The good journalist

Image courtesy: U.S. Army

Staff Sgt. James Hunter surprised his family when he joined the military straight out of high school in 2003. The invasion of Iraq was getting underway and America had only been fighting in Afghanistan for about two years, making it a particularly dangerous time to enlist in the Army. Seven years later, his dad is immensely proud.

"I spent a long time in the Army, and I never accomplished what he’s been able to. That’s good — you want your kids to be better," Tom [Hunter] said.

The Winchester Sun reports that after attending basic training at South Carolina's Fort Jackson, the well-liked Ohio teen who loved college basketball headed to Maryland's Fort Meade for photography training. With a sister in the Navy and a brother in the Marines, Staff Sgt. Hunter believed his journalistic talents could help bring the real story home to a country that has grown increasingly distrustful of the mainstream media.

"It’s a pretty extensive school he attended," his father said. "He had an interest in it (photography) and he enjoyed it."

Rachel Parsons' article said the 9/11 terrorist attacks were also a central driving force behind Hunter's decision to serve. After completing two deployments to Iraq, he found himself in the country where al Qaeda planned the assaults on New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Afghanistan is also where Hunter's 25-year journey, which began in Ohio and often passed through Kentucky, would end in tragedy.

According to the Pentagon, Staff Sgt. Hunter was killed on June 18 in Kandahar by an improvised explosive device planted by terrorists. Military officials said he is the first U.S. Army journalist to be killed in combat since September 11, 2001. He is also one of the 15 members of the Fort Campbell-based 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) to be killed in Afghanistan in June. In addition to his father and siblings, he leaves behind his mother and fiancee, who works at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

An archive of the soldier's photos taken in Iraq can be found on DVIDS, a fantastic site that links the military to the media. By looking at Hunter's photographs, like the one below that he took of an unnamed soldier patrolling Baghdad's streets in August 2008, it is obvious that he was interested in the interactions between U.S. troops and civilians. You will not find spin or political statements in his pictures, which he risked his life to capture. Instead, you will see truthful portraits of sacrifice during extraordinary times. While Staff Sgt. James Hunter was a warrior carrying a weapon, his camera served as a permanent link between Iraqis, Afghans, and Americans.

"I want people to know he was out there trying to get the news," Tom [Hunter] said.

He couldn't have done a better job.

Image courtesy: Staff Sgt. James Hunter