Memorial bench dedicated to brave 'combat cameras'

  • Published
  • By Amy Rollins
  • Skywrighter staff
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Oh. --  Often the work of photographers and videographers flashes before our eyes for just a moment -- leaving just a fleeting image, a sound, an impression. But at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the work of military and combat camera service members now has a permanent reminder of their decades-long contributions to the Air Force mission, in the shape of a black granite bench dedicated in phase two of the Memorial Park to the west of the main building.

Dozens of "combat cameras," an informal term for those who have sustained careers in the field, gathered in Carney Auditorium on Aug. 22 to celebrate their group and the 90-some people who contributed funds during the past year to make the bench dedication possible. Rain made holding the ceremony inside a better choice, but the group, true to the working conditions they often found themselves in, trekked outside for a group photo by the bench following the ceremony.

John Spiegel, a retired major general who spent his career as a combat camera detachment commander and long-range aircraft purchasing planner, served as the main speaker.

He referenced military and combat photography's history, from the Civil War, through such wars and conflicts as World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Panama and Grenada. Much of the career field was founded as a motion picture unit in Hollywood, he said, producing hundreds of propaganda, recruiting and training films starting in 1941. Spiegel noted that combat cameras have gone by multiple names over the years, including Air Pictorial Service, Air Photographic and Charting Service, Aerospace Audiovisual Service and the current designation, Air Force Combat Camera. But combat cameras have had an impact much earlier, he said, when Mathew Brady and his assistants documented the Civil War.

"We have many greats that we've been able to record, and those include the sound barrier breaking on the X-15; the Mercury program in 1961 - Alan Shepard and his first ascent into space and return; the Cuban missile crisis in 1962; and of course, the Vietnam War," Spiegel said, also mentioning Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan, and humanitarian missions.

The advent of digital imagery allowed the Pentagon to have information at daily briefings.

"It was a huge step forward in being able to leverage that," Spiegel said.

"We have a very rich history and one that we should be very, very proud of in the accomplishments that we have done. They're filled with stories, real-life adventure and certainly heroic actions by both men and women who sacrificed during their documenting of our Air Force story," Spiegel said, noting that a number of combat camera service members have died in the line of duty.

"It is without doubt that the men and women have served our combat camera organization with distinction, setting a track record of professionalism," he added.

Combat camera member Ken Hackman formally presented the bench to Jack Hudson, museum director.

Hudson referred to the many iconic photos and videos used throughout museum exhibits and online.

"We're glad to have the privilege of caring for your bench in perpetuity," Hudson said.

Combat camera service member Robert Brooks, a friend of Robert McDonald, U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs, read a congratulatory letter from him.

Hackman and combat camera service member Mario Candia provided closing remarks, with Hackman acknowledging the people who donated funds for the bench.

Candia said, "Today we too are offering our recognition to our comrades- men and women - who struggled in times of war and peace, with the trust and task given to them to document the history and mission of the Air Force around the world and at home. This bench ... is a tribute to all those who precede us and to remember the ones who are still with us."

Candia suggested there may be a need to have a combat camera exhibit in the museum and asked the audience for input and ideas to make the exhibit a reality.

Two quotes on the bench, placed below the formal dedication verbiage, tell something of the spirit of combat cameras. One, by Robert Capa, a famous war photographer and photojournalist for LIFE magazine who produced the iconic images of the World War II landing at Normandy, says, "If your pictures aren't good enough/You're not close enough." The other, by Joe Longo, a World War II motion picture cameraman in the European theater and the post-war founder of the International Combat Camera Association, says, "The brave ones shot bullets/The crazy ones shot film."