"Why am I in the Military?"
For most of our service members, it’s not hard to respond to why are you in the military? The answer usually is, “to serve my country,” “to fight for our freedoms,” or "protect my family." To most in uniform, it’s an easy answer that is so very black and white. As for me, as I find myself in a foreign country, away from my family and friends, missing birthdays and anniversaries, I asked myself that same question today, and the answer surprised me.
- My 4 year-old daughter waves bye to me as we leave for abroad.
Leaving home, I knew that it was not going to be a vacation. It was easy for many people to think that I am crazy possibly exposing myself to real suffering and conflict. "Don't you watch the news?" they said. Before I left, I could somewhat agree with them. But it's weird sometimes living in America, you lose your heart for injustice and persecution. They become distant ideas, like a fairy-tale you remember reading once as a kid.
A young refugee girl forced to live in makeshift tent communities to escape persecution for her faith and being sold as slaves.
A 15 yr-old girl holds her 6 month old brother. She fled her town while it was attacked by violent extremists where a shrapnel from an explosion blinded her right eye. "We have been thrown into hopelessness before we knew what hopelessness was."
Watching the same sunset and breathing in the same air, I can't help but feel for how these people are given such hardship simply because of the place they were born.
Some of the photos you see here were taken by Lynsey Addario, a 41-year-old photojournalist who has taken her camera into virtually every major theater of war in the 21st century.
She has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur, the Congo, Haiti, and Libya (she was one of the four NYTimes journalist kidnapped in Libya in 2011).
Below is a 4-minute video made by Lynsey Addario, giving you a glimpse of those who are victims of conflict and the inspiring hope she has for humanity even in the face of real hopelessness.