James P. Hunter

Fort Campbell Courier, U.S. military publications

June 24, 2010, in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Hunter, 25, was a staff sergeant and journalist with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. He was killed by an improvised explosive device while covering his unit's foot patrols in Kandahar. He was the first Army journalist killed in action in Afghanistan since U.S. military operations began in October 2001, according to CPJ research.

Hunter would escort visiting journalists at times, but Kimberly Warren, editor of The Fort Campbell Courier, who worked with Hunter for about three years, said he frequently filed stories and photographs for her paper. The Courier serves troops stationed at Fort Campbell (on the border of the U.S. states of Kentucky and Tennessee) and the base's surrounding civilian communities. The Associated Press quoted Hunter's colleagues as saying that Hunter also wrote, edited, and designed a monthly magazine. Hunter was on his first deployment to Afghanistan when he was killed. He had served twice in Iraq, Warren said.

In a column in The Courier, Warren wrote: "As Hunter's editor, I knew what he enjoyed to do and what he was good at doing. I was able to read every word that Hunter wrote and look at every fantastic photo that he took over the past three years we worked together. I can tell you he truly loved to do stories during his deployments. He loved to be out on the front lines with the soldiers."

Medium: Print

Job: Photographer, Print Reporter

Beats Covered: War

Gender: Male

Local or Foreign: Foreign

Freelance: No

Type of Death: Crossfire/Combat-Related

Suspected Source of Fire: Political Group

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