One outstanding journalist...

Director Tim Hetherington.

These pictures were taken after the Los Angeles screening of their documentary Restrepo (If you have not seen it, pls. do). 

This documentary is special to me and really our current Army family, because the unit they shot in Restrepo, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, is the same unit in which my husband currently belongs. Some of our neighbors were in this documentary, which gave us a better idea of why life at home was the way it was for them. Restrepo, who was the group's medic, was a friend to many soldiers in the unit...a friend to my own friends. Tim Hetherington and Tim Junger put out a documentary that does one thing, bring the truth of war (shot in this one grueling year) to those back home, to show what our soldiers really go through. It's as honest as it will get in the life of these warriors. And by warriors, I mean men who really earned the term, who sacrificed so much of themselves, who fight for the brothers they lost, and for the brothers beside them. Even both directors gained these soldiers' respect, earning their own place by being in one of the most dangerous posts at the time they shot the documentary.

Tim expressed that the goal really of the film was to show the humanity in the soldiers. They get bored, they do their best to have fun, they are brothers, they cried, they were vulnerable, but they were brave. Restrepo really shows that, and they did an exceptional job conveying it. Tim could not have been more gracious....as he took more time after the Q&A to talk amongst the audiences outside the theatre. I was able to tell him about the guys being back there again, and related about the guys who were my neighbors, whom we both knew, but of course in different settings. He was very down to earth and only wished for the safety of the guys being back. Just a first-class man, a tremendous person.

It was truly an honor meeting you Tim. Thanks for your time. And thanks for doing what you love, for bringing yourself and your camera literally in the middle of chaos, and risking your own life, just so you can share stories that matter, that should be seen, that should be on the front pages. May you Rest in Peace.