When I set out to go photograph this event, I must admit I was expecting a biker party that celebrates out Freedom to live as we choose, that it was, and much more.
This event was a celebration of our freedom, but more so, It was a time of honoring those who sacrificed their lives for this country.
It was a remembrance of brothers lost!
 To: “Top and the brothers of VNV/MC Wisconsin a job well done.”
 These men have not forgotten the fallen brothers who answered the call, they have honored them.
Some sacrificed their lives on the battle field others sacrificed their lives by enduring the pain inside their hearts. Some will say those who gave their life on the battle field gave the most, I question that.
For the men who survived the sacrifice was compounded by the fact that our media, turned this country against those who served. The media is just now beginning to help heal those wounds created, by showing the dedication to our country these men proved, by serving a Country that didn’t appreciate what they endured.
But in light of events that have happened since this event, I will tell you, this event brought to the forefront of my mind , what is to come, and the sacrifice and the sorrow of so many, by both the men and women who serve, and their families.

Some of these photos will show just how free we have the right to be. Others will show the pride these soldiers have. Others will show the pain they endure and yet others will show the sorrow felt by the families.
I saw in the faces of many the sadness and sorrow of loss that all veterans and their families feel after a war. The sadness brought on by seeing brothers lost in battle.
There is pain in the eyes of the family members who lost their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters.
There is pain in the eyes of those who live with those who suffered the wounds of war, both physical and mental.
Most of the physical wounds are easy to see with scars and deformed or missing limbs. There are even those hidden wounds that don’t show until years later like cancer or diabetes, even those can be seen with the right equipment.
For many the mental wounds are greater than the physical wounds. The suffering and pain of brothers lost. The shame or bitterness for what they had to do to survive, and then being criticized by our own for it.
For those who survived there is sometimes a special pain, a wound not seen, the one of guilt.
“Why I didn’t die with my brothers.”
These wounds the mental ones, are not visible except to the people who love them, they can see the pain in their eyes.
Those loved ones who deal with the wounds both physical and mental suffer too.
If your country needs you, you should serve as these men did, with Pride, but
never let it be said that war is glamorous. It Is Not.
There is nothing glamorous about seeing your friends maimed or die beside you.
There is nothing glamorous about trying to keep from being killed.
There is nothing glamorous about killing people.
Remember every soldier must live with the ghost of every man he kills,
as well as those of the friends he lost.
 Some men learn to make friends with these ghosts, others never do.

The Picture Man
 

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