James Patrick Hunter (January 22, 1985 – June 18, 2010), of South Amherst, Ohio, was an

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

journalist stationed in

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

, Afghanistan. Hunter was the first Army journalist to die in combat since the beginning of the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

Career

Staff Sergeant Hunter spent seven years in the U.S. Army, beginning in August 2003. A veteran of two tours in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, Hunter was on duty in Afghanistan at the time of his death and was killed 25 days into his current tour of

deployment Deployment may refer to: * Military deployment, the movement of armed forces and their logistical support * Software deployment, all of the activities that make a software system available for use * System deployment The deployment of a mecha ...

. He had been a member of Headquarters Company, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...

(Air Assault) out of

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Div ...

since May 2007. During his service to the United States, Hunter was recognized for his work with awards such as the

Iraq Campaign Medal The Iraq Campaign Medal (ICM) was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by Executive Order 13363 of U.S. President George W. Bush on 29 November 2004, and became available for general distribution in June 2005. ...

and the

Army Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issu ...

, which are both from the Armed Forces. Hunter wrote for ''The Courier'', which is a military base publication for Fort Campbell,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. He was a photographer and print reporter covering the

at the time of his death. His fellow journalists, who had worked with him, reported about his dedication in reporting from the front lines during his deployments.

Death

Hunter was killed on June 18, 2010, while reporting on his unit's foot patrol movements in the

Zhari District Zhari (, ) is a district in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Alternative spellings include Zheley (due to transliteration from Pashto), Zharey, Zharay, Zheri, or Zheray. The district was created in 2004 from land that was formerly part of May ...

, where his unit was struck by an

Improvised Explosive Device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

. Another soldier was killed in the same incident.

Context

In 2011, Kandahar was one of the last

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

strongholds. In June 2011,

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

forces were launching their major offensive in Kandahar, as part of the new war strategy that was launched earlier that year in Marjah. The new strategy focused on clearing Taliban strongholds while protecting local population. They brought in large numbers of U.S. and Afghan troops into the city to participate in the "clearing phase" of the plan. Kandahar was also going through internal problems when Afghan insurgents assassinated the Mayor. A suicide bomber, who hid the bomb under his turban, attacked

Ghulam Haider Hamidi Ghulam Haider Hamidi (, also spelled Ghulam Haidar Hameedi and also known as Henry Hamidi; 1945 – 27 July 2011) was the Mayor of Kandahar in Afghanistan. his family fled to Pakistan, then to the United States. Hamidi graduated from Kabu ...

at his office.

Impact

Hunter was the first Army journalist to be killed in Afghanistan since the conflict began in October 2001, and he was one of over 1,800 soldiers to be killed in Afghanistan. The 23 other journalists who were killed in Afghanistan since 2001 were civilians who covered various topics ranging from human rights violations to politics.

Personal

Staff Sergeant James Patrick Hunter was born in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, to Patricia M. Phillips and William T. Hunter. He moved to South Amherst, Ohio, sometime in his younger years. He had been engaged to Candice Clark, whom he proposed to at the top of the

Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary Catenary arch, arch, it is the world's tallest arch and List of tallest buildings in Missouri, Missouri's ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. Memorial services were held for Staff Sergeant James Hunter at Firelands High School in South Amherst, where he graduated in 2003. He was laid to rest at

Lexington Cemetery Lexington Cemetery is a private, non-profit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 833 W. Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky. The Lexington Cemetery was established in 1848 as a place of beauty and a public cemetery, in part to deal w ...

in Lexington with services being held in

Winchester, Kentucky Winchester is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Clark County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 19,134 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winchester is located r ...

References

External links

* Kimberly Lewis. (June 24, 2010). "Memories help carry us through tough times."
Military Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, James P. 1985 births 2010 deaths American war correspondents Journalists killed while covering the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Writers from Lexington, Kentucky People from Lorain County, Ohio American military personnel killed in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Journalists from Ohio United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) United States Army soldiers