Louisiana National Guardsmen provide basic training to Iraqi Police. Video

Louisiana National Guard troops have played important roles in the Iraq war on the ground and in the air and that includes 360 members of the Air Assault Helicopter Battalion based out of Hammond. Video

Robert Lansden, a New Orleans native who volunteered for duty in Iraq, has been awarded a Bronze Star. Video

By now, Julie Dermansky is a veteran, the war correspondent she always dreamed of being. A few months ago, Dermansky and videographer Phin Percy were brand new to the experiences of war, embedded with Louisiana National Guard troops in Iraq. Video

Some of the very same Louisiana National Guard troops that provided security in New Orleans are now performing that job in another port city: Basra, Iraq.

Julie Dermansky was born New York City in 1966 and grew up in Englewood NJ. She got a BFA from Sophie Newcomb (part of Tulane University). She has completed major public art projects for NYC's Percent for the Art's Program and shows in galleries and museums in America and Europe.

Phin Percy was born in 1960 and raised in New Orleans. His interest in photography led him to the US Navy where from 1987 to 1991 he served with distinction as a member of the elite Combat Camera Group Pacific.