Career
Hunter was the first Army journalist to die in combat since the beginning of the War in Afghanistan. Staff Sergeant Hunter spent seven years in the United States. Army, beginning in August 2003. A veteran of two tours in Iraq, Hunter was on duty in Afghanistan at the time of his death and was killed 25 days into his current tour of deployment.
Hunter wrote for The Courier, which is a military base publication for Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
He was a photographer and print reporter covering the War in Afghanistan at the time of his death. His fellow journalists, who had worked with him, reported about his dedication in reporting from the front lines during his deployments.
Hunter was killed on 18 June 2010 while reporting on his unit"s foot patrol movements in the Zhari District of Kandahar, where his unit was stuck by an Improvised Explosive Device. Another soldier was killed in the same incident.
In 2011, Kandahar was one of the last Taliban strongholds.
In June 2011, North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces were launching their major offensive in Kandahar, as part of the new war strategy that was launched earlier that year in Marjah. The new strategy focused on clearing Taliban strongholds while protecting local population. They brought in large numbers of United States. and Afghan troops into the city to participate in the "clearing phase" of the plan.
Kandahar was also going through internal problems when Afghan insurgents assassinated the Mayor.
A suicide bomber, who hid the bomb under his turban, attacked Ghulam Haider Hamidi at his office. Hunter was the first Army journalist to be killed in Afghanistan since the conflict began in October 2001, and he was one of over 1,800 soldiers to be killed in Afghanistan.
The 23 other journalists who were killed in Afghanistan since 2001 were civilians who covered various topics ranging from human rights violations to politics. Staff Sergeant James Patrick Hunter was born in Lexington, Kentucky, to Patricia M. Phillips and William T. Hunter.
He moved to South Amherst, Ohio, sometime in his younger years.
He had been engaged to Candice Clark, whom he proposed to at the top of the Gateway Architecture in Saint Louis. Memorial services were held for Staff Sergeant James Hunter at Firelands High School in South Amherst, where he graduated in 2003. He was laid to rest at Lexington Cemetery in Lexington with services being held in Winchester, Kentucky.