The Van

A silver passenger van is parked under a covered area with visible parking lines on the asphalt. It's either dawn or dusk, as the sky is dimly lit,... more

by Arthur Swartwout

Title

The Van

Artist

Arthur Swartwout

Medium

Photograph

Description

A silver passenger van is parked under a covered area with visible parking lines on the asphalt. It's either dawn or dusk, as the sky is dimly lit, and the area is illuminated by artificial lighting, casting a warm glow and long shadows.

For me, any collection of photographs and other artwork from my deployment to Kuwait would absolutely be incomplete without the picture of this 15-passenger van. If ever a vehicle can be said to have character, it's this one. From the time the driver started it up to the time the ignition was turned off, this van let you (and everyone within a large radius) know that it was on the move. Chugga chugga chugga. Chugga chugga chugga. Chugga CHUGGA chugga. All the way down the 20 kph stretch of road, onto the 30 kph stretch, now 40 kph (where we were really chugga chugga chugga -ing) and back down to 30 and again 20 before parking and exiting for either work or our living quarters.

Then, it broke down. That could be the end of the story, but I still had another two and a half months left in theater. Fortunately, they were the winter months. I started walking the mile and a half to and from work every day, losing a couple of extra pounds I wouldn't have otherwise and getting to know Camp Arifjan better than I would have otherwise. All in a day's work.

Have a great day.

Uploaded

March 28th, 2024