Seconds from death

from the New York Times:

by James Estrin

[New York Times photographer] Tyler Hicks edged his way across a four-inch-wide plank that bridged a rushing river in the Korangal Valley in Afghanistan.

Arriving at the other side, he turned and photographed Private First Class Richard A. Dewater, 21, as he crossed the river. He looked down at the preview screen of the camera and decided to photograph just one more soldier make the crossing.

“I thought it might make a better picture if the soldier was two feet farther along the plank,” Mr. Hicks said, when I interviewed him by telephone last week. And so he photographed Specialist Robert Soto on the little bridge. Then he tried to catch up to Private Dewater.

Just as Mr. Hicks ran up the hill, a bomb exploded under the private, killing him. A Taliban ambush had begun.

The rest of the story is here.