2010普利策特写摄影奖回目录
Ian Fisher cradles his injured elbow during his processing into the Army in Ft. Benning, Ga. On June 20, 2007. Though he later had a change of heart after speaking with a commander, he saw a possibility to escape his enlistment only two days in. From his first day in fatigues through his days driving a Humvee in Iraq, military life often didn’t mesh with his expectations. Sometimes the structure of the Army and the demands of training for war clashed with the freedom he shared with his outside friends.
2007年6月20日，伊恩·费舍尔在参军申报过程中忐忑不安，不断地触摸自己受伤的肘部。参军后的第二天他就想逃离服兵役，但在和一位军官交谈后费舍尔改变了想法。军训生活和他的期望相去甚远，每天都让人倍感疲劳，这一直延续到费舍尔在伊拉克驾驶悍马的日子。很多时候，军队的体制和训练的要求，与费舍尔和朋友间的自由时光产生冲突。
Ian returns a phone call to Sgt. 1st Class Gavino Barron, the commander at Ian’s Army recruiting office, on June 1, 2007. Barron was making sure Ian was on track for enlistment. When he was 17, Ian had joined the Army’s Future Solider Program, which prepares recruits for enlistment. Barron recalled his initial impressions of Ian: "He wasn’t in it for the money. He was only in it for God and country. That’s the reason most infantrymen join." Ian’s father, Eric Fisher, listens to the conversation. Eric returned from the Vietnam War with the Combat Infantryman Badge and emotional scars. Eric’s father had been awarded the Bronze Star for combat in World War II.
2007年6月1日这天，伊恩和一等军士格维诺·巴伦通了电话，这位军士是伊恩递交申报的军队招募办公室的上司。巴伦想确定伊恩是否态度坚定地想应征入伍，虽然伊恩17岁就参加了军队“未来战士”项目，该项目的目标即培养入伍新兵。军士回想起他对伊恩的第一印象：“他并不是为了金钱而参军的，他是为了上帝和国家，这同时也是大多数步兵参军的理由。”伊恩的父亲艾瑞克·费歇聆听了他们的电话交谈。艾瑞克曾参加了越南战争，被授予战斗步兵勋章，但同时战争也给他带来了情感创伤；艾瑞克的父亲曾因参加二战而被授予青铜星章。
Hours after Ian's family threw a goodbye bash for him with cake and ice cream on June 16, 2007, his friends gave him a party of a different type, with beer pong and affection from his girlfriend Ashley Hibbs. It was a time of emotional goodbyes among friends as Ian prepared to refine his high school image of the rough-and-tumble teen fumbling for a grip on his future.
2007年6月16日，伊恩的家人以蛋糕和冰淇淋送别了他。数小时后，伊恩的朋友也为他举办了一个别开生面的聚会，伊恩的女友艾希莉·西波斯也开怀畅饮，对他恋恋不舍。这一感伤的时刻充满了朋友的道别，也意味着伊恩杂乱无章的高中少年形象，在未来的岁月中发生蜕变。
As Ian's father, Eric, waits in the driveway with the recruiter who's about to take Ian away to 14 weeks of basic training, Ian embraces friends Nick 'Buddha' Nelson, left, and Shane 'Pineapple' Doiel on June 17, 2007. Between hugs, Ian's eyes welled with tears. Ian approached his father. You got everything? Eric whispered. Yeah, Ian replied. The car pulled out, and Ian was gone. As soon as we saw him driving off, that’s when we realized how real it was, 'Buddha' said.
2007年6月17日，伊恩的父亲艾瑞克和一位征兵人员在车道上等着他，这位军官即将带着伊恩去参加为期14周的基本训练。伊恩泪眼朦胧地拥抱了两位朋友，“佛陀”尼克·纳尔逊和“凤梨”谢恩·多伊尔。“一切都收拾妥当了？”父亲轻问。“是的。”汽车发动，伊恩就此离开。“当我们看着他远去，我们才意识到现实的残酷。”“佛陀”说道。
Fisher, second from right, waits for a medical exam with other recruits at the Denver Military Entrance Processing Station on June 18, 2007. They took the oath of enlistment and, later that day, Fisher would travel to Fort Benning, where his new life in the Army began. Over the next three days, he filled out forms. He stood in formation. And he joined in the constant repetition of the Soldier’s Creed: "...I will always place the mission first; I will never accept defeat; I will never quit; I will never leave a fallen comrade...".
2007年6月18日，图片中从右数第二个的费舍尔和其他新兵在丹佛的军事管理局等待着医学体检。他们宣誓入伍后，费舍尔将前往本宁堡开始他的军旅生活。接下来三天，他填完表格，练习站队，并不断地重复大兵“信条”：“。。。。。。我始终将任务列为第一位；我永远不会接受失败；我永远不会放弃；我永远不会抛下受伤的战友。。。。。。”
After three days of endless lines, little rest and second thoughts at processing, Fisher arrives June 22, 2007, at basic training and is introduced to his place in the military by drill sergeant David Vance. "We see who's going to quit in that first hour," says drill sergeant John Eldridge. "This scared me more than anything ever has," Fisher said of the jolting arrival at Fort Benning. He’d joined the Army to make a different life. Now that life was upon him. "I just keep telling myself to be happy," Fisher said. "I’m already feeling like a different person."
这三天中，费舍尔不断地练习站队，倍感疲劳，对入伍又产生了犹豫。2007年6月22日，他开始了基础训练，由操练军官大卫·万斯指挥。“我们看看哪个胆小鬼第一天就会选择逃避。”另一位操练军官约翰·艾尔德里奇说。“这突如其来的一切让我恐惧万分。”费舍尔到达本宁堡后感叹道，但他加入了军队之后，生活就会发生变化，而现实正是如此。“我不断告诉自己保持乐观心态，即使自己已经发生变化。”
From left, recruits Rob-drick Robinson, Fisher and Christopher Wegner talk with Fisher’s bunkmate about his behavior June 23, 2007. He had been consistently causing problems, and the rest of the platoon was paying the price. Because of the culture of basic training, where all suffer for the faults of one, recruits often police their own ranks. Fisher said he worried that the pep talks for his bunkmate might not be enough but he wouldn’t be part of any physical confrontation. "I told him I’d be there for him," Fisher said. "But he just doesn’t seem to care." The bunkmate, an 18-year old who had been in and out of jail in his hometown of Syracuse, N.Y. and joined the Army as a last resort, would be gone within eight weeks like one-fifth of Fisher’s 40-man platoon.
2007年6月23日，新兵罗伯·罗宾逊、费舍尔和克里斯多夫·格纳，与费舍尔的同铺室友进行交谈，因为他经常制造麻烦，并让整排队友付出代价。基础训练的纪律如下，所有人都会因一人的错误受到惩罚，所以新兵们内部会有冲突。费舍尔担心鼓气的话并不会对他的同铺室友有太大的作用，但他也不会参与任何肢体冲突。“我告诉他我会支持他，但他似乎毫不在意。”这位18岁的室友在老家纽约州的锡拉库扎多次进出监狱，没有出路才来参军，但最后仍会在八周内和其他五分之一的人离开这排新兵队伍。
As his team prepares to clear and secure a room during a training drill, Fisher is the first man in a four-man stack. It’s Aug. 15, 2007, and Echo Company is deep into its Mission Oriented Urban Tactics exercises—three days focused on urban combat at Fort Benning. Drill sergeant Tommy Beauchamp has a lot of first-hand experience to share with the troops about urban combat: He served a tour of duty in Afghanistan and two tours in Iraq, where the battlefield loomed more complex than in previous wars.
在一次训练中，伊恩为领队的四人小队的任务是清剿并保护一处房间。这时候已经是2007年8月15日，E连的任务是深度开展城区战术的练习——为期三天针对本宁堡的城区战斗。操练军士汤米·波尚有许多能和队伍分享的一线作战经历：他曾经在阿富汗服役一期，在伊拉克服役两期。和之前的战争相比，这两地战场的战斗情况更加错综复杂。
Following a long day - on top of a long week - and suffering from heat rash on his upper body, Fisher finds himself at his tent in Fort Benning, bowing his head in prayer Sept. 15, 2007. He explains later: "I've been praying that God takes this stuff off my back." Basic training had given him a cold, hard appraisal of his limitations. His ambitions had dissolved amid repeated and futile efforts to pass his physical-training test. Injuries had hindered his performance. Fisher did a reality check: Instead of excellence, he would settle for survival.
2007年9月15日，这天在费舍尔看来不过是遥遥无期的一周中的又一漫漫长日。他饱受上身痱子的折磨，只能在本宁堡的帐篷里低头默默祈祷。他后来解释道：“我一直在祈求上帝能从我身上除去病痛。”基础训练让费舍尔对自己的缺陷有了深刻的认识。他对通过身体训练测试的重复而又徒劳的尝试，磨灭了曾经的雄心抱负。伤痛掩盖了他的成绩，他审视现实：既然不能追求战场上的卓绝，我只能满足于幸存下来。
Fisher braces for his crossed-rifles pin, signifying his completion of training. Drill sergeant John Eldridge holds the pin in place and prepares to secure it with a fist. "I hit him square on the chest," Eldridge said. "He had two holes, and blood dripping down from each - 'blood rifles.'" Thirteen weeks of basic training had led Fisher to this—a 10-mile march through a series of high-stress combat tests that ended at a place called Honor Hill. A sergeant closed the ceremony Sept. 17, 2007: "You are now the guardian of freedom and the American way of life! A warrior!"
费舍尔将接受他的十字来福徽针，这意味着他完成了训练。操练军官约翰·艾尔德里奇徽针放在衣服上合适的位置，并准备用拳头来固定它。“我重重地打在他的胸部，”艾尔德里奇说，“他有了两个伤口，血液不断滴下，这就是‘鲜血十字来福徽针’。”13周的基础训练为费舍尔塑造了一幅坚强的体魄——他能完成长达十英里的马拉松行进，途中有一系列高压力的测试，最终达到一处叫做光荣山的地方。2007年9月17日，一位军士在结训典礼上最后说道：“如今你们是自由的卫士，美国信念的捍卫者！一名真正的战士！”
During a weekend home from his first assignment at Fort Carson, Colo., Ian walked through a Denver-area mall with his new girlfriend, Kayla Spitzlberger, on Dec. 15, 2007, and asked whether she wanted to go ring shopping. She was excited, but working out the financing made him nervous. They picked out the engagement ring in about five minutes, but Ian wouldn't officially propose until Christmas Day in front of her family. The couple had met in freshman math class but never really dated until now. She wrote to him during basic training and decided to give Ian a chance. The engagement would end before Valentine's Day.
伊恩的第一项任务是在科罗拉多州的卡森要塞执行，但在此之前他有一周回家探亲的时间。2007年12月15日这天，他和新任女友凯拉·斯比兹伯格在丹佛地区的商场闲逛，伊恩图突然问她是否想去买戒指。凯拉十分兴奋，但价格问题一度让伊恩感到紧张。他们在五分钟内就挑选出了订婚戒指，但伊恩打算到圣诞节的时候再向凯拉的家人正是提亲。这对恋人在新生数学班上就曾第一次见面，但直到现在才正式约会。凯拉在基础训练期间给伊恩写信，并打算给他一次机会。情人节前订婚的事宜就会结束。
Ian survived basic training, but he faced a steep learning curve when it came to everyday Army life. Assigned to Fort Carson, just over an hour's drive from his teenage stomping grounds in Colorado, he found himself pulled in two directions. The Army sought to prepare him for the rigors of deployment in Iraq. But on the home front, his weekend visits with friends reminded him of the carefree life he'd left behind. Again home for the weekend March 8, 2008, Ian sits at the table with his essentials: cellphone, energy drink, cigarettes and a bottle of Vicodin. After a series of training injuries, Ian is taking pain medications and muscle relaxants. His father, Eric, expressed concern about the drugs. "I think you’re abusing them," he said. "You keep taking those as recreational and you're going to end up immune to them." Ian dismissed it: "At least it's not coke, Ecstasy, weed.... I've got like six, seven different medications now. They give it to you for a reason. I'm not going to just let them sit there.".
伊恩挺过了基础训练，但现在他又要重新面对日常正式军旅生活的挑战。他被分配到卡森要塞，虽然这里和他青少年时候玩耍的土地只有一小时的车程，但他仿佛被硬生生地往相反的方向拉去。军队将安排他到伊拉克展开严格的部署，但几天在家中和朋友相聚的日子又让他回想起以前无忧无虑的生活。2008年3月8日，伊恩坐在家中的桌前打点行李：手机、功能饮料、香烟和一盒维柯丁。在经历了数次训练伤痛后，伊恩开始吃止疼药物和肌肉松弛药。父亲艾瑞克对此感到担心：“我认为你在滥用药物，如果你持续使用，你的身体将会对它们产生免疫。”伊恩无所顾忌：“至少这不是可卡因、致幻剂。。。。。。我现在有六、七种这样的药物了。军队给你这些肯定有原因，我也应该好好使用啊。”
Fisher shows his frustration during a counseling session at Fort Carson with Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Weisensel on July 24, 2008. For a second time, Fisher had returned late from a weekend home. Now he had turned himself in for having a drug problem. In the days to follow, Fisher's continued failure to cooperate put him in danger of getting kicked out of the Army. Instead, the commander gave him another chance, assigning him to a new platoon. Punishment included extra duty, loss of pay and a reduction in rank from a private first class to private 1. But it was a fresh start.
2008年7月24日，费舍尔在卡森要塞和一等军士贝尔·维森索尔的咨询过程中表现出沮丧的心情。他也因周末回家探亲两次报到迟到，现在他又有了滥用药物的问题。接下来的日子中，费舍尔拒绝配合军队的劣迹，使他处在了被部队开除的危险境地中。幸运的是，指挥官给了他另外一次机会，并分配他到一只新的排队。惩罚包括了额外的执勤，并使他失去工资，降低军衔，从上等兵降至二等兵。不管如何，这是一个新的开始。
The Rev. John H. Bell Jr. lays a hand on Ian during a baptism at Wellshire Presbyterian Church in Denver on July 13, 2008, Ian’s mother’s birthday. Teri Mercill said the greatest gift she could ask for was to see her son baptized before he deploys to Iraq. "It has given me a lot stronger sense of peace letting him go on deployment," she said. "I just feel like he has that little extra in his pocket to watch over him... He might have started out doing it for me, but I think he ended doing it for himself."
2008年7月13日，这天是伊恩母亲的生日，在威尔施尔基督教长老教堂中，约翰·H·贝尔一世在洗礼仪式中将手放在伊恩的头上。伊恩母亲说她能收到的最好的礼物，是她的儿子能在被派往伊拉克之前能被施洗礼。“这能带给我带来的安心和平静，仿佛在他的口袋里加了点东西能保佑他。。。。。。或许上帝已经在赐福于他，但我相信他自己已经发生改变。”
Ian and his dad share some time at the PX at Fort Carson on Sept. 1, 2008, when his family dropped him off for deployment to Iraq. Eric, a Vietnam veteran, offers him advice only a soldier could give: "Basically I said two things to him. No. 1, I said, ‘I want you to be careful all the time and trust your instincts.’ No.2, I said, 'If you’re going down, give 'em hell. Fire 'till your last breath.' At that point he squeezed me, like, 'I understand,' you know? And we didn't say anything else."
2008年9月1日，伊恩和他的父亲在卡森要塞的超市里共享了一点时光。父亲艾瑞克是一位越战归来的老兵，他为儿子提供了只有参过军才能有的建议：“我只想说两点。第一，任何时候都要保持警惕并相信直觉；第二、如果你倒下了，用尽自己最后一口气开枪，你将会是我的英雄。”“我明白了。”之后，他们再没交谈。
Fisher pulls security detail Dec. 10, 2008, for a meeting between intelligence troops and local residents near the site of a recent rocket attack in Diwaniyah, Iraq. He's excited to get selected for the task, and for the chance to finally wield his Squad Automatic Weapon in Iraq, three months into his deployment. Trained for combat and primed to fight, Fisher arrived in Iraq in September 2008 along with about 3,800 troops of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team. He had expectations for Iraq, and new ones for his life. Given a second chance after missteps at Fort Carson, field commanders saw his potential as a soldier. But they remained wary of issues that had surfaced before he’d shipped out, when substance abuse and lapses of judgment got him demoted—and nearly got him booted from the military. Fisher plunged into his unit’s deployment with new resolve. But while he’d gone looking for a fight, he arrived at a time when the U.S. military role had been scaled back. Fisher adjusted to his role with the help of seasoned veterans.
2008年12月10日，在伊拉克服役的费舍尔受命一项安全防护的任务，地点在不久前发生火箭弹袭击的迪瓦尼耶，此次任务是保障部队智囊团和当地居民的一次会面。费舍尔对此项任务倍感激动，因为三个月以来，他终于能有权使用小队的自动化武器。2008年9月，费舍尔和3800名来自第二旅战斗队的大兵在接受了严酷的训练后来到伊拉克。在经历了种种挫折和退却之后，他带着新的决心回到部队，并对这片陌生的土地充满期待。但是虽然他憧憬着一场充满血性的战斗，此时美军在伊拉克的作用发生了较大的变化，费舍尔在经验丰富的老兵帮助下，适应了新的职责。
Fisher rests on his bed with his 9mm while calling a girlfriend back home Dec. 7, 2008. A couple of weeks earlier, while communicating with friends on MySpace, he came to the realization that his on-again, off-again relationship with Kirsten Oliver was really over. "It's one of those things, man," he said. "You can’t really let it hit you. Just continue with the mission... What the hell am I supposed to do?" Soon after, he began calling a former girlfriend. They talked about getting together when he returned stateside.
2008年12月7日，费舍尔在床上休息手中拿着一把9毫米口径的手枪，他打电话给老家的一位女朋友聊天。几周之前，他在MySpace中和朋友交流，过程中他意识到和前任女友科尔斯顿·奥利弗分分合合的关系已经结束了。“这就是生活中常见的事，你不能被这击倒，只能继续任务。。。。。。我到底应该怎么做？”不久之后，他打电话给一位前任女友。他们商量着回美国后重新复合。
As Sgt. Lonnie Buthmann and Pvt. Rob-drick Robinson roughhouse, Fisher grabs as smoke Nov. 28, 2008. The Iraq of late 2008 is nothing like the Iraq that Ian envisioned upon enlisting. With violence down and U.S. troops giving more control to local forces, Fisher questioned his purpose. Instead of facing off with the enemy, U.S. troops were being asked to provide transportation, react to events long after the fact and undertake mundane chores. But as the time passed, Fisher began to make sense of it: "Maybe it’s about learning to soldier up and do your job in life. Maybe that's what a real soldier is."
当军士尼·巴斯曼和二等兵罗伯·罗宾逊大打出手的时候，费舍尔尽量阻挡，这天是2008年11月28日。2008年下半年的伊拉克的战况并不是伊恩所预想的，暴力冲突事件下降，美军也逐渐将管辖权转交给当地武装力量。费舍尔开始质疑参军的目的，军队没有正面对抗敌人，而是在不断提供交通运输，平日不能及时处理事故，只能忍受世俗的喧闹。但随着时间逝去，费舍尔开始慢慢理解：“军旅生活就是让你做好本职工作。或许这就是战士真正的职责。”
Ian and his new girlfriend, Devin Ervin, enjoy watching Nick 'Buddha' Nelson get a brass-knuckles tattoo March 14, 2009, in Lakewood, Colo. Ian got a matching one earlier that day. The design includes an 'N' and an 'F,' for their last names. "He's my best friend," Ian says. The tattoo "represents all the trouble we have gotten into together." The trio were inseparable during Ian's leave from his tour in Iraq. "We’re boyfriend and girlfriend," Devin said later. "I don’t remember how that happened, but I think we just figured it out together, not really saying anything to each other. But it happened."
2009年3月14日，伊恩和他的新任女友德温·欧文在科罗拉多州莱克武德，愉快地看着好友“佛陀”尼克·纳尔逊纹身的过程。伊恩也在当天早些时候做了一个相配的纹身。纹身的图案中包含了字母N和F，这代表着他们的姓氏。“他是我最好的朋友，这个纹身代表着我们共同经历过的磨难。”即使伊恩于伊拉克服役期间，这三个人似乎也难以分离。“我们是男女朋友，我也不知道这一切是怎么发生的，但我只知道最后走到了一起，虽然没有太多的言语，但这一切就这样发生了。”德温后来说道。
On Aug. 24, 2009, three days after Ian's return from Iraq, he and Devin applied for a marriage license at the Jefferson County, Colo., clerk's office. The couple were married an hour later in a quiet courtroom. They were eager to get married immediately. Driving away, Ian turned down the music. "Ya know, everyone gets counseled in Iraq that life is not going to be like your fantasy when you get back home," he said. "...Well, I'm checking this off my fantasy list."
2009年8月24日，伊恩从伊拉克归国三天后，他和德温在科罗拉多州的杰弗逊郡的主管办公室申请了结婚证。一个小时后，这对恋人在一个安静的法庭中正式结了婚。开车离开后，伊恩关轻音乐说道：”你知道，每个人都在伊拉克劝告你说，当你回到家乡后生活将变得不再那么惬意，但是，我就想在我的生活中检验一番。”
