I love this photo and Zachary Boyd too. He was asleep when a firefight erupted in Afghanistan with only time to grab his helmet, body armor and gun. The red t-shirt, flip-flops and I love New York pink boxers which, considering he joined the Army because of the 9/11 attacks seem oddly appropriate for this 19-year-old Army Specialist and endearingly American.
Most of the time his appearance on the Afghanistan's frontline would have gone unnoticed by the eyes of the world.
However, Boyd managed to pick the day when a photographer was on hand to capture him going into battle in the pink boxers, red t-shirt and flimsy footwear.
The image of the fight at Firebase Restrepo in the Korengal Valley of Kunar Province later ended up on the front page of The New York Times.
'I knew he was a boxer guy. I knew that for sure. I did not know they were pink, and I didn't know they said, 'I love New York,' father Tommy Boyd told his local Texas radio station WBAP.
'After I saw the picture I just laughed for about five minutes.'
Boyd phoned his mother Sheree Boyd to warn her that he might be in the paper.
'He said: "I hear the Times is what they put on the President's desk",' she said.
'Then he told us, "I may not have a job any more after the President has seen me out of uniform".