I believe in the inevitability of war. No matter how far we progress as a society or to what extent peace is sought, ultimately someone wants what someone else has, and so it begins again. War offers promises of grandeur and improvement; the reality is it kills the winners and losers. My essays explore the ramifications of war in my past. My photographs attempt to turn horror and despair to reveal another side of war that may cause the viewer to say, “But war can be beautiful and seductive.”
Monday, February 25, 2013
Walking the Walk
So what got me to a 20-mile walk through snow and sand on the Chicago lakefront? Clearly it wasn't the weather (see "snow" above). It wasn't the company; I was walking alone. Not too many folks were duplicating my 17 degree journey.
Just why the hell was I freezing my ass off and rubbing blisters?
This is where the phrase, "It's a long story" always comes up. And in my case it's true. This story started 71 years ago on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. Thousands of prisoners, many of the U.S. soldiers, of the Japanese were about to embark on one of the most heinous events in WWII - The Bataan Death March. And this has to do with me in 2013 on a frigid Chicago day?
My grandfather was one of the U.S. soldiers; he had no idea he was about to be forced to walk almost 80 miles.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment