One thing about working at Getty Images - I have the world according to pictures - 100% unedited and real, pass before me everyday. Forget the CNN headlines, the FOX news breaks - these pictures tell the real story. The problem is, so often I forget to look. As is with this picture, published nearly a year ago by one of our amazing photographers. Just do a search on the Getty Images site and you can get come face top face with the realities of the war. The reality is that it is just death, and sadness, and hatred, and lives ripped apart. This war needs to end!! I missed this photo last year when it came out. It was taken by John Moore, a photographer here at Getty. There are thousands of images out there that show the pain and horror of the Iraq war, but sometimes it still feels so distant. In this photo, it seems real as ever. I want to cry with Mary as I think of how she must feel - and am embarrassed by how distant and unattached the rest of us can be sometimes regarding what this war truly means. One of the great things about working at Getty Images, is that every once in awhile, one of these remarkable photographers will come in and talk to us about the story behind the photos. In the case of this photo, John Moore shared his encounter with Mary McHugh, the woman in the photo. Read about it on the blog. Here's an excerpt:
"Mary told me about her slain fiance Jimmy Regan. Clearly, she had not only loved him but truly admired him. When he graduated from Duke, he decided to enlist in the Army to serve his country. He chose not to be an officer, though he could have been, because he didn’t want to risk a desk job. Instead, he became an Army Ranger and was sent twice to Aghanistan and Iraq - an incredible four deployments in just three years. He was killed in Iraq this February by a roadside bomb."
Although I never knew Jimmy Regan, this is a man I admire with all my heart. Thank you Mary McHugh for letting the world glimpse in on your world and your pain and sorrow - it is not news - it is helping distant people like me here across the country, keep the reality of the Iraq war in the forefront of our lives - so that we can contribute to a voice to stop it.
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