Tim Hetherington 1970 – April 20, 2011

Tim Hetherington

Quilts of Valor

Most of the world learned today of the death of Tim Hetherington, photographer, filmmaker and director of the acclaimed Oscar nominated documentary Restrepo. The tributes across the news media and the blogosphere are heartfelt and hopefully will add some measure of comfort to family and those whom loved him. I can not do justice to write about Tim. His legacy lives on on in Restrepo, and at his website where you can view a collection of his work.

Tributes to Tim
Kitchen Dispatch-Promise to a Friend Still Stands

Zenpundit's tribute to Tim

Vanity Fair reporting Tim's Death

Damien Parer

Tim's death coming shortly after his film was nominated for an Academy Award and more importantly, was received by the men and women of the service as a tribute to their dedication seems strangely ironic to this old historian. Back during the early days of the War in the Pacific, there was a young filmmaker who resembled Tim, both physically and in the craftsmanship of his work, and in the acclaim they both received for capturing the face of war on the front lines. This man was an Australian who pressed up the Kokoda Trail in 1942 to film the battles that would determine whether the Japanese would seize all of New Guinea and then be ready to cut Australia out of the war. this man, Damien Parer filmed the documentary Kokoda Front line which won Australia its first Oscar for best documentary in 1943. Parer, like Tim continued to cover  the war and on September 17, 1944, was killed while covering the U.S. Marines at Peleliu. The irony that these two men both portrayed the face of the common soldier in such common purpose. May they both be getting acquainted tonight in the Valhalla for war correspondences and photographers alongside Ernie Pyle and Robert Capa.