Afghanistan

This sign was posted at the entrance to the Springhar Hotel in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. It was the hotel where journalists stayed while covering the war in the area. I checked into the hotel in November 2001. I was told the sign had been up since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

I really wanted the sign, but the hotel insisted they needed it. To solve the problem, I convinced the hotel manager that the sign was old and really needed to be replaced. I offered to buy them a brand-new sign to replace the old one. They agreed to the deal. I got the old sign and they got a new one.

They also made a sign dedicated to the four journalists that were killed after spending the night. I had arrived with the other journalists the previous night, but in the morning the other journalists left, trying to make it to Kabul. They were attacked on the road to Kabul and all were killed.