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"Going to war with a pencil"

June 27, 2007 | | Comments (8)

Canadian artist Richard Johnson spent some time embedded with U.S. forces in Iraq in 2003, capturing their lives with nothing more than a pencil and paper.

He's doing the same thing with Canadian soldiers in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan right now, and blogging about it too.

Johnson isn't sitting back at KAF, either. He's out at the FOB's, going on patrol with the troops, dismounting and following in their footsteps, ducking during the inevitable TIC's, and trying to give each of us a glimpse into the life of ordinary soldiers doing extraordinary things through the lens of his experience.

Here's an excerpt of the text he puts up with his drawings, taken from a patrol he joined on his "day off":

The heat starts to take a toll. Every time the tank stops soldiers alternate turns to drink. Civilian families are waved inside by the interpreters and the ANP. I snag a water from the ever-prepared Corporal Tu. My camera makes one last grinding sand-filled attempt to focus and dies. I grab the spare.

We move on metre after choking metre, after km after km before eventually leaving the buildings for open fields. Gunfire erupts from the lead tank’s coaxial machine gun. It hurtles forward, crushing a stone wall and rumbling into the field. The soldiers duck by the wall. Then they are joined by others, then hustled by their sergeants to work to the right along the road flanking something I cannot see. Gunfire erupts again and I drop to one knee. I am the only one though. Everyone else can tell friendly from enemy gunfire. The tanks continue moving and firing.

We leave the road into the vineyards. The checkpoint is spotted and the infantry sweep forward. We stage one last time in cover before making the last rush to the wall of the checkpoint and inside. Almost everyone is exhausted. Some soldiers — each carrying at least 65lbs of gear — are completely soaked in sweat, no part of their uniforms remain dry. Many collapse to the ground behind the barricade.

Service takes different forms, and is expressed with different talents. Soldiers fight. This artist has chosen to pay tribute to those soldiers, and has found his duty there. - Damian

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8 Comments

By Grumpy on June 27, 2007 2:52 PM
John, Today, I'll be dealing with 2 subjects, "Going to War with a Pencil" and your arsenal. Let's deal with the latter first, your arsenal. I am glad you are sane? I had a .22 rifle when I was 8 years old. My Mom and Dad took me out to a local gravel pit to shoot. I figure my Mom was there just to watch. I was wrong, she was the one to teach me how to shoot. She set up a target at 100 yards. They put up a large piece of poster board, then put the target on top. She put 8 out of 10 in the bull's eye. My Dad hit 9 out of 10. The funny thing is I never had any arguments with them. I often wonder why. The above article really struck me about drawings of combat. They grow on you and your mind like a fungus. This is where we need to remember the war is not just being fought "over there". It is actually being fought between our ears. It is like a haunting moment when you expect that soldier to stand up. You look at him and he says, "Well, are you ever going to pull your head out of your ass and get involved?" Thanks, "Grumpy"
 
By John of Argghhh! on June 27, 2007 3:55 PM
Well, thus far the opinion of the psychiatric community is that I am, indeed, sane. Beyond that, they won't say.
 
By Damian on June 27, 2007 4:25 PM
I, for one, vote that John is indeed sane. (What? Like I'm going to piss off a guy with that many firearms...)
 
By John of Argghhh! on June 27, 2007 4:48 PM
Well, yer pretty safe, as John Heinrichs keeps pointing out, we Southrons have never successfully invaded you lot without being under British command - and that was only the French.
 
By Grumpy on June 27, 2007 6:44 PM
John, there is no doubt of your sanity. Your writing has proven this as FACT! Your are a target for a case of a little playfulness. By the way, on your home page, you have an icon, which we believe should be on a cap for vets. "DYSFUNCTIONAL VETERAN - LEAVE ME ALONE", there's a group of Viet Nam era vets around me. I decided to save a copy of your home page on disk. There is a small group of people, but there are like nodes of a network. Many of us have said, "This is us." Have a GREAT WEEK, WEEKEND AND HOLIDAY, Grumpy
 
By John of Argghhh! on June 27, 2007 7:36 PM
Grumpy - that is a patch *intended* for a hat! Werekitty bought it for me when we were in DC for the first Milblogger Conference. There's also these guys... And that particular patch is available from these guys, item #P103.
 
By BillT on June 27, 2007 9:54 PM
Those of us who are *truly* dysfunctional don't have to wear the hat. The giant cans of beer strapped to our backs are a dead giveaway, though...
 
By Grumpy on June 28, 2007 2:31 PM
John, to say the least, I really enjoyed the discussion. When you start to talk about guns, you can get into some wild debates. There was a time with one family, they were looking at some of the guns I owned at the time. For these guns, the ammo was kept separate. They had an older teenage son, he asked, "Can I ask you a question?" I said, "Sure." He asked, "When was the very first time you were permitted to go shooting?" Hint, he is looking for a number to use in a debate with his parents. My answer, "The first time was based on a point in time, when my parents believed I had the discipline and maturity shown to them on a consistent basis. This discipline included the responsible use of this weapon. This was a joint decision between them, not based on age. One thing to remember, some people understand this concept early in their lives and some people never understand it." Later that week, the father comes over and wants to talk. He had no idea the son would be raising the question. The father said, "About your answer, it was perfect, he was looking for a number. At the time he wanted be in law enforcement and this was a trial balloon to see if you would write a reference for him. With your response, he knew this was a dead end." With that, he left. John, you really never know how to answer some of these questions, I answered the question precisely as it was asked, nothing more, nothing less. Thank you, to you , your family and your readership and all the gargoyles and gnomes of the Castle. Grumpy
 
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