Nineteen-year-old Spc. Zachary Boyd of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry, was sleeping when the Taliban attacked his unit in Afghanistan’s Kunar province. Boyd leapt from his bunk. He grabbed his weapon, pulled on his helmet and vest, and manned his station behind sandbags at Firebase Restropo. He did not stop to pull on trousers. Associated Press photographer David Guttenfelder was embedded with the unit and took a photo from behind: three staunch young soldiers, rifles ready.
You’ll recognize Spc. Boyd immediately: He’s the one on the left, wearing pink boxer shorts. Boxer shorts that say, “I love New York.”
His mother was apparently worried that he might lose his job for the publicized incident, but Defense Secretary Gates said: “I can assure you that Spc. Boyd’s job is very safe indeed. … The next time I visit Afghanistan I want to meet Spc. Boyd and shake his hand. Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage.”
The story closes with this:
At the age of 19, Zachary Boyd has already been in at least 200 firefights in Afghanistan.
