Photographers Narrative

Whenever I see service members who need medical care I automatically want to photograph them.  I want everyone to know that freedom comes with a human price.  As the fighting in the war against terrorism continued during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, members of the 451st Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility (CASF) were responsible for treating, caring, and transporting injured personnel to locations capable of providing next level medical care to injured and wounded personnel.  The CASF team worked 24 hours a day to make sure they could transport wounded personnel to awaiting aircraft.  On May 21, 2011, the team transported and loaded a wounded U.S. Marine onto a waiting C-130 at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.  The teamwork and communication  displayed was awe inspiring as they worked through the hot evening sun, undeterred by the noise and heat from the C-130 engines, to provide the level of care and treatment the U.S. Marine needed.