Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: soldiers

The wreath laying was the central part of this ceremony, and this was the best shot I got of it.

I haven't taken too many military photos in the Czech Republic, for the obvious reason that I assume they don't like being photographed. In this case, though, it was a public occassion to remember those lost in World War II, at one of the war memorials in Vitezne Namesti. I took many photos of this, but only found two worth uploading since in most of the shots the soldiers themselves were blocking the view, and since I had my cameraphone I didn't have a zoom lens.

The memorial service we attended for Jaroslav Hasek included a gun salute, which was meant to be ironic as much as anything else, as while a soldier for many years, Hasek still wasn't too hot on the idea of war or military service by the end of his life. He would have carried, probably, a Mauser 1898 while with the Austrians, but these are Mosin-Nagant rifles, used by the Russian army 1891-1945 (and really longer, if you count the secondary units like the Soviet National Gaurd), and therefore by both sides during the Russian Civil War. Even the U.S. Army carried them in that war, and after the war they remained in U.S. Army National Gaurd units as the M1916 rifle, although I don't know for how long. Most of the U.S. ones had originally been built by American companies like Remington during World War I for the Czar, but then left undelivered because of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. Today, the only army which still carries Mosin-Nagants, at least that I know of, is the Finnish Army, who use a special, rare version of it called the M85.

The reenactors agreed to have their photo taken, but unfortunately I didn't get their names. I hope they don't mind the effects of my horrible light meter.

Here's a darker shot. I'm not sure if this is really all that great or not, but I figured I'd at least experiment with it.

I had never stopped to watch the changing of the guard at Prague castle before, so I figured I should take few shots. I chose this one for uploading.