Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP

Talk about right place, right time. AP photographer David Guttenfelder’s shot of Spc. Zachary Boyd trading fire with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan would have been fairly ordinary – if it weren’t for the fact that the soldier was wearing pink “I Love NY” boxer shorts.

The shot, which is on its way to becoming one of those iconic war photos, landed on the front pages of the New York Times and Boyd’s hometown paper, the Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, Texas, reports the AP.

Boyd called his parents to warn them about the photo, and the AP says he was seriously worried for his job. Thankfully, his parents got a huge kick out of it, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he wanted to meet the soldier next time he’s in Afghanistan, commending his “special kind of courage.”

As for the photo, Guttenfelder said:

“It doesn’t really belong to me anymore,” he said. “You put it out there and it takes on a life of its own.”

Article from AP