'Under the Hood' for KUT

I found myself back in Killeen with KUT reporter Nathan Bernier last week.  Under the Hood is an anti-war coffee house where soldiers can vent their feelings about the military without fear of reprisal.  Army Spc. Eric Jasinski and Pfc. Mike Kern recounted their struggles to receive mental health care after returning from their deployments to Iraq.  Cynthia Thomas, the proprietor of the coffee house organized a protest last week to bring attention to the lack of services soldiers and their families receive.

Ft. Hood

I spent five days this last week covering the shootings at Ft. Hood for the NYTimes. My role was a supporting one for the Times staffers that were already on the scene. I covered the daily pressers and enterprised what I could on the side, running down leads with reporters and revisiting important sites. It was a great learning experience to see how a large publication covers an evolving news story of this magnitude.

I was on the visual peripheral of the story, but did my best to contribute to the team effort. Times photogs Nicole Bengiveno and Michael Stravato and the writing staffers were amazing to work with, all focused on the story and working around the clock to make sense of everything.

Here are some outtakes and pictures that made the various NYT slideshows.