The Eyes Of Marines

[bigtree]

from Ed Webb ?@edwebb
The eyes of Marines before, during & after Afghanistan
http://flpbd.it/ZpMAE














The eyes of Marines before, during & after Afghanistan. Photographed by Dutch photographer Claire Felicie.

via J. Hermann
Sep 16

http://mattdpearce.tumblr.com/post/31694537411/the-eyes-of-marines-before-during-after

[Skittles]

1. from happy to apprehensive to haunted

[yourout]

2. +1.....scarred for life I am affraid.

I hope they find some happiness after being home for a while.

[virgogal]

3. War is hell!

[RobertEarl]

4. What is it good for?

[braddy]

5. You should have seen the eyes of the Green Berets at little Vietnam, at Ft. Polk during the Vietnam

war, they and a couple of the drill sergeants had the most wolf like eyes that I have ever seen in men.

[kas125]

6. I have several young friends who are Iraq and Afghanistan vets. One day I clicked on a facebook

picture of one of them and kept clicking through the pictures of him. I ended up crying because his eyes looked so haunted in every picture. This is a guy who has spent all his time trying to end the wars and change things since he got back; public speaking, marching, protesting, throwing his medals back testifying at the Winter Soldier event, hosting a weekly radio show for veterans, etc. And now, a few years later, his eyes almost always look happy again.

[bigtree]

7. thanks for sharing that

. . . there is hope and help for our returning soldiers. It does take time and a lot of committed, dedicated folks to help these soldiers and troops through the transition away from warring.

[pinboy3niner]

9. There is a chance for healing...and hope

From one who's been there, done that.

A soldier's war will always be there...for the rest of his or her days. But it is possible to manage...and to overcome.

[Robb]

8. I like this.

It's a bit of an ink-blot test, for sure. I was imagining switching the before and after photos, and thought I'd react by saying they looked less sane.

Then I realized, being Marines, that's pretty accurate; a freshly-minted Marine has a certain disconnect that enables them to do their job. An experienced Marine is more grounded, so to speak, having witnessed the realities of it all.