Taking on the Taliban in pink boxer shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops is not regarded as conventional military uniform.
Especially when the shorts declare ‘I love New York’.
However when Zachary Boyd, 19, was woken up by a Taliban assault on his platoon he only had time to grab his weapon, helmet and body armour before springing into action.
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”.
‘It was typical. He has always been an interesting little character.’
Boyd, who graduated from Keller Central High School in 2007, decided to join the army because of the September 11 attacks.
He was promoted to the rank of Army Specialist last week. |
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