class photo: fort meade, md.

third row (from bottom). fourth from left. 

marines: brown. army: green camouflage. airforce: sort of gray camouflage. navy: blue. 

we graduated aug. 22, 2012. navy personnel moves on to navy-specific photography and videography for an additional three months. the other branches are sent to their respective duty stations. 

staff sgt. anderson (first row, first from left) was my photojournalism instructor. he was a tough grader. but i think it helped me improve my photography skills. he said i improved a lot throughout the course. 

mrs. borlick (second row, first from right, blue blouse) was my news journalism instructor. i liked her. she gave me good feedback on my feature stories. she also gave me a glasses case for my glasses. 

seaman shane jackson (fourth row, third from left) is a good friend of mine. he was an english major, too. 

detachment life: fort meade, md.

about to head out to buffalo wild wings at the arundel mills mall. from left: seaman schumaker (was a college baseball pitcher) and seaman recruit joyner (she's in my class).

notice my forced smile. 

in my navy working uniform.

world war two memorial. washington, d.c.

commissioned by congress to be built in 1993. dedicated in '04. 

honors the 400,000 who died in world war two. 

martin luther king, jr. memorial. washington, d.c.

dedicated oct. 16, 2011.

sculpted by lei yixin. chinese.

king had a picture of gandhi on his living room wall. gandhi was one of his heroes. 

tich nhat hanh was another one of his heroes.

there were king quotes along the walls.

inscription wall.

cherry blossom trees. they bloom pink for two weeks in the spring.

cherry blossom trees were originally a gift from japan in 1912.

korean war memorial. washington, d.c.

army lead scout. caucasian. 

the statues are about seven feet tall and represent an ethnic cross section of america.

this soldier is an army browning automatic rifle assistant. caucasian. 

sculpted by frank gaylord.

dedicated in 1995.

i was on a field trip with my class. visiting this memorial wasn't part of the assignment. just had some extra time.

more than 54,000 americans died in the korean war.

an advance party of 14 army soldiers, three marines, one navy, and one airforce.

the polished granite strips represent rice paddies of korea.

fort meade, md.: field training exercise

coast guard seaman carlos vega. he got orders to new orleans.
staff sergeant marni jacobowitz (bottom right) is an army reserve. she's going back to tampa, fla. 

fort meade, md.: fiery rebounding photo

my broth, a motion graphics designer, did it.

ft. meade, md.: seaman hurls fastball

camera: nikon d200. uncontrolled action photo.

for 10 straight seasons, dennis rodman averaged double digit rebounds.

with detroit, he once sat in his truck, put a rifle in his mouth, and thought about pulling the trigger. after that night, he said the old rodman died. then he started dyeing his hair.