A Day in the Life of the United States Armed Forces

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful photographs raise uncomfortable questions
Review: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES continues the fascinating tradition of the "Day in the Life of" series. In case you are unfamiliar with the premise: a large number of photographers focus on one particular lifestyle for a 24-hour period and they compile their photographs in a coffee table book. We were first introduced to this concept in 1986 with A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AMERICA. Since then, it has become a virtual franchise with nearly a dozen books published, depicting life in India, Africa, Israel, Japan, the Soviet Union, and more. I love this series because I love gaining insight into the daily lives of the non-famous.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES contains oversized, crisp, color pictures of our military men and women in many countries all over the globe. It is almost as though A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES is a photographic supplement to Gore Vidal's DREAMING WAR: BLOOD FOR OIL AND THE CHENEY-BUSH JUNTA, which I had just finished reading. In his book, Vidal claims that the USA is an empire. I had doubted this, but after seeing A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES, I realized that Vidal has a point.

Rating:
Summary: A Typical Day in the U.S. Military
Review: Everyone has been talking about the United States military in the recent past, thanks to the ongoing war against Iraq. Photos are sent back from the Middle East showing the soldiers in their military garb with weapons in hand and we constantly hear about how the war is going. We expect this during times of war, but what takes place in a normal day when there is no war to fight? What do the military personnell do in a typical day?

These questions can be quickly answered by reading this book. It's mostly a collection of photographs, with only a minimal amount of wording. It starts out in the early morning hours, showing photos of military men and women eating breakfast and engaging in physical workouts, then proceeds throughout the day, ending with pictures of night time security workers checking highly sensitive places to make sure all is clear.

This book is 256 pages in length, but it includes mostly pictures, so it doesn't take very long to read. It is well- organized, too, with an introduction by Walter Cronkite and a world map on each page, indicating the area of the world where a particular picture was taken. And the photos, like I mentioned above, are organized in order of the time of day they were taken, allowing the reader to follow along from sunrise to sunset and gain a better understanding of what life is like in the military.

This coffee table- size book makes contains many great pictures, showing men and women at work and at play with their families and friends. It's a nice addition to any home library and it proves to be a good educational guide, letting readers see and understand exactly what takes place during a normal day for the United States military personnel.

Rating:
Summary: A Photographer in Erie PA
Review: Like previous "day in the life," books...this one features 125 of the top photo jounalists capturing a slice of life of a given subject. These are photo jounalists...not to be confused with studio portrait photography...this is an amazing portrayal of the hard work, discipline, and tradition of the military. It tells the tale of new "greatest generation," those young men and women who sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy everyday. If you have doubts about the direction of this nation...one look at these pages and you can rest assured the future is well cared for.

Rating:
Summary: A Photographer in Erie PA
Review: Like previous "day in the life," books...this one features 125 of the top photo jounalists capturing a slice of life of a given subject. These are photo jounalists...not to be confused with studio portrait photography...this is an amazing portrayal of the hard work, discipline, and tradition of the military. It tells the tale of new "greatest generation," those young men and women who sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy everyday. If you have doubts about the direction of this nation...one look at these pages and you can rest assured the future is well cared for.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible portrait of the men and women of U.S. military
Review: Living in Washington, D.C., the events of 9.11 made it clear that the U.S. needed a strong military, but I soon realized that I had no understanding of tthe men and women in our armed forces.. Even when news starting coming out of Iraq, I wanted to know more . . .just who were they?

The cover of the May 12th issue of USNEWS alerted me to the fact that on October, 2002. 125 of "the worlds best photographers" (the magazine's words) fanned out around the world to photograph the military for the latest book in the "Day in the Life" series .

The photographs are a surprising and dazzling portrait of America's armed forces. During that 24 hour period, photographers seemed to follow the sun around the world. They shot Navy seals in Guam, women fighter pilots in Turkey, women marines at Paris Island, and ordinary military families at home cooking pancakes.

I realized these men and women in the uniforms of the five services could be my neighbors, friends, relatives or co-workers. Thank you authors for this book. I now know the perfect Father's Day present for my father-in-law, a combat vet from Viet Nam (1st Air Cav).

Rating:
Summary: Pictorial summary of our military
Review: This book creates a snapshot of life in the U.S. military, by showing us a large collection of pictures from across the world, displaying what the U.S. military does in different places on a certain day. The pictures are high in quality, and the captions concise. This is a good book for people thinking of joining the military, or for those with a loved one already in the military.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful gift book -- Thank you to our Armed Forces!
Review: This book is filled with great moments and beautiful photographs, and shows a lot of the behind-the-scenes moments. It's a tribute to all the young men and women who have put their lives on the line and dedicated themselves to service to our country. I think it's a great gift for all American families to remind them of the sacrifices that the military service makes.

Rating:
Summary: The American Military Family passes in review
Review: What a great theme to choose to revive the "A Day In the Life Of..." series! The predictably excellent photos (except for one field portrait where the camera's autofocus missed the subject) are a wonderful documentary of a single day in the globe-spanning mission of America's military.

Familiar images inevitably occur: Drill sergeants bawling out rattled recruits; wide-angle nose shots of fighter jets, flight deck sailors giving "launch" hand signals to carrier pilots; mud-slathered soldiers crawling through training courses, anonymity-suggesting group photos; and individual portraits showing the full range of humanity that calls America home.

There are also plenty of pleasing novelties, at least to me. A soldier in Hawaii snaps a salute while carrying a surfboard. Soldiers run station drills around a golf green, the only one on the one-hole course, in the Korean DMZ. A SEAL emerges, like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now, from the water. A seemingly prosaic picture of a cadet eating upon closer inspection reveals a meal of pancakes, cake, nachos, a pork chop, a hot dog, and other unharmonious victuals. Women and families are plentifully represented throughout.

We get representative shots of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield, a rear view of President Bush disembarking from Air Force One, a National Security Agency lab, and pictures of the troops in Afghanistan on the job. The closest thing to actual trouble that was going on on this day, that was allowed to be photographed, was a forensic investigator examining a Marine's sabotaged parachute. So, there are no pictures of military intelligence giving prisoners an interrogation, though there is a picture of Camp Gitmo.

This is a splendid album, technically and thematically, of America's best.

Rating:
Summary: The American Military Family passes in review
Review: What a great theme to choose to revive the "A Day In the Life Of..." series! The predictably excellent photos (except for one field portrait where the camera's autofocus missed the subject) are a wonderful documentary of a single day in the globe-spanning mission of America's military.

Familiar images inevitably occur: Drill sergeants bawling out rattled recruits; wide-angle nose shots of fighter jets, flight deck sailors giving "launch" hand signals to carrier pilots; mud-slathered soldiers crawling through training courses, anonymity-suggesting group photos; and individual portraits showing the full range of humanity that calls America home.

There are also plenty of pleasing novelties, at least to me. A soldier in Hawaii snaps a salute while carrying a surfboard. Soldiers run station drills around a golf green, the only one on the one-hole course, in the Korean DMZ. A SEAL emerges, like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now, from the water. A seemingly prosaic picture of a cadet eating upon closer inspection reveals a meal of pancakes, cake, nachos, a pork chop, a hot dog, and other unharmonious victuals. Women and families are plentifully represented throughout.

We get representative shots of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield, a rear view of President Bush disembarking from Air Force One, a National Security Agency lab, and pictures of the troops in Afghanistan on the job. The closest thing to actual trouble that was going on on this day, that was allowed to be photographed, was a forensic investigator examining a Marine's sabotaged parachute. So, there are no pictures of military intelligence giving prisoners an interrogation, though there is a picture of Camp Gitmo.

This is a splendid album, technically and thematically, of America's best.

Rating:
Summary: The American Military Family passes in review
Review: What a great theme to choose to revive the "A Day In the Life Of..." series! The predictably excellent photos (except for one field portrait where the camera's autofocus missed the subject) are a wonderful documentary of a single day in the globe-spanning mission of America's military.

Familiar images inevitably occur: Drill sergeants bawling out rattled recruits; wide-angle nose shots of fighter jets, flight deck sailors giving "launch" hand signals to carrier pilots; mud-slathered soldiers crawling through training courses, anonymity-suggesting group photos; and individual portraits showing the full range of humanity that calls America home.

There are also plenty of pleasing novelties, at least to me. A soldier in Hawaii snaps a salute while carrying a surfboard. Soldiers run station drills around a golf green, the only one on the one-hole course, in the Korean DMZ. A SEAL emerges, like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now, from the water. A seemingly prosaic picture of a cadet eating upon closer inspection reveals a meal of pancakes, cake, nachos, a pork chop, a hot dog, and other unharmonious victuals. Women and families are plentifully represented throughout.

We get representative shots of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield, a rear view of President Bush disembarking from Air Force One, a National Security Agency lab, and pictures of the troops in Afghanistan on the job. The closest thing to actual trouble that was going on on this day, that was allowed to be photographed, was a forensic investigator examining a Marine's sabotaged parachute. So, there are no pictures of military intelligence giving prisoners an interrogation, though there is a picture of Camp Gitmo.

This is a splendid album, technically and thematically, of America's best.