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 After
all the controversy regarding this photo, we now
know exactly who is in the photo!
HM2 David Coimperlik confirmed
Cpl Jon Barnes (front),
Sgt Jeff Lanter,
Capt Chad Dupill,
Cpl Rodger Oliver
and HM2 David Ciomperlik!
This photo is in a new photographic book now in
bookstores. Unfortunately, they still have the
names wrong. But WE KNOW!
Remember this photo?
There is a funny history to it!
When Foxy Lady Caroline Barnes saw this photo
dated 4/15/2003, she was confused! The man running
out in front looked like her son but had been
identified as Corpsman Joe Clairmont! She set
out to try to correct this error.
She e-mailed Julie Jacobson, AP reporter......
4/15/2003 9:57:48
PM Eastern Daylight Time |
| JULIE JACOBSON/The
Associated Press United States Marines
Corpsman Joe Clairmont, left, of Jacksonville,
Fla., leads a group of Marines carrying
a wounded soldier to a casualty evacuation
helicopter south of Baghdad yesterday.
Despite having been shot four times in
different parts of his body, the wounded
Marine was conscious and in good spirits
upon arriving at the mobile surgical hospital
several miles away. Clairmont was flying
with the HMH 364 Purple Foxes of the 3rd
Marine Air Wing. |
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"AP..we appreciate this story
and photo completed by the wonderful Julie Jacobson
of AP. However, the man in front is actually our
son, CPL Jonathan Barnes not Joe Clairmont!
This photo will go down in history and probably
appear in many future publications. It was utilized
nationwide in papers and most recently was on
Oprah. How can we get the name error corrected?
We just saw in again on Yahoo news. We have included
a wonderful email from Julie identifying the mistake.
We do not blame her...but instead we are so grateful
for this picture. We will treasure it!! Julie
has done some amazing photojournalism."
Mom's can spot their sons
from 3000 miles away!
Julie Responded....
4/16/2003 2:35:12
PM Eastern Daylight Time
Dear Caroline,
I deeply apologize for misidentifying your son
as someone else on the crew that day. Things do
get a bit chaotic with everyone running around
at the moment they bring on a wounded man...As
for the HMH part, I was originally with the heavy
haulers HMH462 before I jumped on the 46s. It
must've been one of those mentally tired days
for me because I haven't had a correction, let
alone two in the same day, for quite some time.
That was in all likelyhood a mistake made by habit.
Thank you for pointing these out to me. It'll
keep me on my toes and make me knock myself in
the head when I'm getting a little fatigued. I
hope my errors haven't cause you too much grief.
It was a real pleasure flying with your son and
his peers for the 48 hours I was with them before
I transfered to the crew that relieved them. They
are all a good bunch those Purple Foxes.
And no one has a name as cool as they do. I am
now with ground troops in Baghdad, but I will
email someone at our headquarters and let them
know about the correction. Thanks again for the
notice. It's much appreciated.
Cheers, Julie Jacobson
Yes Julie, having a couple
of 250 lb Marines running directly at you would
shake anyone up a little! We are proud of your
work!
See
Julie's Photo!
 Letter
to Caroline from the Clairmont's
Rcvd 5/7/03
"Hi, thanks for the pictures of the Mad Foxes.
We really enjoyed them. Especially the ones with
"the real Joe Clairmont in them." He
is in picture 0323588-RI-13 and 032358-RI-19.
He is front left in the group picture. Any idea
where that one was taken? We heard from Amy that
your daughter-in-law went to Maryland to meet
the her and another wife. So glad they got to
meet and share stories. Sounds like the guys may
be home soon. We've already volunteered to baby-sit
our grandson when they return. We've got the yellow
ribbons flying. Know you feel the same".
Sincerely, Joe and Diane Clairmont
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SOUTH COAST TODAY (Standard Times.COM)
Troops stage raid on Baghdad
Show of force aims to sap Iraqis' morale
FROM WIRE REPORTS
JULIE JACOBSON/The Associated Press
United States Marines Corpsman Joe Clairmont,
left, of Jacksonville, Fla., leads a group of
Marines carrying a wounded soldier to a casualty
evacuation helicopter south of Baghdad yesterday.
Despite having been shot four times in different
parts of his body, the wounded Marine was conscious
and in good spirits upon arriving at the mobile
surgical hospital several miles away. Clairmont
was flying with the HMH 364 Purple Foxes
of the 3rd Marine Air Wing.
U.S. troops dashed inside Baghdad yesterday,
blasting targets nestled in palm trees, to show
they can move at will against Iraq's beleaguered
defenders. The allies adapted their air campaign
to prepare for a climactic ground assault on
the capital.
Saddam Hussein's black-clad militia -- his desperadoes
-- suddenly surfaced in downtown Baghdad and
Iraqi troops deployed at strategic city points
at nightfall, in preparation for a showdown.
But tens of thousands of citizens fled, no longer
believing the assurances of their leaders that
the American ground campaign was being beaten
back.
U.S. officials declared a near chokehold on
the capital even while warning that many other
parts of Iraq are not yet under allied control.
"They're pretty much cut off in all directions,"
Air Force Capt. Dani Burrows, speaking for Central
Command, said of Baghdad's fighters.
While acknowledging Americans raided a suburb,
Iraqi leaders talked bravely of prevailing.
"We were able to chop off their rotten
heads," the Iraqi armed forces said in
a televised statement, claiming victories no
one could see.
Allied warplanes now are flying over Baghdad
nonstop, using munitions that include concrete-filled
bombs meant to damage fixed targets with less
risk to civilian buildings nearby. Air strikes
against the Republican Guard, Saddam Hussein's
loyalist Fedayeen militia and Arab fighters
from outside the country followed a daylight
raid into Baghdad's industrial suburbs by at
least three dozen tanks and Bradley fighting
vehicles.
The aim of the probing attack was to sap morale
of the Iraqi fighters, refute public claims
of Iraqi officials that they are winning, and
perhaps spark surrender or overthrow of Saddam's
government. Americans lost at least one tank
and an assault vehicle in periodic firefights.
U.S. officials said they retooled their air
strikes to support a coming ground assault on
the capital while hoping Iraqis would give up
the fight before bloody urban combat became
necessary.
In one close-quarters skirmish, Marines with
bayonets battled Arab fighters from abroad in
a marsh on Baghdad's southern outskirts.
Two Marine pilots were killed yesterday when
their Super Cobra attack helicopter crashed
in central Iraq. And the Pentagon confirmed
the first combat death of an American woman
in the war -- Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, 23, of
Tuba City, Ariz., a single mother of two preschoolers.
Piestewa's body, and those of eight other American
soldiers caught in the same ambush, were found
during the rescue of American POW Jessica Lynch
in Iraq. The death toll for the allied forces
passed 100, three-quarters of them American.
Bullish on Baghdad and their progress overall,
U.S. officials cautioned that allies did not
have control in much of the country. As well,
they had only made an incursion in the capital,
not staying to hold ground.
"The fight is far from finished,"
Maj. Gen. Gene Renuart told a briefing at Central
Command's Qatar headquarters.
President Bush, spending the weekend at Camp
David, looked beyond the battle for Baghdad
to focus on postwar rebuilding of Iraq, and
prepared to meet with British Prime Minister
Tony Blair in Northern Ireland tomorrow.
A convoy of armored vehicles from the 3rd Infantry
Division rolled into Baghdad, although apparently
well away from downtown, firing on trucks and
other targets half-hidden by leaves and turning
them into fireballs.
note:
Read another version of the story.
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Witness
Iraq, a photographic journal of
the war continues the error. |
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