My friend is a journalist reporting from Iraq....

[Wetzelbill]

My friend from video school is going to be in Iraq for a month embedded with the Ft. Wainwright Stryker Brigade (1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division). Her name is Jessica Hoffman and her is her first report, which is a little about herself and tells how she got involved in this expedition. -Bill

Hello From Jessica

I have lived in Alaska for most of my life. My dad was in the Army and was stationed at Fort Wainwright and later at Fort Greely. We also spent a short time in Massachusetts. But, most of my childhood memories involve living and going to school in the Fort Greely/Delta Junction area.

In 1999, I graduated high school and moved to Seattle, Washington to attend college at the Art Institute of Seattle. I graduated in 2001 with an associate of applied arts degree in video production.

In Seattle, I worked for a variety of productions companies. Most of my jobs were as a camera operator but I also worked as an assistant editor, engineer, Chyron operator, AV technician, and technical director.

In November of 2003, I moved back to Alaska to work for ECIII, a contractor for Cold Regions Test Center at Fort Greely as a videographer. My primary duty was to document the testing of military and civilian equipment.

http://shorttimers.blogspot.com/2009/07/hello-from-jessica.html

[Heidi]

1. Best wishes to Jessica!

I hope she's able to stay out of harm's way. :)

Mornin', Bill! :hi:

[Wetzelbill]

2. Good morning!

Good to see you, Heidi. :)

I am interested to see just exactly how this goes, anxious for the updates. It is nervewracking when you know somebody over there. My cousin was in Iraq and is in Afghanistan right now, plus I had several people from my hometown in Iraq, including a kid who I used to coach in wrestling. Best you can do is hope for safety and not give yourself an ulcer thinking about it. :)

[myrna minx]

3. May she stay safe. This experience will change her life. n/t

K&R

[Wetzelbill]

4. Oh I am sure it will

Has to be a pretty intense experience. Thanks for the K&R. :)

[myrna minx]

11. I went to film school waaay back in the early 90's (at the time of gulf war 1).

At that time, we had to literally cut our own film prints for editing on a 6 or 8 plate for an expensive final print. It was this expense that made people drop out of film school because it was so prohibitively expensive. I became involved in film just prior to digital editing and while I never went into journalism, (I wanted to do documentaries) I understand the passionate commitment it must take to be a visual journalist in this new world. She has more chops than I ever had and I respect her so much for her commitment. :hug: I love how egalitarian the film process has become with our new technologies, but it takes an unwaivering commitment to go into a war zone to bring us the truth. Please pass on my respect to Jessica. She really deserves it. :hug:

[Wetzelbill]

5. Shameless kick

:)

[omega minimo]

6. Kick and Rec +5

:kick:

[Wetzelbill]

7. thank you very much, OM

:)

[omega minimo]

8. thinking about our overlooked war yesterday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6151994&mesg_id=6151994


Best to your friend, her safety and safety of the Ft. Wainwright Stryker Brigade (1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division)p. Thanks for posting. :thumbsup:

[Wetzelbill]

9. Seriously who would be jerk enough to unrec this?

Thanks alot.

[omega minimo]

10. A chickenshit or paid operative?

We'll get another one. Please keep us posted on this periodically. :toast:

[ihavenobias]

12. Thanks

for posting.