Chris' Deployment Journal

Over the past year, I think most of us have developed a great respect for the Iraqi people. Our respect for them is probably only second to our great hope for them, hope that their own, self-determined government will succeed and they will eventually be able to prosper. We hope that they will be able to control the destiny of their country and create a better place for their children, and we hope that they will be able to sleep peacefully each night, go to a good job in the morning, and return home in the evening to a place that is safe, and warm, and full of promise.

I can't say much about the following photos, except for a little background on each and some more mundane details about their clothing. Unfortunately I do not know any of the subject's personal stories. I do not even know if they are Kurd, Arab, Turkoman, or even (rarely) Assyrian and I definitely don't know if they are Sunni, Shiite, or (rarely) Christian. However, I think their faces tell their stories better than I could anyway.