It's Not Rude: These Portraits Of Wounded Vets Are Meant To Be Stared At (GRAPHIC WARNING)

[TexasTowelie]

Army Spc. Jerral Hancock sits for a portrait with his son Julius. It is believed that Hancock was trapped under the wreckage of his Army tank in Iraq for half an hour before he was rescued.
Courtesy of David Jay/Unknown Soldier

It's impolite to stare. But when it comes to severely injured soldiers, maybe we don't look enough; or maybe we'd rather not see wounded veterans at all.

That's the message you get from photographer David Jay's Unknown Soldier series. Jay spent three years taking portraits of veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but before that — for nearly 20 years — he was a fashion photographer. His stylish, artful images appeared in magazines like Vogue and Cosmopolitan.

"The fashion stuff is beautiful and sexy — and completely untrue," he says.

Truth became the focus of Jay's work for the first time about 10 years ago, when he started The SCAR Project, a series of portraits of women, naked from the waist up, with mastectomy scars. Around the time he was taking those photos, he was also trying to comprehend the news coming from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/2015/05/25/408505821/its-not-rude-these-portraits-of-wounded-vets-are-meant-to-be-stared-at?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

[ret5hd]

1. To Army Spc. Jerral Hancock:

You got scary eyes. (on edit: you deserve them, they are yours)
You still have the beauty of youth.
Your son is beautiful.

Do what little you can to make the world better for him. I will be there working beside you.

[GGJohn]

5. He's got the 1000 yard stare. eom.

[pinboy3niner]

15. See #9, brother

And see the linked video, in which Jerral's eyes no longer look quite so scary.

Some of the news accounts got it wrong. Jerral was trapped in that burning tank for an hour and a half. They couldn't reach him until a vehicle was used to winch the tank gun around. When they finally went to pull him out, his arm came off. After avoiding it for a while, Jerral finally learned those facts from his battle buddies.

[GGJohn]

16. Thanks for the link brother,

and thanks for helping a wounded and maimed brother, very inspiring story.

[pinboy3niner]

9. When I told Jerral about your "scary eyes" comment yesterday...

...he just laughed and said, "That's how I keep my kids in line."

Yesterday (Friday), on Jerral's 29th birthday, he received the keys to his new Smart Home thanks to a 2-year project launched by an amazing group of students at Lancaster High School in Lancaster, California. I haven't had a chance to post about it yet and I'll be at another veterans charity event most of today, but the local CBS affiliate did a report on the key ceremony And AP did an advance story with background on how the students met Jerral and decided to build him a home (two homes, actually--one for Jerral and his kids and one for his caregivers).

VIDEO:
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/video/11549913-single-dad-paralyzed-in-iraq-8-years-ago-gets-smart-home-in-palmdale/

AP: High school students build home from ground up for wounded veteran
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/high-school-students-build-home-from-ground-up-for-wounded-veteran-1.349241

[lonestarnot]

11. Damn.

Thank you.

[G_j]

12. That is awesome. nt

[ret5hd]

13. That is truly truly cool. Thanks for replying and letting us know.

[pinboy3niner]

14. You're very welcome

In case it didn't come through in the news reports, a wedding date hasn't been set yet but Jerral is now engaged to a wonderful woman and we are looking forward to a huge wedding in our community.

Side note: When I first met Jerral a couple years ago at one of the OATH students' early fundraising events we had a chance to sit and talk for a while. When I mentioned that my car was down so I had bused and walked to the event, Jerral told me to just call him if I needed a ride. I was tempted to take him up up on it. Not gratuitously, but if I really got jammed up.

At yesterday's event I had bused partway and walked another hour or so in the heat, stopping often to rest. I joked about how I expected somebody would pick me up, but they all just waved as they passed by. Jerral said hell, if I needed a ride home I could count on him. I didn't have to take him up on his offer...but I'm still tempted to do that, if I get jammed up.

My photos from yesterday weren't very good, but I did manage to get this shot of Jerral's van on the parking apron in front of his new home:



I also want to note that the students who accomplished this did so because because they had an amazing, inspirationlal teacher in Jamie Goodreau. Jamie has been inspiring her history class students in projects like this for years. When we talk about the difference good teachers can make, I can't say enough about Jamie to do her justice. Jamie is a real hero.

[lovemydog]

18. Thank you for your work with veterans like Jerral.

Please tell them we love them.

[pinboy3niner]

20. It's not me, it's the students who did this

I'm just one of many hundreds of supporters who show up at the fundraising breakfasts and dinners and buy the T-shirts--and sometimes post reports on what others are doing. That's all I did.

I just happen to be situated where I can share a perspective from our community. I also happen to know the amazing teacher involved, Jamie Goodreau, because we've worked together on many projects and we've co-chaired a committee together on another veterans project. I know Jerral, but I wouldn't count myself as one of his intimate friends. We're battle brothers across the eras, but he has many of them.

There's a major distinction between my "work" and the actual work of the OATH students and Jamie and the staff of some of the supporting organizations who stayed intiimately involved throughout the project. They are the folks who did the work. Not me.

[lovemydog]

21. Thank you to the OATH students

and Jamie Goodreau and staff.

[pinboy3niner]

22. BINGO!

They did one helluva job!

OT, after the ceremony we scoured the ground because we heard Jamie lost her wedding ring. Dozens of people were straining their eyes searching for an hour--until Jamie's daughter showed up with the ring, which she found on the floor at home.

[swilton]

2. Saw this all the time in Silver Spring, Md.

prior to the closing of Walter Reed.

[woo me with science]

3. But it's RUDE to bring up Hillary's policies on Memorial Day!

That's the Third Way lecture going on in another thread.

You see, it's a plastic, corporate holiday now, for cheering platitudes from the very politicians who orchestrate this bloodshed.

[Scuba]

4. I cannot support someone who voted for this war.

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R

[JonLP24]

7. Its easier to understand those wounds

like why someone can't pick up something up for no hands -- not making a either this or that argument but don't forget those not quite so visible wounds such as CTE-TBI, depression, PTSD, etc. Though probably not as uncomfortable to look at given they're not visible wounds.

[pinboy3niner]

17. Jerral understands that, too

My impression from my experience is that most amputees avoid most of the consequences of PTSD because they are forced to deal with their situation and there is no avoiding it.

I lived for 18 months on the floor of an Army hospital that had facial casualties and amputees. The amps I knew there had no choice but to adjust fairly quickly to their circumstances. One amp friend couldn't understand PTSD and had little sympathy for it because his trauma experience was different.

Jerral went through that amp/severe physical trauma experience, and he also experienced the psychological trauma. Early on, he avoided any contact with his battle buddies and any information about his injury incident. It took him some time to be able to be able to deal with that, and he now understandss some of the psychological effects of his experience and the effects on others, even those who may not have suffered such severe injuries.

[JonLP24]

24. The trauma felt in the aftermath is sometimes more painful than the experience

Surviving Survival -- great book from a Psychologist that also wrote (this one I never read) his better known book "Who lives, who dies, and why?"

I'm not one myself but he could have that as well, PTSD is fairly common in inner cities, prisons, but overall stateside women are more likely to experience event where they could suffer from PTSD.

My overall point was the experience or head trauma could cause changes in personality & whatever else impacting the mind but when a symptom shows itself people don't understand or blame the person and I don't mean so much actions but the ranges of injuries and PTSD can be quite severe -- I've managed to block out my event when for several months it was all that was haunting me any time I was idle -- meaning I could keep myself busy all day but laying down I could never sleep but something simple can trigger the memory -- the book Surviving Survival was the first book I ran into after the event that was new book shelf at the library and felt like it spoke to me but mainly gave me some helpful hints but CTE is severe though from the outside you don't appear damaged.

People could understand why someone with no legs couldn't walk or had no choice to adjust but something that isn't easy to see isn't easy to understand if it handicaps in them in other ways -- the last paragraph is one way I was referring to then finding help or a diagnose is something else entirely -- I imagine many who found themselves getting those severe injuries as well have those invisible ones so I wasn't making or trying to compare who has it better or this or that -- maybe more or less severe varying on the individual but PTSD usually follows the most traumatic events. CTE -- spotted in the brains donated to research of Junior Seau & Chris Benoit killed themselves (In Benoit's case his family as well) -- that isn't the norm just usually aggression, depression, trouble with memory like studying & many other things (like the Army gave me a field sobriety test basically for my TBI test).

[Agschmid]

8. Kick.

Thanks for posting.

[romanic]

10. Powerful images.

I can't fathom what these vets went through, I just can't.

[lovemydog]

19. Thank you for sharing this, TexasTowelie.

Big hugs to all our veterans.

[malaise]

23. It was never about rude

It is about hiding the truth of Bushco's illegal war and occupation.
Never forget that the so called bastions of a free press went along with ReTHUGs and did not show the caskets of the returning dead.

[TexasTowelie]

25. Kick.

An important story that it deserves the 25th reply.

[lovemydog]

26. Rec

[Kali]

27. K and R

For the OP and for the teacher and students pinboy3niner posted about. and for pinboy3niner. and for anybody that has paid a high price in life.

[pinboy3niner]

28. Thanks, Kali

I felt privileged just to be an observer as these wonderful young people worked their tails off to make this happen. Even the students who graduated during the project were so committed that they remained involved, juggling this with their college studies. The original student OATH project leader, Nicole Skinner, remained intimately involved after she went on to college and deserves tons of credit for what she accomplished.

Jamie Goodreau's high school students always end up with more knowledge and experience about planning, organizing, and executing to achieve a goal than most college grads I know.