Did you fly on the MERT Chinooks in Afghanistan? We’re looking for the force protection blokes in particular: riflemen, signallers, EOD etc… as you’re proving hard to track down. MERT was a temporary collection of people from all 3 services but not under one regiment or squadron. As such a lot of the blokes who did the role went back to their parent unit after and never got the support they needed or deserved. We set up the MERT Club a couple of years ago to preserve the legacy and support the people who did the job. The MERT Club is open to any person who flew on MERT Chinooks in Afghanistan, including aircrew, medical team or force protection. We’re well funded and put on regular events/expeds/socials, but we are lacking the exposure for the force protection lads. From what we’ve seen so far, a common response is that they feel they “didn’t do much” or “didn’t do it many times” etc. The club does not see it that way and intends to make sure everyone who did the job has the chance to join. For those who are blocked by joining because of financial reasons (we have a small membership subscription to raise funds to support each other alongside our external donations) then just give us the nod and we can sort it out. A lot of our members pay double every year so they can cover someone else’s subs. This year we’ve already ran a Sailing exped, surf school, formal dinner at RAF Cosford and marched at the Cenotaph for Remembrance. We’re also running a charity dinner in the centre of Edinburgh at Christmas. Next year we’re going to try and do even more. Aside from this we have had had some success as a professional network getting people into good job opportunities and supporting members who need it directly. If we’ve convinced you to come join then email: info@mertclub.co.uk You can also find our facebook touch point here: facebook.com/groups/themertc… Or get in touch on our website mertclub.co.uk

It's happening! After 800 or so shows we finally get to talk about the 52nd (Lowland) Division with @AndyAitcheson This will be in November and part of Tommies week

I returned to NYC from my house on Cape Cod less than a week after 9/11. The first thing I did when I got home was race downtown to see the fallen towers. Many of you know this story, but when I got there and raised my camera to my eyes, a police officer approached me, whapped me on my arm, and said, "No photos. It's a crime scene." I realized then that we'd have no historical record of this horrific event if pictures weren't allowed. I had studied a few historical archives at the Library of Congress in D.C., and I knew I had to be the one to create an archive of this seminal moment in my city's - our global - history. Over the next 9 months, I returned to Ground Zero, a.k.a, The Pile, daily (with a few travel exceptions), to photograph the wreckage, light, architecture, and the incredible group of people who were there to excavate, clean up, rake for remains, and help in any way possible. It was a community of remarkable people - a brother and sisterhood - of ironworkers, NYPD, FDNY, Captains, Chaplains, security workers, and politicians. I snuck in daily to photograph and got kicked out daily. It wasn't until I quite literally stumbled into a group of men from the Arson and Explosion Squad, who asked what an older guy like me with a big old camera was doing down there, that I found my way in without fear of being evicted. They all quickly believed in the importance of the photographic record I was attempting to make. They gave me their phone numbers and said to call them if I had any trouble, and they'd bring me back to the site. Eventually, I got an official mayoral badge that granted me easier access to the Pile. In the end, I made over 8,500 pictures. My focus was never on human remains. I wanted to capture the place, the light, the people. I owe so much of this experience and access to my band of brothers from the Arson and Explosion Squad. Here is merely a tiny selection of some of the pictures. Many can be seen, however, at the Museum of the City of N.Y., World Trade Center Memorial Museum, Smithsonian Museum of American History, Library of Congress, and about 500 in my book, Aftermath: World Trade Center Archive. 1. A Worker in a Raking Field searching for human remains, 2002

@GoalhangerPods @almurray @James1940 @hoyer_kat @historical_kate @LMBD1418 @HistoryBowsh The 'We Have Ways' phenomenon, by @robert_lyman open.substack.com/pub/robert…

Oppenheimer is sure to revive some debates about the end of WWII. Worth noting: Purple Heart medals awarded in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, War on Terror—all 370,000 since 1945—were manufactured for the anticipated invasion of Japan. We have 120,000 remaining.

Feel as if we need some wholesome content. Here’s one of the King’s guards being kind to a special lad 😊