A year ago today, on April 20, Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros died from a mortar blast in the city of Mirata, Libya. They died documenting the plight of civilians trapped in a city that had been mercilessly targeted by a professional army. Today we mourn their deaths and we worry about other journalists who are continuing to cover such tragedies in Syria, in Sudan, in Bahrain and in so many other countries. The work is absolutely essential to world peace and human dignity but, in the past year, the cost to the press corps has been absolutely horrific. Too many journalists have died, been wounded or been imprisoned as a result of their work. On this one-year anniversary we remember Tim and Chris with very heavy hearts. We hope that this coming year will bring less violence and less sorrow to the world, and that the families and loved ones of Tim and Chris will find some peace.

Sebastian Junger

On Sunday, July 16th, The New York Times ran Sebastian's provocative essay, Why Would Anyone Miss War? in their Review section.

Readers quickly took to the NY Times Facebook page and began commenting and posting their own opinions on the piece, and war itself. The discussion grew in intensity rather quickly; check out the conversation here (it is a public page, no Facebook login required). Feel free to engage and share your own thoughts on the article!

Also feel free to comment about it here as well, as a reply to this post.

The Hetherington family has named three charities where one can make donations in Tim's memory, and asked that I share them with all of you.  

Milton Margai School for the Blind in Sierra Leone

http://www.miltonmargaischool.org

Human Rights Watch

http://www.hrw.org

Committee to Protect Journalists

http://www.cpj.org

You can read a wonderful letter from Barbara Davidson at The Milton Margai school here.  

To All of Tim's Friends,

Below is the link to the condolences website that the Hetherington family has set up.  You can post comments and in a few days learn about how to donate to the charitable organization they are establishing in Tim's memory.

http://www.timhetherington.org/

For those of you who may not have heard, Tim Hetherington was tragically killed this morning, doing the work be believed in.   Please join us in honoring his memory.  

The following is as statement from Sebastian Junger on the death of his dear friend:

"There is no way to express my devastation and sorrow at the death of my dear friend, Tim Hetherington in Misrata, Libya.  Tim was one of the most courageous and principled journalists I have ever known. The good that he accomplished – both with his camera, and simply as a concerned person in some of the most devastated countries in the world – cannot be measured. I can’t believe he is truly gone." Sebastian Junger; April 20, 2011

Twelve, the publisher of Sebastian Junger’s WAR, has been thrilled by the tremendous positive reader response to the book. In preparation for the paperback release of the book on May 17th, we’re working to create a promotional video, made up of personal testimonials from military personnel and their families.  We want the video to feature what real readers are saying about the book and how they’re relating to it.  If you’re interested in participating, please click the link below for more information about being part of the video!

http://catalog.twelvebooks.com/video.html