AP: Russian Photojournalist in Iraq Died Doing What He Loved

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Editor & Publisher/AP

BAQOUBA, Iraq In the last hours of his life, Russian photojournalist Dmitry Chebotayev was doing what he lived for: taking pictures. And laughing.

Chebotayev is the first Russian journalist known to have died in Iraq . At least 101 journalists have been killed here since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

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Chebotayev climbed into a Stryker and the troops headed out around noon to another street to cut off the insurgents. As the vehicles inched down a trash-strewn road, a thunderous blast consumed one of them in a huge ball of gray debris that flipped the eight-wheeled, 37,000-pound troop carrier upside down and tore out its interior.

<snip>

As troops scrambled to recover casualties, gunmen fired from a large yellow-domed mosque across the street, sparking a firefight that saw rounds ping off the wreckage. The Strykers blasted small chunks of concrete off the mosque with 40mm grenades and heavy caliber guns. Later, three insurgents wearing armored vests -- probably stolen from police -- were found dead in the mosque.

That night, Chebotayev's remains were loaded onto a Black Hawk helicopter on a darkened runway and blessed by an Army chaplain. The aircraft pulled straight up and disappeared into a starry sky, the first step of the journey back to Russia.


Read more: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003582364

[JVS]

1. This dying doing what you love stuff is such a crock of shit.

You don't die doing what you love. You do what you love until you get consumed in an explosion, or shot badly, or kidnapped and tortured to the point of death, then you die.