On War's Sixth Anniversary, AP Photos Produces "Killer Blue"
NEW YORK, NY (March 17, 2009) – On the sixth anniversary of the war in Iraq, members of the Associated Press' photography staff have produced a photography and video package profiling "Killer Blue: Baptized By Fire," a unit of the Fort Hood, TX, based 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment's 3rd squadron.
Living with the unit for more than four months, AP's photojournalists documenting not only their combat in Iraq but their return home to Fort Hood as the soldiers tried to assimilate back into normal, daily, routine life in the States on base.
AP photography director Santiago Lyon noted about "Killer Blue" that AP's photographers were using video technology to produce the piece but eschewed broadcast video conventions, such as voice-over or narration, and that the photography department is very excited about the finished product.
Photojournalist Evan Vucci, who was featured in News Photographer magazine's Multimedia Moments column by Seth Gitner in January 2009, was a "driving force" behind the overall effort, AP's Paul Colford said, and Vucci was one of several AP staffers who contributed video and photographs to the piece.
"Killer Blue" was one of the last Army units to serve a 15-month combat tour in Iraq, in one of the country's most dangerous cities, Mosul, and two of the unit's soldiers were killed in combat. Staff Sgt. Chad Caldwell, 24, was killed by a roadside bomb, and St. Jose Regalado, 23, was killed by an Iraqi soldier who opened fire on U.S. troops who were visiting an Iraqi Army base.
The new multimedia package follows up on a 2008 video essay by AP photojournalists Vucci and Maya Alleruzzo that depicted the "lucky charms" carried by seven members of the Killer Blue unit. In the original piece the duo reported on the unit for four months.
Then in May 2008, AP photojournalist Rick Bowmer covered Caldwell's funeral in Spokane, WA, and later during the summer Bowmer covered Regalado's homecoming when the soldier met his newborn daughter for the first time. Then in November 2008, Bowmer had to cover Regalado's funeral.
When the Killer Blue unit returned home to Fort Hood, Bowmer and Vucci were there in Texas to document their re-entry into life that was not a war zone that posed constant threats.
Vucci was the lead producer for "Killer Blue" with reporting from Alleruzzo, Bowmer, Vucci, and Bernadette Tuazon. Bowmer, Vucci, and Eric Gay shot the video. The project was edited by Tuazon, and the stories edited by Paula Froke. Greg Henderson was the multimedia editor, and Matt Ford created the interaction components. Graphics were done by Michael Waldon and original music for "Killer Blue" was done by Dan Bality.
In "Killer Blue," the visual reporting shows how the unit shared a combat outpost with an Iraqi Army platoon, rolled out at all hours to support troops who were being ambushed, and fought and lost their friends before coming home to America. The video from “Killer Blue” is being distributed to all of AP’s online video customers (whether through AP’s Online Video Network, which has some 2,100 affiliates, or AP subscription services).
Watch "Killer Blue: Baptized By Fire" online here.
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