{"id":73414,"date":"2017-05-04T11:21:11","date_gmt":"2017-05-04T15:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/?p=73414"},"modified":"2017-05-04T11:21:11","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T22:30:22","slug":"army-releases-images-photographers-last-moments-mortar-explosion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/army-releases-images-photographers-last-moments-mortar-explosion\/","title":{"rendered":"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_73416\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mortar-tube-accident-900-ts600.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"army-releases-images-photographers-last-moments-mortar-explosion\" title=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73416\" title=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-73416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mortar-tube-accident-900-ts600-400x267.jpg\" alt=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mortar-tube-accident-900-ts600-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mortar-tube-accident-900-ts600-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mortar-tube-accident-900-ts600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-73416\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mortar tube accidentally explodes during an Afghan National Army live-fire training exercise in Laghman province, Afghanistan, July 2, 2013. The blast killed Army Spc. Hilda Clayton and four Afghan soldiers. (Hilda Clayton\/U.S. Army)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Sometimes it\u2019s difficult to imagine the risks faced by our servicemen and women in the day-to-day operations that keep this country safe.<\/p>\n<p>Today the civilian world is receiving a small, tragic glimpse of those risks.<\/p>\n<p>The Army released images this week taken by 22-year-old combat photographer Spc. Hilda Clayton just moments before she died during a live-fire training accident in Afghanistan nearly four years ago, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.military.com\/daily-news\/2017\/05\/01\/army-releases-images-photographers-final-moments-blast.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"army-releases-images-photographers-last-moments-mortar-explosion\" title=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\">Military Times<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only did Clayton help document activities aimed at shaping and strengthening the partnership [in Afghanistan] but she also shared in the risk by participating in the effort,\u201d stated an article published in the Army&#8217;s Military Review journal.<\/p>\n<p>The images were released with the support of Clayton\u2019s family. They depict the blast from an accidental mortar tube explosion that occurred on July 2, 2013, in the eastern Afghan area of Qaraghahi. The explosion killed Clayton along with four Afghan soldiers who were being trained in mortar operations.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_73415\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mortar-tube-explodes-900-ts600.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"army-releases-images-photographers-last-moments-mortar-explosion\" title=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73415\" title=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\" class=\"size-full wp-image-73415\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mortar-tube-explodes-900-ts600.jpg\" alt=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mortar-tube-explodes-900-ts600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mortar-tube-explodes-900-ts600-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mortar-tube-explodes-900-ts600-400x267.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-73415\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Another photo of the tragedy. (<em>Photo: Hilda Clayton\/U.S. Army<\/em>)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Clayton had been tasked with documenting the event and training an Afghan Army photojournalist who also died in the accident.<\/p>\n<p>Clayton was a Georgia native who served in the Army as a visual information specialist attached to the 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division based at Forward Operating Base Gamberi.<\/p>\n<p>She was a small part of a largely unknown effort by the Pentagon to create a visual record of U.S. military operations, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/us-army-specialist-hilda-clayton-takes-image-her-own-death-military-exercise\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"army-releases-images-photographers-last-moments-mortar-explosion\" title=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\">CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_73417\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Clayton.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"army-releases-images-photographers-last-moments-mortar-explosion\" title=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73417\" title=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\" class=\"wp-image-73417 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Clayton-400x267.jpg\" alt=\"Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Clayton-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Clayton-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Clayton.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-73417\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Army Spc. Hilda Clayton was the first combat documentation and production specialist to be killed in Afghanistan. (<em>Photo U.S. Army<\/em>)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As part of the storied Fort Meade, Md.-based 55th Signal Company, Clayton worked to \u201cacquire and utilize still and motion imagery in support of combat, information, humanitarian, Special Forces, intelligence, reconnaissance, engineering, legal, public affairs,\u201d and other operations around the world.<\/p>\n<p>But Clayton enjoyed her job even beyond its role advancing the Army\u2019s goals. \u201cShe died doing what she loved,\u201d Spc. Shenee Brooks told CBS.<\/p>\n<p>Brooks served in the same unit as Clayton, and when asked how she felt about the photo\u2019s being made public, she said, \u201cI don&#8217;t think any photo that I&#8217;ve seen can compare to that photo. She has the last shot of how she died in that photo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The combat camera unit has named their annual competition the SPC Hilda I. Clayton Best Combat Camera (COMCAM) Competition in Clayton\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n<p>Her name is also etched into the Hall of Heroes at the Defense Information School in Fort Meade, where she graduated in 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes it\u2019s difficult to imagine the risks faced by our servicemen and women in the day-to-day operations that keep this country safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":73416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,25,593,243,240],"tags":[132,335,607],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-73414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gunsamerica-authors","8":"category-current-events","9":"category-jordan-michaels","10":"category-military","11":"category-this-week","12":"tag-buzz","13":"tag-military","14":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Army Releases Images of Photographer\u2019s Last Moments Before Mortar Explosion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sometimes it\u2019s difficult to imagine the risks faced by 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