Congratulations Rick Loomis!

I received an exciting e-mail from Rick Loomis. He has won a Pulitzer!

For those of you who don't know him; he was the photojournalist embedded with 2/1 just a week before Aaron was killed. Loomis took the last photo of Aaron, just a day before he was killed. He got in touch with me from Iraq and sent the photo of Aaron and Zach Fincannon reading mail. He also filmed "Baptism in Fallujah" which I'm going to see if I can get it somehow and put down in the basement.

Later, Loomis visited us here in Lovington and took a great many photos. He also shared with me and several family members the video of Aaron being carried by 4 Marines. This meant a great deal to me and my family.

Loomis also attended Aaron's Silver Star Ceremony.

He's a great guy and I appreciate him so much!

Congratulations, Rick! Don't forget us now!

****Below is an excerpt from the article.

Balilty, Byer, Loomis Win Pulitzer Prizes

By Donald R. Winslow
© 2007 News Photographer magazine

Loomis told News Photographer magazine today, "It's a great feeling to be recognized for work on such a globally important topic. I hope that this serves to help draw attention to the ocean and increase our efforts to protect this vital resource."

He was NPPA's Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 2003, and the California Press Photographers Association's Photographer of the Year in 2003 and 2004. Loomis has been with the Times since 1994 when he graduated with a photojournalism degree from Western Kentucky University. During college he interned at The Fort Wayne (Indiana) News Sentinel, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Seattle Times, and Syracuse newspapers. During high school he was a lab technician and photographer for The Palm Beach Post in his Florida hometown.

Loomis started with the Times in their Orange County edition, and after 9/11 moved into the paper's national and international coverage. He's covered war during four tours in Iraq and three tours in Afghanistan, as well as conflict in Israel and Haiti. Four times he's been a photography coach at The Mountain Photographic Workshops in Kentucky.

Published in the newspaper and online in August 2006, "Altered Oceans" was written by Kenneth R. Weiss and Usha Lee McFarling with photography and video by Loomis. The project was edited by Gail Fisher before she left the Times for her new role at National Geographic. McFarling has worked for the newspaper's science desk since 2000 covering earth sciences and the space program, and Weiss has been at the Times since 1990, for the last five years writing about the California coast and oceans.

Check out the full article by clicking here!