Read welcome letter
from U.S. Senator
John McCain,
Republican of AZ

Other ICCA supporters:

Fame-by-Frame: 2005
International Combat Camera Association meets in Arizona

The man I know from his photo on the website looks so different from the man I see in the wheelchair guided by his son. Sixty years and multiple cancers have taken a toll, but in spite of that, he projects both a quiet dignity and a warm sense of humor. In his ICCA gallery photo, Dan McGovern stands amid the nuclear devastation at ground zero surrounded by the charred ruins of an entire city--Nagasaki. He holds a 35mm Bell and Howell Filmo at the cinematographer's equivalent of port arms and gazes at a scene no Hollywood special effects team could fully reproduce. Dan's Air Force officers hat droops like the melted steel of nearby office buildings. At one time or another, many of us have seen clips from the 80,000 feet of horror that Dan recorded.

Dan holds the senior position among this particular "Band of Brothers" meeting for Fame-By-Frame 2005 in Mesa, Arizona. In fact, at 96, Dan is a couple years older than Arizona itself. The youngest member of our group, the International Combat Camera Association (ICCA), is Marine photographer, Nathan LaForte, fresh from the dusty and blood stained streets of Fallujah.

Stan Poselski: tale of two countries—one grandfather:
hammer and sickle meets stars and stripes.

Younger still is 14-year-old Stan Poselski a Russian filmmaker and grandson of Russian WWII-era combat cameraman Mikhail Poselski who recorded allied advances in Germany. Stan arrived here to tape interviews with American cameramen of his grandfather's vintage who would have also filmed the same war-torn landscape in Nazi Germany. When the Poselski's moved to the US leaving Mikhail behind, the elder Poselski felt betrayed. Not long after he was diagnosed with heart disease further complicated when he could not find the needed treatments in Russia. Opting for care in the U.S., Mikhail found himself a "stranger in a strange land," but his heart improved apace with the thaw in relations between "mother Russia" and his adopted country.

Grandson Jacob, moved by the dichotomy of his Grandfather's split allegiance embarked on a voyage of discovery and love through the medium of video, retelling his grandfather's long journey and American experience.

At Fame-By-Frame 2005, Stan was able to find the veteran American combat photographers to round out this tale of cinematic craft and a shared bond forged in war, and the overarching value of family.

Mosfilm, the largest cinema distributor in Russia, is scheduled to release the documentary in 2006

Behind the scenes, the Society of Operating Cameramen, plays a key role as a number of cameramen are members of both SOC and the ICCA. During WWII photographers were culled from Hollywood for their advanced skills, others having developed their skills in the service found Hollywood a fertile ground in which to practice newly developed skills after the war. This year SOC was generous in its support of Fame-By-Frame 2005.

Joe Longo, cameraman, and Bill Rogister, still photographer, are the Romulus and Remus of the ICCA--founding the organization to share experiences forged in conflict and savored in peace. Joe is not only a founder of the ICCA, but he is a former president of the Society of Operating cameramen.

According to Bill Rogister ICCA cofounder, "I was in the 6th Combat Camera Unit attached to the 13th Air Force HQ in the South Pacific. My first action in the air was at Rabal where I flew five dangerous photo missions during my first couple of weeks while stationed on Guadalcanal. Joe, an infantryman, had come down with Dengue fever. The war was moving fast and when he came out of the hospital his unit was long gone. He was asked where he wanted to be reassigned and Joe, being Joe, asked for the states. The assignment officer, not having a sense of humor, assigned Joe to teach basic infantry skills to the 13th Army Air Force and to take still photos documenting American defensive positions." The latter assignment afforded Joe the freedom to investigate his surrounding. He was able to parlay photo skills and infantry training into a ride with the 6th Combat Camera Unit as a combination waist gunner and aerial photographer. Crew space was limited and the Japs were still hitting pretty hard so there was no room for a cameraman that couldn't also double up on one of the 50 calibers. So Joe soon learned how to shoot a 35mm Eyemo motion picture camera as well as he shot his heavy machinegun.

When Joe left the army he went right into filmmaking. After the end of the war our families were very friendly with each other, and we socialized a lot right up to the time we had the brilliant idea to put our past experiences along with those of many others we knew to form the ICCA. This was a huge task and required the money and intellect of more than a handful of friends that lived in the Hollywood area to pull all the data required to be a legally formed non-profit organization.

Keynote speaker, Brigadier General Robert Gaylord, US Army retired, presented a history of Department of the Army Special Photographic Office (DASPO). According to the National Archives, DASPO and the 221st Signal Company (photographic) were considered "the Army's elite photographic units." As the longest serving active-duty member of the original DASPO team, General Gaylord traced an engaging history of the unit as well as a strategic overview of Army public relations and advertising which was his command at retirement.

General Gaylord made a convincing case for the use of embedded media based on his experience in planning and executing the media strategy for Operation Iraqi Freedom. According to Gaylord, "When you have Baghdad Bob as he's called, doing disinformation - clearly out to lunch - and you have tracked vehicles (coalition) almost in the background as he's talking about 'we have them surrounded,' and you watch Ted Koppel saying, 'look, this is Baghdad Airport, I'm here'," that provides credibility you cannot buy."

Rounding up his presentation, General Gaylord explained his wife's attachment to their home in Virginia saying, "when a mortar round exploded in our backyard in Panama (Operation Urgent Fury), I promised my wife a house where there would be no more moves and no more shrapnel in her daisies."

Harry Tate, director of the Arizona Film Board welcomed the ICCA to Arizona with a short portfolio of Arizona's cinematic and cultural charms and then explained the details of new legislative measures designed to help Arizona hold its own in the worldwide competition for production dollars. New laws include tax credits and a program where producers who don't have much of a tax liability in Arizona can sell their earned credits to producers who do. Contact harryt@azcommerce.com for more information.

Councilman Griswold, of Mesa, Arizona, took the opportunity of the ICCA's visit to the Commemorative Air Force Museum, to welcome ICCA members. As the son of a Flying Tiger from the 14th Army Air Force led by General Claire Chennault, this was a perfect venue for him to verbally deliver the keys to the city and share his father's experiences in China. When visiting Mesa's sister city of Kaiping, China, Griswold flys on to Kunming where his father helped to protect the Burma Road which was key to the Allies' WWII strategy in the China, Burma, India theater.

I can imagine Rob Lihani, as a kid, playing in the family basement or attic rifling through boxes of forgotten family treasures. The big difference is that he now does this for a living. He sifts through the national archives for treasured pieces of cinematic military history to create establishing backgrounds for a broad range of military and historic documentaries intended for outlets such as the History Channel. As a military cameraman, don't be surprised if you see footage you shot screened on the History Channel and Robert and his production company, Digital Ranch, listed as the director. (I was surprised when, after 33 years, I saw film I shot with the Mike Force incorporated into Dangerous Missions: MACV SOG Vietnam.)

According to Joe Longo, ICCA co founder and former SOC president, "The ICCA works to gain recognition for the anonymous camera people who have created so much documentation of world conflict." Lihani told Fame-By-Frame attendees that Joe had approached digital Ranch with the following deal. Joe offered, "You credit our camera people and I will show you where to find vast deposits of hard to find footage."

It was through this agreement that Rob first discovered the treasure trove of Col. Dan McGovern's 80,000 feet of Nagasaki and Hiroshima footage shot shortly after the A Bomb were dropped on Japan. In return, Robert began weaving the names of cameramen and their role in recording history into Digital Ranch documentaries.

Rob is a member of the Directors Guild of America.

Major Bruce Bender USAF gave the Frame-By-Frame audience first-hand impressions of leading the Joint Combat Camera Team in Iraq where he served for six months. Next in an unannounced surprise he opened a satellite uplink for the audience introducing them to the current man on the spot, Capt. Hamilton Underwood, USAF.

Unlike "Baghdad Bob", the former Iraqi Minister of Information, "Baghdad Bruce" and "Baghdad Hamilton" were highly informative sharing a clear picture of the mission and the day-to-day business of gathering and disseminating pictorial information.

Questions thrown at Capt. Underwood ranged from quality of food, which he described as excellent, to what it what Iraq summer is like. Arizona residents that take perverse pride in their 117 degree "dry heat" where shocked to hear that the Iraqi desert can reach 130.

Major Bender's expertise and willingness to "pitch in" as "Fame-By-Frame" Audio Visual officer came in handy when it came to patching together hotel sound systems, satellite uplinks, and video projectors.

Justin and Mary Saffel are a husband and wife team representing a diverse set of skills including historian, documentarian, preservationist and system administrator. They work for Texas Tech University and participate in that institutions well-know Vietnam Project which archives photography, oral histories, artifacts and even a recovered helicopter. Participants in the ongoing Vietnam Project seminars regularly come from the Pentagon, the People's Republic of Vietnam, and other interested parties regularly come to TTU to participate in its highly regarded seminars.

Justin and Mary kindly invested their time to support Fame-By-Frame 2005 by explaining TTU preservation processes, computer archives and the outstanding work of the TTU history department. Vietnam Vets who would like to participate in the project can contact Mary for more information at mary.saffell@ttu.edu

Lon Holmberg and Bill (Mac) McFeeters used the podium at Fame-By-Frame to "shoot it out" with passages from their as-yet-unpublished novels. The opening salvo by Holmberg told a tale tinged with the dark realities of Vietnam—fear, drugs, prostitution and prayers for survival and eventual reassignment as General Abrams personal photographer. McFeeters shot back with a reading about his experience as the reluctant documentarian who wanted to shoot combat , the Playboy Bunnies, or Jill St. John but received the "short straw"-an assignment to cover Evangelist Billy Graham. Eventually disappointment turned to reluctant admiration as the two traveled to increasingly dangerous parts of a a dangerous country.

True to Mac's competitive spirit, he also tangled with John Bessey in a bidding war for the book "Underfire" compiled by renowned French Photographer Catherine Leroy and foreworded and signed by US Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona. In a very short time the $35 book surpassed $400 in donations to the ICCA kitty, but bidding was slowed when the auctioneer sensed Mrs. Bessey was about to take her husband out with a shot to the wallet. Unsigned versions of the excellent combat photo compilation are available on Amazon.com for under the books $35.00 list price.

Mr. Hackman founded the U.S. Air Force photojournalism program which made him well qualified to deliver a presentation titled "Combat Camera Then and Now." As Ken pointed out when he finally reached the podium during the closing hours of an information-filled conference, "I had one hell of a presentation to make, but it looks like everyone who preceded me has said it all." However, even if it had all been said, no one was as well versed in the detail and the long view as Ken so he presented a powerful closing summary based on 30 years of conducting seminars worldwide for government and civilian photographers and managing a worldwide staff of photojournalists.

Ken can certainly talk the talk, but at the end of the day he also walked the walk, putting down his speech and picking up his camera to turn out some of the finest attendee portraits you would want to see.

A highly regarded photographer, Ken covered Vietnam in '66 and '72; has photographed, air to air, most aircraft in the Air Force inventory. He is a two-time recipient of National Press Photographers' Association awards and the 4th Combat Camera Squadron (USAFR) named its Ken Hackman Electronic Imaging Center, in honor of his leadership and dedication. He is also a long-time member of Eddie Adams' Photography Workshop.

Marine Corporal William T. Perkins, the only photographer to ever receive the Medal of Honor threw himself on a grenade to protect his buddies and fellow Marines. Engaged with the enemy and still filming, Perkins was holding his motion picture camera when he died. Craig Ingraham, Cpl. Perkins' best high- school friend and Craig's partner Debora Koslowsky have brought Perkins' spirit back to life in a moving documentary constructed from Perkins' own combat footage and a series of interviews with former friends, family and the Marines whose lives Perkins saved.

Craig and Debora have worked on perfecting this film for years even while managing their full-time company, Space Brothers Records-passionate music for a peaceful world.

Dan Eliseuson, president of the ICCA, unveiled a sculpture of Medal of Honor recipient Cpl. William T. Perkins USMC with Bill Perkins Senior, the Corporal's father, sitting in attendance. Sculptor, GySgt Donnie Shearer USMC, developed his skills while undergoing therapy to repair wounds sustained in defense of the American embassy in Saigon during the Vietnamese Tet New Years holiday celebration.

Young salt, Arlo Abrahamson, mixes bullets and public affairs Our only currently serving active duty member, Photographers Mate 1 Arlo Abrahamson, serves as a Navy photojournalist with the Fleet Public Affairs Center in Norfolk, VA. Arlo gave a detailed exposition of his unit's evolving mission and increasing involvement with first rank journalism in areas of active conflict. Arlo's photos are both expressive and show a high level of technical competence.

His recent experience includes operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait including work with the Navy Seals. To see more of Arlo's work than is available in the ICCA Gallery, do an image search on "Arlo Abrahamson" on the web.

Marine Sgt. Nathan LaForte's presentation could well have been labeled "Tactical to Practical." How often do you notice how thick a traffic sign is? According to LaForte, "When traffic signs are booby trapped with plastic explosive you darn well better notice." One of his duties was to photographically record major traffic routes on a regular basis so troops could study the route and be immediately aware of the slightest changes. How thick was that sign last week? Was the door of that abandoned car open or closed on our last trip?

LaForte explained that the availability of batteries and chargers in the digital age becomes an issue right up there with water and ammo.

What happens when the fine Iraqi dust gets on your flash cards? Nothing. Literally nothing as the cards short out and images you risk your neck for disappear into cyberspace.

Describing an incident in Fallujah, LaForte recounted a moment of desperate comedic confusion, "We were under mortar attack so as burst into a residential courtyard seeking cover. The first guys through the door tripped over a pile of RPGs. The vanguard tried to backpedal out thinking they might be stepping into an ambush. However, the Marines in the rear were equally desperate to get off the streets. When push came to shove the whole squad tumbled to the ground and eventually spilled into a hallway where they were able to regroup and laugh the insane laughter of combat."

LaForte concluded, that the sheer capacity of electronic media makes record keeping and captioning more important than ever before. Without proper controls pictures get lost, not in the sense of being gone, but in the sense of becoming a needle in a haystack as the data stream grows apace with unrestrained technology. Today's battlefield is a mix of bullets, batteries, and boobytraps, but the demand for proper captioning is a refrain that has remained unchanged since the dawn of combat photography.

The secret to the success of Frame-By-Frame was not superior planning, but a lot of friendly support from a host of people and organizations. When President Dan Eliseuson was called away on urgent family matters, "Mac" McFeeters aka "Zoom" McFeeters was first and foremost in keeping me out of the looney bin. Together we planned agendas where none existed, drew up ever changing schedules, negotiated contracts, informed the board, begged for support (including a letter from Senator McCain, Funding from the Arizona Film board, a free venue courtesy of Jeff Furnari former director of the Commemorative Air Force Museum, a book from noted Vietnam journalist Catherine LeRoy, AV Support and a color guard courtesy of MAJ Jill Mackin of the Army's Phoenix recruiting battalion [thanks again Jill, your troops are the best!]).

Joe Longo, who claims he has outlived his Hollywood contacts, pressed a few buttons with the Society of Operating Cameramen, Kodak, Fuji, Panavision etc.giving lie to the claim he is out of touch and providing all manner of things for the goody bags. My multicolor light- in-the-dark pen from Fuji attracts attention on those rare occasions when I pick up the bill in a restaurant. Pat Nugent got us some egg- shaped clocks from Nikon which I sneak into our egg cartons from time-to-time just to see if anyone notices. I thank Pat Nugent, Bill McFeeters and Ken Hackman for their excellent photography. I owe a debt to Ted Acheson owner of Adam Productions who is new to the ICCA, but a life member of the DASPO Combat Photographers Association and organizer of their conventions (he kept me on track by sharing his extensive planning and organization experience). We thank the ever-patient staff at the Arizona Golf Resort. I want to thank Mom and Dad and my cousins. And finally, we wish to thank the Academy . . .

Thanks to all of your from:
Roger Hawkins, Bill McFeeters, and Dan Eliseuson.