Graffiti by US Soldiers, gangs tags & graffiti writing

On top of that, that dude in the picture is a toy!

I personally grew up with graff but I think it's unprofessional of them. Americans would be pissed if another country was occupying ours and do that!

taggers are losers, thats why there are so many in the US military.

So what! There's probably a sick tag some local blasted on the other side of that tank. I whanna see that. Probably a better message than merry christmas from a foreigner.

lolz... merica's screwed

As long as it is done in good taste and inspirational in design.

aside from being a part of US lifestyle, this is an important component of radical media. these troops are taking over the public sphere to communicate in a way denied them by mainstream media.

Now if they had some Banksy-type artists amongst them they might be able to impress the enemy enough to change their minds. Well, perhaps not, but it wouldn't hurt to try Banksy's approach.

Now that is what i call bombing! Bump Shef!

this isnt really anything new, men and woman were tagging things back in ww2. I cant remember the persons name they used. But he was everywhere.

Ok this response is for those who have actually read the article that comes with the pretty pictures. The issue here is the fact that the US would even consider training gang members and thinking its no big deal because they are going to iraq to deffend our country. Yah one problem with that theory is that they aren't doing it to protect our country. They get the combat training, go over seas and have a fun time terrorizing the people of iraq, then come back to the US train their gang buddies and terrorize US citizens. It makes me start to question if the stories of offenses commited by soldiers in iraq are truer than what most of us want to believe. Now that doesn't mean I think all are soldiers are doing this I just think we should be careful about who we send there. I mean not only are we putting the civilians there at risk but also our honoralbe soldiers who are really there to defend our great nation.

sweet art man.

Active Duty in the Military for young men is appropriate in many respects. It develops Leadership skills, responsibility, and instills a National Pride. These are all the earmarks of quality developement for a Man.Being a Father also changes things. The Father plays an invaluable role model for these qualities as a key element in the Relationship. When this breaks down in the Family, Young Men can lose their direction. A fairly strict regimen of discipline helps smooth out the rough spots. Thereby pointing the moral compass into the appropriate direction. Gang Members display a strict discipline within their ranks. Why not join a gang of guys who work for the good of the Country. Many already display this Leadership quality, why not for a better purpose? I knew many guys that had problems with crime and mayhem. When they joined the Service and came back Home they were Men. And Proud. They believed in a higher calling for the defense of Freedom. So those at Home could live in peace and safety.

I see two gang tags... and the rest art. This is once again misinformation to make graffiti artists out to be dangerous criminals.

The sad part is some of you people on here are acting like you know something about gang graffiti and art graffiti....

Please leave that discussion up to people that've been there and/or are artists instead of trying to interject like you're some kind of urban artform critic... it only makes you look stupid.

As for the 5 point crown [edit: and the 6 point star, which must be Chicago shit], I think that's straight up retarded.

Gang graffiti in general is wack. It's like being a dog and pissing on your neighbors mailbox to say it's your territory....

Graffiti was never meant to deface a nice area. It's to add culture, beauty, and flavor to something that is otherwise ugly.

I'd say Iraq is a pretty ugly place at the moment with what's going on... I can only say that this is an attempt to make something good out of all that is wrong there.

The graffetti part is acceptable, though legally questionable. As far as learning the craft of warfare, that knowledge is widely available already. The Hell's angels was originally a club for veterans. Turning on the warrior part of our brains seems easier to accomplish than turning it off.

tightt

i think that this shows that all walksof life come into the military and you find out people's hidden talents. i like graffiti, the history, the culture , just every thing really. being a graff writer people don't see how big this subculture really is, and its hard for people to accept it.

They think of it more of an Art Form Hey if nobody else minds more power to them

could you imagine getting to put your name up on the other side of the world? if i was there i would tag something at least with a message of hope for the people there.

the gang tagging is pretty stupid though. once you sign you should drop you're high school notions about banging.

First off, the number of gang members in the military is growing, it's still a very small percent.
Second, the majority of graffitti thats done isn't "outside the wire" in combat. It's done on old vehicles in junkyards and most of it isn't gang related. And its really sad that so many people have such a poor perception of our military. They are our fellow americans, our brothers, mothers freinds, etc, not drones, murderers or pawns.

Graffitti is art to me.

As for the military and gangs?

If that individual has some sort of "learned gift to kill" then the gov't will use them...think about it...most of the govt jobs well that i sorta know of...hire these criminals to help catch other criminals. (Hackers, serial killers, & ect.)

So i don't really think that this is a surprise to me at all. Heck...why not get all of the muders out of jail and use them as .... soliders. They know how and what it feels to kill a human.

I remember seeing an interview with Joe Strummer, of The Clash, and how he was really pissed when he saw painted on a bomb "Rock the Casbah."

It is doubtful that this is the first time gang members have joined the military, not is it doubtful that this is the first time graffiti has been done by an American soldier, on a wall in the country they were fighting in.

What is disconcerting is....lowering the standards in order to get enough recruits.

When any public service sector, be it your city, county, state or federal governemnt, as in this case, has to lower their standards in order to fill positions, the people suffer.

In this case, the thousands of soldiers who are doing their job for their country are the ones who have to worry about some ignorant gang-banger not doing his job and getting others killed.

I can see how Graffiti can be looked as art... but when you do it in another country that you do not belong to... i think it's disrespectful. Leave it to its citizens to do the graffiti. Also, if you make a graffiti with your gang sign... you deserve some punishment for it.

Gangs = ignorant individuals.

Has anybody read the article...it really has very little to do with tagging.

It's a sign of disrespect and to let other gangs whose turf they are trespassing on

That's Cool

all these are disgusting… poor soldiers.

go to jail for doing it here... but hey we're not in america... we don't have to respect anyone else's county either... bags.

I find it interesting that the gangs are having members join the military for paid training. Pretty smart move on their part because these members are now trained against any threat, are government fortified with guns and gear, have access to more weapons and are legal to have them. Who needs a driveby when you have a sniper on your side. Once these soldiers are accepted as recruits they are government property which puts them above the law in some cases. I still respect and thank anyone who has served. Hopefully when gangsters get back from service they may decide bangin isn't the way anymore.

shef throwin up that BK far from home.

it's like a gift, it's like they can't stop!