) One of the most famous images of the Falklands War was of a guardsman at Bluff Cove with his leg blown off. Should that image have been suppressed?

That image arrived bck in UK some days after the fact - and he lived.

Were his family asked ? I don't know.

Would they have objected ? Can't say.

Can tell you that the Para in that picture was screaming "I've lost my leg! I've lost my leg!!"

Until the medic (the name 'Dingus' is in my mind - not sure that it is correct) rocked up, and said "No you haven't" - and handed him the traumatically amputated portion.

At which point Tom fell silent , necessary first aid was applied, and he was evacuated.

Somehow, I find the mordant humour in that true story - grim though it is - very life affirming.

AP's approach feels like battlefield voyeurism: like feeding the creeps who sidle up to gawp at car crashes.

And I read Goodbye Darkness years ago - excellent tale. Doesn't change my view: that was then, when news travelled slow. This is now - the age of instant, unthinking everything.

More on this story:

AP photo of dying Marine draws fire from Pentagon
By Matthew Shaer | 09.04.09

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has condemned the Associated Press decision to release a photograph of a US Marine wounded during a battle in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan. The Marine, Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard of New Portland, Maine, was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in a Taliban ambush on Aug. 14. He later died of his wounds.

In the AP photograph, Bernard is pictured lying on his side on a sandy slope. The image is blurry, but Bernard appears to be bleeding; two other Marines stand over him, attending to his wounds. The caption, titled “Afghanistan Death of a Marine,” identifies the location as the village of Dahaneh. The photographer is Julie Jacobson, who also took the image at the top of this post. The AP reports that Bernard later died on the operating table at a nearby field hospital.

“AP journalists document world events every day. Afghanistan is no exception,” Santiago Lyon, the wire services’ director of photography, said in a statement. “We feel it is our journalistic duty to show the reality of the war there, however unpleasant and brutal that sometimes is.” In a story on the ambush, the AP reported that Bernard’s death came during the “deadliest month of the deadliest year since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

According to the AP, Bernard’s parents had twice asked the image not be released.

Fallout

“I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lance Corporal Bernard’s death has caused his family,” Gates wrote in a letter to Thomas Curley, AP’s president and chief executive officer. “Why your organization would purposefully defy the family’s wishes knowing full well that it will lead to yet more anguish is beyond me. Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their maimed and stricken child on the front page of multiple American newspapers is appalling. The issue here is not law, policy or constitutional right – but judgment and common decency.”

The leader of the largest veterans association in the US has also criticized the AP’s decision, Reuters reports.

“The lack of compassion and common decency shown by the Associated Press in releasing this photograph is stunning,” said American Legion National Commander Clarence E. Hill, a retired Navy captain. “Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard is a hero who gave his life for his country. His family is understandably offended.”

http://features.csmonitor.com/politi...from-pentagon/

This is the journal entry from the photographer who took the picture:

[/quote]Journal entries of AP photographer in Afghanistan

By JULIE JACOBSON (AP) – 3 days ago

The operation started really early Wednesday morning on this town called Dahaneh. It's south of Now Zad a few miles. It is Taliban-controlled. Alfred (Associated Press writer Alfred de Montesquiou), and Ken (AP Television News Cameraman Ken Teh) were put on the assault helicopter which landed outside the compounds they intended to raid. I was stuck on a 7-ton truck with ANA (Afghan National Army) soldiers, an NPR reporter and another American guy, who is a civilian military adviser.

Initially, we, the women, (Jacobson and reporters for National Public Radio and Armed Forces Network) were going to be left at ANP hill with the backup troops. After I found that out, I (we) did some pushing and polite complaining and they finally got us on these trucks. ANP Hill is all the way back in Now Zad. I was NOT going to sit up there with all the stuff going on in Dahaneh hoping the troops at ANP got called on. It was clear it was a female thing and very frustrating. I never want to start claiming discrimination, but it was just so obvious. So, we ended up on the 7-ton, which at least got us to Dahaneh that morning.

We left at 2:30 a.m., a long, long convoy of military vehicles with a bulldozer on tank tracks leading the way and basically creating a new path for us to follow. His job was basically to clear our path of IEDs all the way to Dahaneh. It was a slow drive over maybe five miles, lasting four hours. Just inside the pass which marks the north end of town, gunfire started from all around. A few rounds passed above or near us, but most of it was from the village itself or behind us, from the hillsides down on other trucks and vehicles in the convoy. The little AK-47 pops were met with thundering beats from 50 caliber machine guns mounted on the MRAPs (mine-resistant armored cars). A few mortar shells hit the ground less than 100 meters from us. At some point we pushed farther into town a little ways, and I could see Marines on a rooftop. I also noticed Ken and Alfred up there. I was just itching to get out of that truck. Eventually, by 9 a.m. we did. We entered the compound and I headed straight for that roof along with FOX News, who was also in a 7-ton. They weren't happy because they weren't in the main assault. I met up with Alfred and Ken.

Before I could get started and while we were lying behind a wall, Alfred told me about our colleague Emilio (AP photographer Emilio Morenatti) who was embedded with the Strykers in Kandahar and that he and the APTN guy with him had been hit by an IED. Emilio lost a foot, and Andi (AP videographer Andi Jatmiko) broke his legs and ribs. It was upsetting news to hear, and made it difficult to concentrate fully on what I was doing. Although, I was clear of mind enough to keep my head down.

I spent about a half hour up on that roof and then went downstairs to file a few photos quickly. Sometime around 10:30 as I was just finishing filing, an aircraft flew in and dropped a bomb on a house not far from us. The shooting ceased immediately. They later confirmed 10 dead Talibs (Taliban fighters). So all was calm and quiet through the late morning into the afternoon.

About 16:30, we were gathering to go on the first patrol through the village. Just as we were about to step through the door of the compound, gunfire erupted outside along with RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fire.

When I say compound, it means a home basically. The homes here are made of two or more buildings surrounded by high brick and mud walls. The walls are at least a foot thick and usually more and very strong.

I learned quickly the difference between a bullet passing overhead and one that has ricocheted off something. A passing bullet merely pops as it breaks the sound barrier. A ricochet has a strange whirring noise to it.

Needless to say, they dropped the patrol. Sniper fire also started coming in from the mountainside behind us. Marines on the roof suddenly had to switch sides of the roof and crouch behind a wall. I crawled up there for a bit trying to make a picture of something. Three of the Marines were tucked low trying to mark the sniper so they could call in an air strike. The others were just sitting up there smoking looking bored. But occasional bursts of fire continued until dark, when the Taliban retreated. They know the Marines have the advantage in the dark with their night vision scopes. Only two more shots were fired in the night. After that, all was calm and we slept in the various rooms of the house, on the floor, some on carpets some on padded mattresses.

Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009

Today we went out on clearance patrols with the ANA. Basically we swept through town searching houses to clear the village of Taliban. The ANA did most of the searching with the Marines in support with security. This day is particularly important because it turned things around for me with the whole female thing.

It was freakin' hot. About 115 degrees. The patrol started at 11 a.m. I don't know whose bright idea it was to start it at that time. We started walking in two columns. Not five minutes out of the post gunfire erupted from the hillside to our right. We all just started running for cover behind walls. The ANA dropped into holes to provide cover but I don't think they ever fired a shot. They just kind of sat there staring. All the cover fire came from the Marine support vehicles.

So we sprinted about 70 yards to a corner compound and made the turn. We had about three more 100-yard sprints over open ground. I did them all and was sitting there after the last one wondering if I was going to make it through the day if we were going to have to run like that the whole day. My flak jacket weighs 23.5 pounds. My camera is about 5 with the lens on. I was carrying another 2-pound lens plus my Camelback with 3 liters of water, and some other misc. stuff.

So there I was doing these 100-yard sprints with about 35 pounds on me in that heat. And as I sat there wondering if I'd keep up or tank and feeling like a wimp, the squad leader suddenly says "OK, we gotta slow down or we're not going to make it. From now on we set up security as we go and take it slow. Don't forget to drink lots of water." I felt a lot better. It wasn't just me who was breathing heavily. So we pushed on through town, searched a few houses. Heard some gunfire from other parts of town. It was a pretty uneventful search for our squad. But I kept up as they climbed over walls, on rooftops, etc. I never lagged behind. I stuck with them and didn't utter a word of complaint. I popped a Clif Blok in my mouth every so often. Earlier in the morning I drank 1.5 liters of water with Gatorade powder mixed in. I believe that's what kept me going.

Around 3 p.m. we reached the southern line of where we wanted to be. We stopped, rested in the shade and waited for other squads. At some point one of the Marines said, "FOX News dropped out. They couldn't hack it. Hey look, Jacobson from AP is still here." They thought it was funny that the FOX guys tanked. Later back at the post, the squad leader said to me, "Jacobson, thanks for coming with us today. You were a good trooper." Now, I have to say that felt really good considering the fact that when he first realized I was coming with his squad in the morning, he sighed, practically rolled his eyes. It was clear he did not want a woman on his patrol. After that day, I did not get any more such reactions from anyone. In fact they would come seek me out and let me know when they were going to go do stuff.

Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009

Yesterday the day was all pretty calm. There had been no shots fired. Village leaders came to meet with the Marine commanding officer and the ANA commanding officer. One guy asked the Marine captain to give him back his 30 kilos of confiscated opium. The answer was no. We went out to the new outpost built on the edge of town for the ANA and raised the Afghan flag to the Afghan national anthem, with both U.S. and Afghan troops present around mid-afternoon.

But then, just as everyone was believing that Dahaneh had been taken, we had attacks on the house the Marines and ANA were using as a command post. They started by somehow creeping up on the back wall of the house and shooting scattered AK-47 rounds into the yard. Everyone scrambled for cover. Then they started firing mortars and RPGs in addition to the AKs. The Marines on the rooftop responded with heavy fire. Alfred, Ken and I all climbed up on the roof to do our jobs up there.

As soon as we got up there, the shout of "INCOMING!!!" rang out. We all hit the deck. Luckily, the Taliban miss a lot. But there were three more incoming calls before I was able to get up and run over to the wall where all the Marines were positioned shooting. One of the shots was an RPG which hit the side of the house. One mortar shell hit the side of the house also. The other mortar shells landed just outside the walls.

It was late afternoon and a patrol was going out as soon as the shooting calmed down a little. Marine attack helicopters were now circling overhead and the Taliban usually stop shooting when they come around. So the patrol went out. Alfred and I accompanied them. We slowly made our way through the abandoned bazaar seeing scorch marks on the walls of the shops and rubble in the street. Notes posted on columns by the Taliban were read by the ANA soldiers who were with us. The notes urged villagers to fight the Marines.

It was sunset when we had left the compound. As we left the bazaar we walked along a narrow street lined by tall compound walls. At a break in one wall some men in a family were sitting outside watching us curiously, and I thought a little too nonchalantly. It was almost like people peering outside their homes during a Wild West showdown to see what might happen.

As the sun finally disappeared behind the mountains behind us we came upon an intersection with an open field bordered by a short mud brick wall. The squad leader, Cpl. (Braxton) Russell, came over to the wall where I crouched next to a Marine who had his gun trained on a stand of pomegranate trees about 70 yards away. As it turned out, some of the locals we had passed, upon seeing ANA soldiers, came out and told them where the Taliban were lying in wait. The message was relayed by radio up to the front of the stack where I was, that basically the Taliban had eyes on us and would attack if we got any closer. It was dusk.

Cpl. Russell said to the Marine, "If you see anything move from there, light it up," and then he went back to his position in the gun turret of the MRAP. The Marine looked at me as I stood there struggling to get my footing next to the ditch near the wall and keep my head below the top of the wall at the same time. He said, "If you see me drop to a knee, that's a clue that I'm going to start shooting."

Not 30 seconds after he said that, the Taliban attacked with an RPG and then with gunfire. The explosion which felt close by startled us both. He looked at me, I said I was OK, and then we noticed the grass to my right begin to catch fire from the sparks from the explosion. I bolted to his left and then all hell broke loose with M16, 50-Cal, AK-47 fire all over. The Marine next to me started to run back the direction the explosion was. I didn't want to stay in that spot because there were Afghan soldiers there and they aren't very good, so I followed the Marine.

That's when I realized there was a casualty and saw the injured Marine, about 10 yards from where I'd stood, with his legs just hanging on by skin. For the second time in my life, I watched a Marine lose his. He was hit with the RPG, which blew off one of his legs and badly mangled the other. He lost consciousness a few minutes later just before they got him into the "ambulance." I hadn't seen it happen, just heard the explosion. I hit the ground and lay as flat as I could and shot what I could of the scene even though I didn't think I could use those casualty pics based on our media rules of engagement. It was also dusk at that point and very hard to shoot with such low shutter speeds. There was lots of yelling.

The injured Marine kept saying, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe." The other guys kept telling him "Bernard, you're doing fine, you're doing fine. You're gonna make it. Stay with me Bernard!" He held Bernard's head in his hands when he seemed to go limp and tried to keep him awake. A couple more ran in with a stretcher.

This whole time amidst gunfire, I lay flat on my stomach trying to brace my camera steady, but not doing very well at a 1/2 second. It was strange to be worrying about my shutter speed with all the bullets flying overhead. At the same time I kept trying to gauge whether or not to drop the camera and help the Marines with the injured man. I remember feeling that as my first instinct when we had first approached him, but saw that there were two guys with him and decided I was not needed.

So all this is going on and as they were trying to help him, (it was just too dark to see what exactly they were doing), another RPG hit the mud wall on the other side of the street from where we were, about five yards away. It was a big BOOM, and I just lay my face in the dirt and everything went quiet for about 10 seconds. It was just silence like I was wearing noise-canceling head phones or like world peace had finally descended upon the earth. The air was white with sand.

Then I started feeling the rubble fall down around me. And I thought, "Is this what it's like to be shell-shocked? Am I all still here? I can't believe I am." One of the Marines looked my way, and I told him I was good, and he told me to head for cover of the MRAP, so I did. Alfred, the writer, was there and was relieved to see me. He said he saw me lying on the ground and was worried until he saw me move. I was fine and surprised at how calm I was and that I could actually still hear. I kept trying to shoot from behind the MRAP, wanting to move up to the wall again around the soldiers who had finally gathered there shooting.

But a freakin' Afghan soldier shot an RPG with five Marines standing behind it and almost fried them all. Plus at that point, I was not sure I wanted another round of RPGs sitting next to the wall. Those walls are pretty thick and strong, but I just couldn't be sure.

Gunfire continued for several minutes more before things finally quieted. They had already moved the injured Marine out. Alfred and I stood in a doorway of a home compound, and it was also pretty daggum dark at that point. There was still a touch of light in the sky a bit, but not enough to shoot. I tried, but it did no good. I couldn't see enough to focus and couldn't hold steady for very long. It was frustrating. I shot some video just for the sound because the APTN guy had decided to stay behind and continue shooting what he saw on the roof of our post.

When the MRAP pulled away leaving us exposed, Alfred pulled a cowering ANA guy out of the door so we could stand there. A minute later a Marine came running up to us yelling "Has this house been cleared?!" It was to their rear and could have been a good ambush point. I shrugged my shoulders and just said, "I don't know, there was an ANA guy here but I don't think he did anything." There was another one of them sitting down the street up against the wall away from all the action. He was just sitting there, legs crossed with his weapon in his lap like he was waiting to be served tea. A flare lit up the sky. I made a few frames.

Shortly after, we decided to push back to the command post. The Marines said another squad was coming to do a night sweep through the orchard.

Someone started yelling for the translator, Franky. (They have American nicknames for the 'terps, 'cause they can't pronounce the real ones.) Franky didn't answer. They walked up and down yelling for him, worried that something had happened in the chaos. Then someone realized he was sitting in the 7-ton truck. He had retreated there when the firing started. Not a good thing, because it prevented the Marines from coordinating with the ANA.

We slowly began to push back. Cpl. Jackson asked me if I wanted night vision goggles to see to make my way back. I declined. I could make out their shapes in the dark, it was enough. As we made our way back, the night squad passed us going the other way, faces masked. They seemed like phantoms moving in the dark, intensely quiet, saying nothing to us as they passed.

We made it back to the command post just as the Black Hawk medevac helicopter was taking off with Bernard inside. Later in the night, we learned that Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard had made it to the hospital at Camp Leatherneck but had died of a blood clot in his heart on the operating table.

Wednesday Aug. 19, 2009

The last few slow days have allowed me to reflect some on the events of Friday, the 14th. I did not ever formally meet Bernard. There are some 50 men in a platoon, and every day we were going out with different squads, so I have not really gotten to know the guys too well. ...

I shot images that day well aware that those images could very possibly never see the light of day. In fact I was sure of it. But I still found myself recording them. To ignore a moment like that simply because of a phrase in section 8, paragraph 1 of some 10-page form would have been wrong. I was recording his impending death, just as I had recorded his life moments before walking the point in the bazaar. Death is a part of life and most certainly a part of war. Isn't that why we're here? To document for now and for history the events of this war? We'd shot everything else thus far and even after, from feature images of a Marine talking on a SAT phone to his girlfriend, all the way to happy meetings between Marines and civilians. So shooting the image was not a question.

To publish or not is the question. The image is not the most technically sound, but his face is visible as are his wounds. Many factors come into play. There's the form we signed agreeing to how and what we would cover while embedded. It says we can photograph casualties from a respectable distance and in such a way that the person is not identifiable. Then you think about the relatives and friends of Bernard. Would you, as a parent, want that image posted for all the world to see? Or even would you want to see how your son died? You'd probably want to remember him another way. Although, it was interesting to watch the Marines from his squad flip through the images from that day on my computer (they asked to see them). They did stop when they came to that moment. But none of them complained or grew angry about it. They understood that it was what it was. They understand, despite that he was their friend, it was the reality of things.

Then there's the journalism side of things, which is what I am and why I'm here. We are allowed to report the name of the casualty as soon as next of kin has been notified. It is necessary and good to recognize those who die in times of war. But to me, a name on a piece of paper barely touches personalizing casualties. An image brings it home so much closer. An image personalizes that death and makes people see what it really means to have young men die in combat. It may be shocking to see, and while I'm not trying to force anything down anyone's throat, I think it is necessary for people to see the good, the bad and the ugly in order to reflect upon ourselves as human beings. It is necessary to be bothered from time to time. It is too easy to sit at Starbuck's far away across the sea and read about the casualty and then move on without much of another thought about it. It's not as easy to see an image of that casualty and NOT think about it. I never expect to change the world or stop war with one picture, but only hope that I make some people THINK beyond their comfort zones and hope that a few of them will be moved into some kind of action, be it joining a protest, or sending that care package they've put off for weeks, or writing that letter they keep meaning to write, or donating money to some worthy NGO, or just remembering to say I love you to someone at home. Something. I believe that is why I decided to send the photo in to the NY desk despite what the media rules of engagement said, to start some conversation about it and hope that it will move out there. It bothered me too much not to have at least some discussion about it. And with great respect and understanding to all the opposing arguments to publication, I feel that as journalists it is our social responsibility to record AND publish such images. We have no restrictions to shoot or publish casualties from opposition forces, or even civilian casualties. Are those people less human than American or other NATO soldiers?

So, debate amongst yourselves or maybe just to yourself. Send me your thoughts if you like. Enlighten me if you disagree.

Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009

Today was election day. One civilian showed up to vote around 3:30 p.m. The other voters were all the Afghan soldiers and police from here. There was a suicide bomb threat. The streets were pretty empty all over as far as I heard from some police who had gone out. The polling place was delayed opening because the ballots delivered were lacking the presidential ballots. So the Marines had to fly them in from another town in the province. Other than that, and a couple mortars that hit a ways from here, all's quiet.[/quote]
—

Here is a video story of issue--also the Marine's father is a retired USMC First Sergeant himself.

http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.h...9d70b0c12f2749

Gates: AP decision 'appalling'
By: Mike Allen
September 4, 2009 09:38 AM EST

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is objecting “in the strongest terms” to an Associated Press decision to transmit a photograph showing a mortally wounded 21-year-old Marine in his final moments of life, calling the decision “appalling” and a breach of “common decency.”

The AP reported that the Marine’s father had asked – in an interview and in a follow-up phone call — that the image, taken by an embedded photographer, not be published.

The AP reported in a story that it decided to make the image public anyway because it “conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it.”

The photo shows Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard of New Portland, Maine, who was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in a Taliban ambush Aug. 14 in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan, according to The AP.

Gates wrote to Thomas Curley, AP’s president and chief executive officer. “Out of respect for his family’s wishes, I ask you in the strongest of terms to reconsider your decision. I do not make this request lightly. In one of my first public statements as Secretary of Defense, I stated that the media should not be treated as the enemy, and made it a point to thank journalists for revealing problems that need to be fixed – as was the case with Walter Reed."

“I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lance Corporal Bernard’s death has caused his family. Why your organization would purposefully defy the family’s wishes knowing full well that it will lead to yet more anguish is beyond me. Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their maimed and stricken child on the front page of multiple American newspapers is appalling. The issue here is not law, policy or constitutional right – but judgment and common decency.”

The four-paragraph letter concluded, “Sincerely,” then had Gates’ signature.

The photo, first transmitted Thursday morning and repeated Friday morning, carries the warning, “EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT.”

The caption says: “In this photo taken Friday, Aug. 14, 2009, Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard is tended to by fellow U.S. Marines after being hit by a rocket propelled grenade during a firefight against the Taliban in the village of Dahaneh in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. Bernard was transported by helicopter to Camp Leatherneck where he later died of his wounds.”

Gates’ letter was sent Thursday, after he talked to Curley by phone at about 3:30 p.m. Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates told Curley: “I am asking you to reconsider your decision to publish this graphic photograph of Lance Corporal Bernard. I am begging you to defer to the wishes of the family. This will cause them great pain.”

Curley was “very polite and willing to listen,” and send he would reconvene his editorial team and reconsider, Morrell said. Within the hour, Curley called Morrell and said the editors had reconvened but had ultimately come to the same conclusion.

Gates “was greatly disappointed they had not done the right thing,” Morrell said.

The Buffalo News ran the photo on page 4, and the The (Wheeling, W.Va.) Intelligencer ran an editorial defending its decision to run the photo. Some newspapers – including the Arizona Republic, The Washington Times and the Orlando Sentinel – ran other photos from the series. Several newspaper websites – including the Akron Beacon-Journal and the St. Petersburg Times – used the photo online.

Morrell said Gates wanted the information about his conversations released “so everyone would know how strongly he felt about the issue.”

The Associated Press reported in a story about deliberations about that photo that “after a period of reflection,” the news service decided “to make public an image that conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it.

“The image shows fellow Marines helping Bernard after he suffered severe leg injuries. He was evacuated to a field hospital where he died on the operating table,” AP said. “The picture was taken by Associated Press photographer Julie Jacobson, who accompanied Marines on the patrol and was in the midst of the ambush during which Bernard was wounded. … ‘AP journalists document world events every day. Afghanistan is no exception. We feel it is our journalistic duty to show the reality of the war there, however unpleasant and brutal that sometimes is,’ said Santiago Lyon, the director of photography for AP.

“He said Bernard's death shows ‘his sacrifice for his country. Our story and photos report on him and his last hours respectfully and in accordance with military regulations surrounding journalists embedded with U.S. forces.’”

The AP reported that it “waited until after Bernard's burial in Madison, Maine, on Aug. 24 to distribute its story and the pictures.”

“An AP reporter met with his parents, allowing them to see the images,” the article says. “Bernard's father after seeing the image of his mortally wounded son said he opposed its publication, saying it was disrespectful to his son's memory. John Bernard reiterated his viewpoint in a telephone call to the AP on Wednesday. ‘We understand Mr. Bernard's anguish. We believe this image is part of the history of this war.

The story and photos are in themselves a respectful treatment and recognition of sacrifice,’ said AP senior managing editor John Daniszewski.

“Thursday afternoon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called AP President Tom Curley asking that the news organization respect the wishes of Bernard's father and not publish the photo. Curley and AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said they understood this was a painful issue for Bernard's family and that they were sure that factor was being considered by the editors deciding whether or not to publish the photo, just as it had been for the AP editors who decided to distribute it.”

The image was part of a package of stories and photos released for publication after midnight Friday. The project, called “AP Impact – Afghan – Death of a Marine,” carried a dateline of Dahaneh, Afghanistan, and was written by Alfred de Montesquiou and Julie Jacobson:

“The U.S. patrol had a tip that Taliban fighters were lying in ambush in a pomegranate grove, and a Marine trained his weapon on the trees. Seconds later, a salvo of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades poured out, and a grenade hit Lance Cpl. Joshua ‘Bernie’ Bernard. The Marine was about to become the next fatality in the deadliest month of the deadliest year of the Afghan war.”

The news service also moved extensive journal entries AP photographer Julie Jacobson wrote while in Afghanistan. AP said in an advisory: “From the reporting of Alfred de Montesquiou, the photos and written journal kept by Julie Jacobson, and the TV images of cameraman Ken Teh, the AP has compiled ‘Death of a Marine,’ a 1,700 word narrative of the clash, offering vivid insights into how the battle was fought, and into Bernard's character and background. It also includes an interview with his father, an ex-Marine, who three weeks earlier had written letters complaining that the military's rules of engagement are exposing the troops in Afghanistan to undue risk.”

Originally Posted by Andy_S

(6) One of the most famous images of the Falklands War was of a guardsman at Bluff Cove with his leg blown off. Should that image have been suppressed?

That image arrived bck in UK some days after the fact - and he lived.

Were his family asked ? I don't know.

Would they have objected ? Can't say.

Can tell you that the Para in that picture was screaming "I've lost my leg! I've lost my leg!!"

Until the medic (the name 'Dingus' is in my mind - not sure that it is correct) rocked up, and said "No you haven't" - and handed him the traumatically amputated portion.
quote]

Call me a military train spotter, but are you not confusing the footage of the legless Welsh Guardsman in the Bluff Cove film footage with the incident described in 'Excursion to Hell' (Vince Bramley) that occured on Mt Longdon?

I remember the picture on T.V. of the guy ith his leg missing on the stretcher as he got medivaced from HMS Sheffield to an aircraft carrier

IIRC all the reports and images were transmitted via the MOD's systems so I suppose they would have had veto rights having saw them before anyone else

Didn't Sky news report and show pictures of a Nimrod crashing in the states about 1996 as part of it Breaking News coverage
I'm sure there was a lot of sh1t about it due to the speed they showed them as NOK where still being informed

Edited to add the footage is on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2BSfgnCU2Q

Originally Posted by the_boy_syrup

I remember the picture on T.V. of the guy ith his leg missing on the stretcher as he got medivaced from HMS Sheffield to an aircraft carrier

IIRC all the reports and images were transmitted via the MOD's systems so I suppose they would have had veto rights having saw them before anyone else

Didn't Sky news report and show pictures of a Nimrod crashing in the states about 1996 as part of it Breaking News coverage
I'm sure there was a lot of sh1t about it due to the speed they showed them as NOK where still being informed

Edited to add the footage is on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2BSfgnCU2Q

Yr view of the delivery/veto is correct.

Only Max Hastings managed to get round it, by sweet talking the SAS, he had some access to their SATPHONE system, so managed to scoop some stries - like the one where he advanced on his Jack Jones ahead of the main force into Port Stanley.

That was the last war ever fought, in which Mil comms were superior to those of the Press.

By the time of GW1, 12 yrs or so later - Kate Adies ilk had the advantage by a massive edge: they were heavily managed in that war. Not so in B-H a couple of yrs later.

Originally Posted by Canader

Originally Posted by Andy_S

(6) One of the most famous images of the Falklands War was of a guardsman at Bluff Cove with his leg blown off. Should that image have been suppressed?

Originally Posted by Stonker

That image arrived bck in UK some days after the fact - and he lived.

Were his family asked ? I don't know.

Would they have objected ? Can't say.

Can tell you that the Para in that picture was screaming "I've lost my leg! I've lost my leg!!"

Until the medic (the name 'Dingus' is in my mind - not sure that it is correct) rocked up, and said "No you haven't" - and handed him the traumatically amputated portion.

Call me a military train spotter, but are you not confusing the footage of the legless Welsh Guardsman in the Bluff Cove film footage with the incident described in 'Excursion to Hell' (Vince Bramley) that occured on Mt Longdon?

OK - "you are a military train spotter": and you may well be correct - but that's what near a half century of strong drink and fast living can do for your memory circuits. I don't know that it makes any difference to my accompanying opinion.

But I never read the Bramley book: I heard the story from a Para captain at JDSC in late '82. Around half the Captains on the course had fought in the S Atlantic, and in the course of it we dined with Hastings and a shed load of other journos who reported on it (including the one who recorded an interview with H Jones the night before Goose Green - and then had the tape pilfered from his Bergan by some Para REMF as he worked his way forward in company with Chris Keeble)

A very contentious issue this one. How will it affect our ability to trust journos? Will we end up having yet another bunch of bolshie "I need this and I need it now" types tipping up assuming that we don't understand their needs and will deliberately gainsay them?

This could well have set back our relationship with the media to a considerable degree. Poor decision by AP to publish this so soon afer the event, and more specifically, against the families wishes.

RIP LCpl Bernard.

I'd be really interested in the opinion of Michael Yon, on this subject. Link, anyone?

Originally Posted by Canader

Originally Posted by Andy_S

(6) One of the most famous images of the Falklands War was of a guardsman at Bluff Cove with his leg blown off. Should that image have been suppressed?

Originally Posted by Stonker

That image arrived bck in UK some days after the fact - and he lived.

Were his family asked ? I don't know.

Would they have objected ? Can't say.

Can tell you that the Para in that picture was screaming "I've lost my leg! I've lost my leg!!"

Until the medic (the name 'Dingus' is in my mind - not sure that it is correct) rocked up, and said "No you haven't" - and handed him the traumatically amputated portion.

Call me a military train spotter, but are you not confusing the footage of the legless Welsh Guardsman in the Bluff Cove film footage with the incident described in 'Excursion to Hell' (Vince Bramley) that occured on Mt Longdon?

Watch this - then we'll both find out:

ARTS: 3 Minute Wonder
On: more4 (13)
Date: Monday 14th September 2009 (starting in 2 days)
Time: 13:05 to 13:10 (5 minutes long)

A one-off alert is set for Monday 14th September 2009, 15 minutes before 13:05
25 Years On: At War.
Channel 4 was 25 years old in 2007 and 3 Minute Wonder marked the anniversary by looking at other anniversaries. Britain entered into a controversial war over the Falkland Islands. Denzil Connick was a casualty on the last day of action, when he lost a leg. He shares the more damaging war he has been fighting ever since - the mental anguish that haunts him every day.

Outside UK, you may be able to watch online using Channel 4's 4OD service - but I'm not sure about that.