Specialist Hilda Clayton, a US military visual information specialist, was killed along with four soldiers of the Afghan National Army when a mortar tube accidentally exploded during a live-fire training exercise.
The photo, snapped on July 2, 2013, depicts the very moment of the mortar's explosion, and was published by Military Review along with a picture taken at the same time by Clayton’s Afghan counterpart who was among the victims of this incident.
The photo snapped by Clayton's Afghan colleague at the moment of the explosion.
This is the last thing Army photog Hilda Clayton saw: a mortar tube exploding in Afghanistan in 2013 https://t.co/sDkvZzKwIP pic.twitter.com/RxUhx3fAOF
— Alex Horton (@AlexHortonTX) 1 мая 2017 г.
According to Military Review, Clayton’s death "symbolizes how female soldiers are increasingly exposed to hazardous situations in training and in combat on par with their male counterparts."