FILE: R.M.Allnutt - Marines - Quantico 2003 (IMG_3398).jpg

TITLE: Marines sign their wills days before deployment to Iraq

DESCRIPTION: These Marines of Delta Company, 4th LAR, were signing their wills and power of attourney forms in one of the old Quonset Huts at Camp Upshur, Marine Corps Base Quantico in february 2003. They were due to depart for the war in Iraq a few days later. I had come to know several of them pretty well over the previous two years, and this moment was a particularly hard one to record. In retrospect, looking at the photograph, it has the appearance of renaissance painting of a religious ceremony, the marine standing behind the altar like a priest, while the others neal before him. It was a powerful moment, and still moves me every time I see it.