Memories of Higgins: Viewfinder

Hey there buddy, it’s me, Jenny. Congratulations on finally getting that mass communications specialist rating you’ve been working so hard for. I’m sorry I couldn’t attend the ceremonies; some dipshit messed up the final edition plates and gave them to the printers, so we had to backtrack and check each plate manually to see which ones needed to be fixed. No, no, don’t worry; we were lucky the printing staff had only started producing test prints by the time we got there. Otherwise we would’ve wasted a good deal of newsprint, and you know how well that would sit with our publisher…

What? Whadaya mean why am I still there? Dude, you know me. Getting into the Chronicle was my dream job. You know how much I looked up to Herb Caen. Yeah, sure, they still don’t pay us jack for all the extra work they’re hurling at us, and that mess in the Middle East isn’t helping either, but, it’s just the thrill of the work, you know? Hell, if I had the chance, I’d give up my assistant editor post just to get back on beat work. Still miss late nights at Bayview Police station, you know.

Oho, I see you’ve finally decided to use that Leica lens I got you for Christmas. That baby’s a fresh-out-of-the-factory bit that I got from a friend of a friend in Germany and—naw man, that baby’s authentic and taken from legit channels. Well, I did pay premium dollar for that Summicron, so you better make the most of it! Now stop complaining about how hard it is to use with your Nikon and stick with it for this deployment of yours, okay?

Wait, you mean this little fella here? Oho, this sonuvabitch right here’s an authentic, first-generation Lomo LC-A. Like, a 1984-vintage, from-Russia-with-love original camera, not one of those post-2005 Chinese Lomos. Hell no, I didn’t use my back-channels here, man! I sniffed this baby out on Amazon, and I shit you not, I did my own background checks on the seller before I bought it. Of course I had to make sure it was legit! For classic cameras like these, I’m ready to pull out all the stops. Turns out it was a sweet deal, too; the original owners kept it in pristine condition for forty years. Gotta give them mad props for that. When I get my leave approved, I’ll come over to Japan and show this baby to you, and then we could probably shoot stuff together. I know I can still beat you in that department, even if I had an older camera.

Oh yeah, before I forget, remember that little project we got brewing for the longest time now? Well guess what, bud, we’re in! Yep, those guys in the town council finally gave our community photography center the go-ahead. We’re still looking for bigger backers for it, but The Chron’s definitely on-board with the project, and I already have two local food companies pooling in as well. Yeah, I can’t believe it myself. Imagine that… we were just talking about this back in sophomore year, and I even thought it would be nothing more than a pipe dream. Yet here we are now. It’s just too bad that you won’t be here when we hold the groundbreaking ceremony next week. Yeah, yeah, I’ll have videos for you when I come over to Japan. Nah, I don’t think you’ll miss the ribbon cutting ceremony. Your deployment would probably be long over by then.

Wha—hey, is it just me, or are you a little leaner today? I mean, look at you; you’re skinnier than when we first got into the school paper back in college.  Don’t tell me they’ve been cutting off on your rations after they gave you that promotion! W-what do y-you mean I’m o-overreacting?! O-of course I h-have every reason to be w-worried! Y-you’re my best buddy, and I’m n-not gonna lose you on my watch b-because you aren’t eating r-right! W-well of course n-not, it’s n-not like I c-care for you that much or a-anything… What? No, it’s nothing! You’re probably just hearing things, bud! Yeah, that’s it; I bet you’re just hungry! Heh… ehehehehe…

Well gee, look at the time; I’ll have to get down to the City Administrator’s Office for some more material on that exposé we’re planning to publish later this month. Of course I’ll be careful with my questioning this time. I’m telling you bud, that last libel suit was a fluke. A fluke! Geez, you sound more overprotective than I did a while ago. Look, anyway, I gotta go. I’ll try to catch you again late—whadaya mean your ship leaves port tonight? Isn’t that supposed to be tomorro—oh. Crap, guess I need to get a break after this, huh? Oh well, just hit me up when you get over to Yaki… Yoku… Yakisaki-something. Whatever. Yeah, yeah, I’ll take care of myself. Now you, on the other hand… you’d better take care of yourself too. Talk to you later, buddy.

--Mass Communication Specialist Third Class Allan “Lucky Al” O’Connor assisted in evacuating wounded crewmates and handing out survival and fire suppression gear during the opening minutes of the Battle of LA, all the while capturing whatever he could with his photo camera. He earned his ‘Lucky Al’ moniker during the battle when he survived several near-misses while taking photos of the action above-deck. Despite walking away from the engagement with only minor scrapes and bruises from shrapnel, he suffered post-traumatic stress due to witnessing the final moments of USCGC Sherman and seeing the carnage within Higgins’ shattered bridge. Four months after he received a commendation for his combat photography work, O’Connor was found dead on his bunk in the bachelors’ quarters of Naval Base San Diego with a note stuffed in his pocket that read, ‘They keep screaming for me to save them, but I can’t… I just can’t… I’m sorry…’ His death was ruled as a suicide by voluntary drug overdose. He was 25.--