How 1/8000 Of A Second Changes The World – Veteran Interview – Join us today for this amazing veteran interview with Jeremy Lock, with twenty-one years of active duty service in the military as a combat photographer.

Air Date: 06/15/2020

Guest: Veteran Jeremy Lock

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

Today’s Links: http://jeremytlock.com

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

 

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. Thanks for joining us here where we’re looking at the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. You can learn more about our program at wallbuilderslive.com. David Barton is here, he’s America’s premier historian and our founder of WallBuilders, Tim Barton is a national speaker, pastor and president of WallBuilders and I’m Rick Green, I’m former Texas legislator and America’s Constitution coach. Find out more wallbuilderslive.com, make that contribution at wallbuilderslive.com, be a part of the solution in helping us save America’s constitutional republic.

Alright, David, Tim, we’ve got one of our veteran interviews that David. We’ve never done this before. We actually have our special guest in studio, not calling in from someplace around the country, around the world: a veteran interview in studio. Jeremy Lock, welcome to the program, sir.

Jeremy:

Hey, appreciate it. Thanks for having me here. It’s a big honor.

Rick:

Well, this is also a different kind of veteran interview. I mean, not only are you a veteran Bronze Star Medal distinguished service in Iraq, well, you’ve probably seen more than any other vet we’ve had on the program. But the coolest part of all is you’ve captured it.

David:

Rick, let me back from it. Because I’ve got to tell you even today, I’m learning new stuff that Jeremy I didn’t know. I think I’ve been doing stuff with Jeremy, maybe two years. And this kind of goes back even with Tim Ryan in leadership training program, Jeremy was the guy who’s coming in and doing photography work at leadership training, doing photographs of all the kids getting their little certificates, etc. And so, I’ve known as a photographer and as a result, Jeremy is now doing photography work, documenting everything we’ve got in the collection. So, I mean, he’s right across the wall from us today, taking pictures of all the artifacts and all the documents and all the proxies. And so, just as is going, we’re talking about it and I knew he had been in war settings and done pictures and was really, you know, had all these commendation for that. I had no clue, 21 years active duty service. I didn’t have any clue you were a vet for all that period of time, I just knew you’re out there taking pictures. So, I mean, even today, I’m learning new stuff about you that I had no clue about.

Jeremy:

And that 21 years I would do, if they asked me to do it again tomorrow, I’d do it. The mind wants to do it, the body is not there anymore. But yeah, I mean, you know, in my line of work, you let your work ethics speak for itself. I don’t need to walk around telling you I’m a veteran or I don’t need that kind of praise, you know. I’ve been very blessed in what I’ve done throughout my career and I continue to try to give back to the veteran community.

David:

Well, we were even kind of talking earlier that in some ways, you’re a military historian, because you’re recording with camera what we are often doing through writing.

Jeremy:

My job on the battlefield and even, you know, during the humanitarian, we are the eyes and ears of the Joint Chief of Staff, that’s our primary job. We are the eyes and ears for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and unseen battlefield commanders, but we are historians. Yes, we were there for the archives.

Tim:

So, Jeremy, what did you do for 21 years just to help our listeners know, you were in the service for 21 years? What did that look like? What did that entail?

David:

Yeah. Why did you even go into service? What got you going?

Rick:

Yeah, you go in as a photographer or was that something you, you know, fell in love with afterwards?

Jeremy:

That’s something I explored. I did the whole normal, graduated at the high school, try it out college; college politely asked me to leave, I just kind of lost my way there. And went into construction, work construction, but the guys that I was working with sometimes had to go in the jail, back into jail on the weekends and you know, there was just something better in my heart, they’re like there’s something better out there, you can make something better yourself.

I honestly loved the construction, because it was an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay and then there’s just something that you built. And went into the military. My dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, my grandfather World War II army. And I said, let’s join the Air Force. Let’s get a four-year, you know, just get four-year job training and come on out. And, of course, you know, your recruiters are always very honest to you and say, oh, yeah, yeah, just sign here, you’ll get that. Well, I wasn’t given the job as an X-ray technician, I was given the job as an imagery processor. So, the satellite imagery, the spy plane footage, I was the guy in the darkroom, you know, developing, processing and printing it. And I loved it, because that was during the Bosnian, the first Iraq war.

Tim:

Jeremy, as you’re doing that, is there a level of security clearance you had to have, seeing some of those images?

Jeremy:

Yeah, we had a top secret clearance back then. But it was like that work was being seen by the president at the time. I mean, it was very real time work that was very important. But at the end of day, you’re working back in the back darkroom, smell all these chemicals and then photographers that were traveling all over the world drop off their film to be processed. And I was like why am I stuck in the back of the darkroom? I want to be out going to Africa and you know, India and all these other places in the world.

And right at that time, the career field started merging together, I picked up a camera, had some amazing, amazing mentors and started getting into photography. And really at the first of getting into photography, it was like, wow, they’re out filling sandbags, I’m just going to take pictures of these guys working, man, my job is so easy. Little did I know that’s not the truth at all. So, I’ll come back to that. But I get, you know, sort of falling in love with this. And then when I found out what the true power of a picture can do, I mean, if you think about it, 1/8,000th of a second can change the world, not 10 seconds of video, but 1/8,000th of a second can really change this world. And that’s where, like I really fell in love with it is, you know, not only do I get to help fill the sandbags, but I’ve become a part of their team and documented as well. One of the lines I always say is, I’m so blessed because not only do I get to live my life, but the lives that I’ve documented; I mean, I get to live their lives even for that brief moment.

Rick:

That’s powerful. Hey guys, we got to take a quick break. We’ll be right back. We got Jeremy Lock with us. Jeremy, you’re okay if we give out your website today?

Jeremy:

Yeah, absolutely.

Rick:

Alright, Jeremytlock.com, Jeremytlock.com. We’ll have a link today at WallBuilders Live. Stay with us, you’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

BREAK

Hey friends, if you’ve been listening to WallBuilders Live for very long in all, you know how much we respect our veterans and how appreciative we are of the sacrifice they make to make our freedoms possible. One of the ways that we love to honor those veterans is to tell their stories. Here on WallBuilders Live, once in a while we get an opportunity to interview veterans that have served on those frontlines, that have made incredible sacrifices, have amazing stories that we want to share with the American people.

One of the very special things we get to do is interview World War Two veterans. You’ve heard those interviews here on WallBuilders Live from folks that were in the band of brothers to folks like Edgar Harrell that survived being Indianapolis to so many other great stories you’ve heard on WallBuilders Live. You have friends and family that also serve. If you have World War Two veterans in your family that you would like to have their story shared here on WallBuilders Live, please email us at [email protected]. [email protected]. Give us a brief summary of the story and we’ll set up an interview. Thanks so much for sharing here on WallBuilders Live.

Rick:

We’re back on WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us. Got one of our veteran interviews today and for the first time ever in studio and a very unique interview as well. 21 years combat veteran that has really captured those 21 years so that not only he experienced that but the rest of the world guest experiences as well. Jeremy Lock with us. And Jeremy, I mean, I know you guys don’t like to talk about all the things you’ve done, but you have said and done a ton and I mentioned earlier, I mean, a Bronze Star Medal. You’ve been right there on the frontlines, but also awarded for the photography itself. And I don’t know how this works, but apparently, I mean, there’s very few guys that have come anywhere close to getting the type of award you got and no one is gotten them: what, seven years running, best photographer in the military.

Jeremy:

Yeah, yeah, seven times I won military photography. I think the next guy closest is won three.

Rick:

That’s like comparing the Yankees to any other baseball team in terms of…

David:

The Rangers, right now. Yeah,

Rick:

Yeah. Ouch. Ouch. Oh, that hurts.

Jeremy:

We have a motto kind of in the Air Force and the guys that kind of gave back to me. So, in combat photography, it’s always, give as freely as it was given to you. So, you know, while those accolades are great, hey, you’re only great as your last photograph. But it’s my duty now to try to produce that eight time military photography.

Rick:

So, I mean, you have to have taken tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of pictures over 21 years?

Jeremy:

I’ve done that just here at WallBuilders.

David:

Yeah, that’s right. Just the collection. That’s right. So, what stands out to you? You look back over all the pictures you’ve taken, which ones stand out to you and why?

Jeremy:

You know, I’ve been asked before, you know, what’s your favorite photograph? And I go well, I don’t have one. I haven’t taken it yet. But there is on my website, I did this, is called 21. So, it’s 21 of my favorite photographs from 21 years of service. And in there, you’ll see a collection of my favorites and there’s my favorites from different reasons. Now, when I do a traveling exhibition with it, there’s 21 photos. But if on my website, you’ll really see 22, kind of snuck one in there. And the one that has the most meaning to me, it’s my grandmother’s last breath. And it’s my mom, dad I get emotional talking, but is my mom, dad reaching their hands and to touch her, tell her go to the light, go to the light. I mean, you’ve lived a great life. And you she breathes for the last time. I mean, I’m sobbing, I’m crying the whole time I’m taking this. And there’s just such an angelic feeling to this and then to be able to share that moment with my parents. I mean, it’s emotional. It’s very emotion.

Tim:

Well, as you mentioned, sometimes that one and I don’t even know the percentage, a second you said, the very small moment of that photograph…

Jeremy:

Right, 1/8,000th of a second.

Tim:

1/8,000th of a second.

Jeremy:

Yeah.

Tim:

But the fact that it can capture the emotion that for you experience it, probably relive some of those moments, it’s probably a different kind of scenario. So, not only I would think it’s not just what is your favorite picture, but maybe what is the favorite memory you have or experience when you look at that, go, man, that time was crazy, this was amazing. That guy was awesome. Are there certain pictures that bring back really cool stories for you?

Jeremy:

Yeah, there’s I mean, every little photo has those stories. But most of my time in Iraq and Afghanistan, I just look back and, you know, I wish when I was first there, I was one of the first ones into Baghdad, we lived out of Saddam’s palace. We fed Udai’s lions watching them get burnt… But the worst stuff to me means so much more, because again, I get to put the face on our American soldier, there’s brave men and women that that for our freedom. And not only do I get to do it for historical archives, but for their moms and dads and the people, their loved ones back home, they get to see those photos and know that were in good hands. So, that’s my favorite is the wartime style.

Tim:

That’s awesome. Now, the living out of Saddam’s palace, were there still like gold toilets around that has been removed at that point?

Jeremy:

Oh, no, there was there was still bodies laying around during that time. So yeah.

Rick:

I got to ask you about one of these, because I’m looking at the 21 right now as we’re talking. And this one that literally looks like a tornado is about to take this guy off of the ground. Is that a tornado? What is that?

Jeremy:

So, again, that was another deployment, I was in Djibouti Africa. And that was the French Foreign Legion or the French Foreign Legion put on desert survival for our troops. So, it was like one week out in the desert and what you’re seeing is a dust devil that kicked up and went through the French guys camp. And if you really look into that picture, you’ll see one or two guys in there chasing down little pieces of paper that’s been thrown up. But…

Rick:

Wow, that’s so cool.

David:

So, then not only did you do wartime stuff, but wherever the troops went, you’re with them. So, training, everything else that went with it, you’re part of capturing all of that?

Jeremy:

Yeah, I think that’s the biggest thing I miss now. You know, Mercury One has given me that kind of adrenaline back on some of the projects that I work with them. But…

David:

Yeah, Mercury One and by the way, we’ve talked about it before. That’s the charity that Tim and I help run, it’s Glenn Beck’s charity, but that does all the rescue work in the Middle East for the sex slaves and for persecuted Christians, Yazidi’s and others. There’s so much to do. Also, that’s where we do leadership training programs. That’s where we have a whole lot of artifacts, historical artifacts, war stuff, etc. So, that’s Mercury One for those that may not recall that.

Jeremy:

Honestly, that organization has given me my purpose back after retiring. I’m very blessed for that. But one of the greatest things I missed getting out of the military was anywhere in the world that the military was involved, we were there. Whether it be, you know, I’m at my son’s soccer game and I’m on short notice and I got to be on a plane in three hours to Japan for the document search and rescue for the Japan tsunami or you know, on the ground for the next day for the heavier earthquake.

David:

Oh, wow. That must have been… I mean, if you go in right after the tsunami, what was that like? I mean, there’s just…

Jeremy:

That was absolutely the worst devastation I’ve ever seen in my life. We always travel in Paris with a photographer and then videographer. So, I had a young videographer and he was kind of nervous, didn’t know what to expect. And I said, listen, you know, you might come into here and see bodies hanging from trees and you know, what the scene is going to be like. And it was so mysterious. We were in there searching for people who might have been trapped in their homes or whatever. You didn’t see anything. No animal life. No dead dogs in the street. Or not even fish. It was just the weirdest thing. The worst devastation in the entire world.

David:

So, it swept it all at the sea, all the bodies and everything?

Jeremy:

Yeah, I ask one of the rescuer, I go, I mean, why don’t we see any of this? He’s like, everything was just pulled out to sea. Everybody was like… So, incredible.

Rick:

We got to take a quick break, we’ll be right back. Jeremy Lock, our special guest in studio. Stay with us. And when we come back, Jeremy, I want to ask you about these pictures you’re taking in the WallBuilders library. Stay with us, folks, you’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

BREAK

Hi, friends, this is Tim Barton of WallBuilders. This is a time when most Americans don’t know much about American history or even heroes of the faith. And I know oftentimes we, parents, we’re trying to find good content for our kids to read.

And if you remember back to the Bible, to the book of Hebrews, it has the faith Hall of Fame where they outline the leaders of faith that had gone before them. Well, this is something that as Americans, we really want to go back and outline some of these heroes, not just of American history, but heroes of Christianity in our faith as well.

I want to let you know about some biographical sketches we have available on our website. One is called The Courageous Leaders collection. And this collection includes people like Abigail Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Francis Scott Key, George Washington Carver, Susanna Wesley, even the Wright brothers. And there’s a second collection called Heroes of History. In this collection, you’ll read about people like Benjamin Franklin or Christopher Columbus, Daniel Boone, George Washington, Harriet Tubman; friends, the list goes on and on. This is a great collection for your young person to have and read and it’s a providential view of American and Christian history. This is available at www.wallbuilders.com. That’s www.wallbuilders.com.

Rick:

We’re back here on WallBuilders Live. Jeremy Lock is in studio with us. And Jeremy, we’ve been talking about some of your military experiences. And I’m just curious about the project in the library right now and how much harder it is to capture David as fast as he talks than to keep up with a combat unit if there’s any comparison there at all?

David:

Fortunately, the pictures are not of me.

Rick:

Oh, good. Okay, good. So, we can show them to people. Alright, good.

David:

That’s right.

Rick:

No, seriously, what are you captured in the library, there’s so much to get there?

Jeremy:

And let me just tell you, the other photography is so much more exciting. However, again, partnering with Mercury One and WallBuilders, they have this huge archive of artifacts. And so, I’m in their document in their artifacts. So, it could be a civil war, Cannonball II, a document from 1830s: is just so many amazing things. And it’s exciting. It’s exciting when you can kind of put your fingers on this and go, oh my God, this is a Star Wars thing or that was in the movie. It’s just amazing all the artifacts that are there and I can actually physically see them touch them. And oh my God, the history lessons that I’m getting is incredible.

David:

And by the way with Jeremy’s allusion to that between Mercury One and WallBuilders, we do have our 2D two, we do have Darth Vader, the original one from 77 movie. We’ve also got the chariot from Ben Hur and shipped from Ben Hur and all sorts of cool stuff.

Tim:

Yeah, there’s an effort going on right now to do a much larger museum over in Dallas. And so, there’s a pretty extensive collection that’s being assembled right now, which entails new stuff from more modern movies, certainly, but then stuff going all the way back to the time of the pilgrims with stuff that literally came over on the Mayflower. So, it’s going to be a pretty remarkable collection as it’s all coming together.

And we wanted to be able to document it. And so, we were looking for photographer, we found Jeremy having no idea who he was the accolades, right, this life, all the things you’ve done and son Jeremy, it’s been such a pleasure and honor getting to work with you. As you jokingly alluded to, right, this is not the adventure you used to have. It’s very different.

But I’m curious from the, let’s say, adventurer standpoint from what you had to do when you were on call and you would get a phone call, you’re on this plane. One of the things we talk about a lot on this program is veterans and how grateful we are for them, active duty servicemembers for them, also, recognizing the sacrifice the family goes through, as right, whoever that the spouse, the mom, dad, whoever it is overseas, having to do things separated from the family, the cost, the price that pays. For you, having to go into some of those moments and those experiences, was there a recovery time having to come out of those situations, back home kind of normalizing with family. As a photographer, you’re seeing possibly more than many of the service members that are maybe active duty that are doing some of those things. It’s different for you, does that impact you maybe the same way? Do you feel like it’s different for you? And what is that like for you?

Jeremy:

That’s a great question too. That’s not really asked a whole lot. Yeah. I mean, I always I would say like, nothing, I don’t have PTSD or anything like that. But it more changes you war, disasters, humanitarian, even the happy stuff, it all changes you in some way. I like to think in my mind that what I’m documenting is far greater, you know, it’ll be far greater purpose. And you also have that barrier, so it’s almost like a movie or something. You have that barrier, that camera. So, integrating back in, you know, I think the hardest part for a family is that the spouse on the other side that hasn’t gone, they’re the ones who have now these new rules, this new established routine. And then I come back and like, alright, dad’s back; this this is how it was, this is how it’s going to be. But it’s not always that. And I’m glad you also brought up, because behind every great person, man, woman, there is a better spouse a loved one who’s there to help them take and I truly believe that.

Rick:

Yeah, we had a veteran on last week that he’s Medal of Honor recipient and actually honored at the Major League Baseball, all-star game a couple of years ago. And we were just mentioning his name as you sat down in studio and it turns out you’ve photographed him as well. And apparently, almost half of the living Medal of Honor recipients.

Jeremy:

Yeah, it’s a project I’ve been working on through Airpower Foundation. Throughout these names, but it’s veteran organizations, like I really tried to give back to my time to. Through Airpower Foundation, the sky ball event that here in Dallas we have and they bring in all these Medal of Honors. So, I want to say it’s 2015, I’ve been documenting or actually taking portraits of our living Medal of Honor recipients. And it’s great, because they come in and they’re all in their tuxedos with their medals and it’s an amazing tribute. And it’s an honor to be able to capture these people. So, I think I’m one of the people that might have one of the most collections of portraits, I don’t know, but I just enjoy doing, it’s like a personal hobby of mine.

Tim:

Do you learn their story as you’re going to photograph them? Did you get to interact and ask them questions about their journey? Or is it more just kind of like going to photographer stand there and smile kind of thing?

Jeremy:

Whenever I work, there’s creating a relationship. I don’t know a whole lot about them. I treat everybody like they’re the first time I meet you. We all put on pants, you know, it’s yours might be a little more expensive than mine. But at the end of the day, I just want to connect with you, I’ll read about your accolades and do things, I know that you’re wearing that medal. So, you’re kind of a big deal. But I want to connect with you as a human being, not just a person that’s on paper. So, I don’t really worry about what they’ve done until after when I do a little research. It’s about making sure that I capture what that person is, their heart and who they are.

David:

And you really do that. We were looking at some of the portraits you’ve done, and oh my gosh, I mean, I’ve seen presidential portraits that are a whole lot less significant than what I saw of the MOH guys you had. It’s great stuff.

Jeremy:

Thanks. I’m hoping because Medal of Honor museum is coming here to Dallas… So we’re kind of been talking with them loosely, but I’d love to see these portraits huge and the Museum.

David:

Yeah. That would be really good.

Rick:

That would be amazing. Okay, I got to ask you, Jeremy, what’s something that you haven’t been able to photograph yet that you would like to photograph?

Jeremy:

Iceland. want to go to Iceland and find a story.

Rick:

Iceland? I did not expect that.

Jeremy:

Well, it’s just one of those places that it’s on a bucket list and I do a one project a year, kind of to feed my soul and I go to a place and I know nothing about it and I find a story. It might be scoliosis in Ghana.

Rick:

Nice. Okay. And so, just take us back to something you had said earlier. Because I was thinking about what you said in that one, I’m like, Tim, what is it? 8000th?

Jeremy:

1/8,000th.

Rick:

Yeah. So, even with today’s technology and everybody watching videos so much and all of that, how is it that that one moment still seems so much more powerful? Why do you think that is?

David”

Yeah, what why is it still shot more powerful than the moving video? Because I mean, there’s those iconic pictures of Vietnam and others just single shots, not just…

Jeremy:

It’s a lasting impression of a moment and it doesn’t take a build up to get there and it doesn’t take a drop off with video. Yes, there’s powerful video, but I mean to capture that, just seeing one single image and not a slew of it. I think a slew takes the power away, one just has that punch.

Rick:

Yeah, you lose the moment and get distracted with whatever else is moving in the shot with video. That is so cool. Man, this has been cool. I’m so glad you were in studio today and we had the chance to visit with you and looking forward to seeing the shots you’re taking in the WallBuilders library as well. We really appreciate your service, man; appreciate your time on air with us today.

Jeremy:

It’s been a pleasure, and I can’t thank you guys enough for having me.

David:

Thanks, Jeremy.

Rick:

The website again Jeremytlock.com. We hope you’ve enjoyed this veteran interview today. We’ve got more of those on our website at wallbuilderslive.com, every branch, every war since World War Two and just some great stories. It’ll be a great reminder for you and a great way to teach those in your family of the sacrifice that came before us and why it’s important for us to do as Lincoln said, to have an increased devotion to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. That cause is the American way of life. It’s American exceptionalism. It’s the principles found in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. They are under attack big time today, not just from without, but from within. And it’s our job as citizens to study them, to know that freedom, to preserve it and make sure we’re passing it intact to the next generation.

That’s what we do here at WallBuilders and you can be a part of it at wallbuilderslive.com by making that contribution and coming alongside us and helping us to spread the truth throughout our culture. Thanks for listening today. You’ve been listening to WallBuilders Live.