Wandering around Ocean Beach and soaking up the California vibe, I stepped back to get a picture of a couple of kids running through traffic wearing wetsuits and carrying surf boards. Then I realized I was about to step on something. I quickly realized it was actually a someone.
“What are you taking pictures of? Take a picture of the homeless. Tell a story about the homeless”. “Dude, get a picture of the 13’s”. I made a picture and thought of my exit strategy from what might be a difficult situation. Instead, I ended up in a 15 minute conversation and heard tales of six year hitches in the Navy and Marines with tours of duty in Afghanistan, Iraq and hurricane clean-ups.
Marine vet says “They used to want me when I was willing to go do their shit. Now they don’t want me around and don’t respect me. I used to make $3,600 a month plus hazardous duty pay and now they offer me $242 a month. Who can live on that? I eat out of dumpsters.”
Navy vet says “Dude, you slept in a dumpster last night. They shut me out of VA benefits and I paid into the GI bill. I’ve been this close to papa Bush and I should have did to him what he trained me to do."
“I’ll tell you what, Obama is going to change this shit. I used to hate hippies. I’d beat one up whenever I could, but they were right. They were right man.” Navy vet breaks open a cigarette to re-roll it into two. “Dude, take another picture.”
I walked away wondering if they had the number 13 tattooed on themselves to try to conjure up good fortune or as a black mark symbolizing their horrible lot in life. There's always more to the story... who knows what these guys have really been through. Either way, I’m glad I didn’t accidentally step on one of them. It seems like these guys have been stepped on enough.
3 comments:
An interesting triumvirate of coincidences. I just finished this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/washington/30general.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 a long but good read that says a lot about the motivations that put these guys in harms way. There's also this New Yorker article that explains why their out on the street: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/09/29/080929fa_fact_finnegan
And the third interesting connection, a friend of a friend, and a self-proclaimed hippie stayed with me for a week while he was making his was from Edmonton down to La Paz, Mexico. I just received word from him yesterday. He was hung up for another week in San Diego, most of that time spent on Ocean Beach. It's very likely that the two of you were there are the same time.
In any case, I mean no disrespect, but I hope a lot of right-wingers become aware of these situations, as it's their vanguard that has established, in policy as much as in furtive dealings, the systematic abuse of veterans.
Hi Joe- Great blog. I never realized you had such an affinity for image making. Your shots are great. Your blog will now be on my short list of blogs I keep up with. The B+W shot of the homeless veterans is very powerful and reminds me of Dorothea Lange's images of the depression in the thirties.
Just realized you have a quote from Dorothea on your page. Quite appropriate and merely coincidental that my comment mentions her. Check out Eugene Smith's war shots or Andre Kertesz's work. Also a fan of Cindy Sherman and Nan Golden of whom documented the Studio 54, late seventies into eighties scene in NY. Very powerful images. Anyway great stuff.
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