Lance Cpl. Josh James, left, and Lance Cpl. Paul Neff of Headquarters & Service Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, play chess April 8 in the shade of the smoking pit at FOB White House. (James J. Lee / Staff)
FORWARD OPERATING BASE WHITEHOUSE, Afghanistan — Friends and family of deployed service members have frequently said that one of their favorite parts about journalists embedding with their loved one’s unit is the window it provides into their world.
To that end, photographer James Lee and I will be posting some slice-of-life images and anecdotes throughout this deployment. We encountered the Marines you see here on Sunday, after arriving here at the headquarters of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines.
We befriended the gentlemen you see playing chess here behind our tent. As many in the military do, they quickly asked where we’re from, and jumped off into a conversation about careers in and around the military.
We also spent some time in a guard post here Sunday afternoon with the lance corporals you see here. As members of Headquarters and Service Battalion, they’ve had a relatively slow deployment, they said, but are in good spirits.
