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In Iraq he had an M16 on one side of him, a camera on the other and a pen and paper in the middle.
It was his job to tell the U.S. Army’s story.
In June 2004, OSU graduate Fred Minnick and a group of soldiers were returning to headquarters. Insurgents located inside a mosque fired at the group. The soldiers returned fire in self-defense.
A call came over the airwaves for this army journalist to document the incident.
“It’s against the Geneva Conventions to fire on a holy site,” Minnick said. “They wanted proof that we were being fired upon.”
As the group continued toward headquarters, it was ambushed again. This time a rocket-propelled grenade was launched, landing near Minnick.
He said it’s a cliché but his life flashed before his eyes and time stood still.
“One of what I thought would be my final thoughts was, ‘Would Oklahoma State ever win a championship?’ ” he said.
But it didn’t explode and Minnick continued working.
Minnick’s career in Iraq began in February 2004.
“I had the best job in the Army,” Minnick said. “A lot of these guys, they only see one side of the war. I got to see everything.”
Minnick said army life was “a camaraderie that you don’t get anywhere else,” and that he built some lasting friendships.
However, risk was still involved.
“We would be mortared almost daily,” Minnick said. “You got from mission to mission and any time you woke up there was risk.”
This danger made Minnick’s return to the U.S. in January 2005 difficult. He said he struggled coping in the workplace, suffered from nightmares and had anger issues.
“We have a generation of Vietnam vets who were not encouraged to get help when they came home. I said to myself ‘I’m not going to be one of those guys,’ ” said Minnick, who became a full-time freelance journalist after being honorably discharged in 2005.
Minnick said his therapist suggested he write about his experiences. His thoughts eventually became the book “Camera Boy: An Army Journalist’s War in Iraq.”
A 2001 agriculture communications graduate, Minnick said his time spent at OSU taught him a lot.
In fact, he became interested in army journalism when a colonel in the ROTC recognized him as a columnist for the O’Collegian.
Shawn Painter, a friend of Minnick’s since his days at OSU, said Minnick has changed a lot since college.
“He’s been completely transformed,” Painter said. “Things that were important to him then are completely different now. He has a better understanding of what it means to be an American, and he’s a lot deeper.”
Paul Blackburn, a friend of Minnick’s, said he’s read the book.
“I laughed out loud a lot. I cried a couple of times,” Blackburn said. “For me it really helped me to better understand Fred today. We’re friends, but it kind of cleared things up for me about his personality and who he is.”
No matter how much Minnick has changed, he said OSU has a place in his heart.
“Oklahoma State is so special to me,” Minnick said. “From the time I was born, wearing orange, my dad brought me here to watch Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas play. This has always been a special school to me. I love it.”
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