Faces from the Front

The Faces from the Front website states that the idea for its creation "was born" when 1st Sergeant Earl McIntosh, a Reserve U.S. Marine "who is also an insurance agent", said that Staff Sergeant Pollock, Staff Sergeant Rider, Gunnery Sergeant Tomileri and a Platoon from the 24th Marine Reserve Regiment were "headed to Iraq" and that if "someone didn’t go with them, their story would not be told." 

In March 2005, J.D. Johannes, who had served in the first Iraq war, "returned to his old unit" as an embedded "combat reporter in the second," Richard Nadler wrote March 13, 2006, in National Review.

JD would "shoot video of the Marines in action, interview them, and observe first hand to provide a view of what it is like for Marine Infantry Platoon in Iraq, instead of the daily car bombing or weekly kidnapping seen on the Network News. JD's reports were syndicated to local television stations in Kansas and Missouri," the Faces from the Front website states. JD "flew out to Camp Lejeune, met up with the Platoon and began the project in ernest" in March 2005, and was with the Platoon "until the beginning of June and [was to] return to them in the beginning of July." The unit returned from Iraq in October 2005. 

Website
The registration date for the FACESFROMTHEFRONT.COM domain name was created January 24, 2005, by GO DADDY SOFTWARE, INC. (godaddy.com).

Guerrilla Media
In a July 20, 2005, TDS Daily  article on what he terms "guerrilla media", Glenn Reynolds posted parts of an interview with J.D. Johannes:


 * Project: "The project is about telling a story that otherwise would have gone untold. The story of one Platoon of Marines, all of which are volunteers, as they root out insurgents in Iraq's Al Anbar province. The story is told through 3 mediums, web, at www.facesfromthefront.com, local TV news stations in Kansas and Missouri, and a long form documentary for local PBS tentatively titled Outside The Wire. Washburn University has partnered with me for the documentary making me an Adjunct Professor in the Military and Strategic studies department."


 * Cost: "But now, its $4,000 for a 3CCD camera, $1,000 for Adobe Premiere software plus features and $2,000 for a laptop computer. We ship video from Iraq using a combination of FedEx and NorSat KU band satellite transmissions."


 * "The second phase, and this will be the angle TV is likely to take, is in specialized syndication."

Contact Information
Website: http://www.facesfromthefront.com

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Americas Majority
 * Vets for Freedom

By J.D. Johannes

 * "Cheap-skate Media Stilts Iraq Coverage," Daily Dispatch/Americas Majority, April 5, 2006.
 * "Text of JD's Speech at the American Enterprise Institute," Faces from the Front, May 17, 2006.

Articles & Commentary

 * J.D. Allen, "Faces from the Front?" Mouth of the Brazos, July 20, 2005.
 * Richard Nadler, "John, Meet Jack. We do have reliable information about how things are going in Iraq," National Review, March 13, 2006.
 * Eric Barton, "Good News From Iraq. Brought to you by hometown patriots!" Kansas City Strip/The Pitch, April 6, 2006.