Valley soldier subject of 'inspiring' photograph

BUTTE - A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but for a local family, the message of one particular photograph comes through with a single word - "inspiring."

That's how 9-year-old Skyler Covel describes the feeling he has when looking at the photograph of his mother, an Army combat medic, high-fiving a young Afghan boy. The image captured by Reuters photographer Umit Bektas shows Covel's mother, 30-year-old Sgt. Jessica Keown, sharing a high-five with a young Afghan boy while on patrol in the town of Pul-e Alam in eastern Afghanistan.

As the photograph made its way around the world when it was featured on Yahoo!, it's also included on the online site BuzzFeed, which named it No. 45 on its list of "The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011."

A Valley girl who grew up in the Butte and graduated from Colony High School in 1999, Keown, 30, is serving her second tour of duty as an Army combat medic. She's in Afghanistan now following her first deployment in Iraq. Her husband, James Keown, is also a combat medic serving in the same place and is on his third Middle East tour.

For her children and Valley family, however, the photograph has been more than a snapshot into what U.S. soldiers are doing in the war on terror, it's a lifeline to a loved one, said Jessica's mother, Kathy Covel.

"I knew it was her right away when I saw that picture," Covel said. "You can't see her face real well, but I know it's her. She was out in the field and called up on a mission all throughout the 24 hours (of the exercise)."

Covel and his 8-year-old sister Hailey, both students at Butte Elementary School, said it can be tough sometimes having both their mother and step-father deployed overseas at the same time. But when they saw the photo of their mom interacting with an Afghan child, the importance of what their parents are doing there hits home, they said.

"I just think it's inspiring," Skyler said. "She's doing it for a good cause, but we still miss her a lot. I'm really proud. If they weren't there, then Iraq and Afghanistan would all be ruined, then pretty soon it will spread all around the country, then America then the world, kind of."

Hailey said she gets to email and call her mother often, but it's not the same as being together. Seeing that photo "is amazing," she said. "I think it's pretty cool, because she gets to go in the Army and fights all the bad guys and all that. Sometimes I think about her a lot. I just want to give her something so bad, but I don't know what to give her."

She also said her mother tells her about the conditions kids in Afghanistan face, which makes her more grateful.

"My mom told us he doesn't have a family and that in Afghanistan, it's really messy there," she said. "I worry, I guess. Like, if she gets hurt, I'm worried about that, or if our step-dad gets hurt, too."

As a military wife herself, Covel said she can relate to the feelings of her grandchildren, who are living with her and her husband, Dennis, while Jessica and James are deployed. Dennis spent 33 years in the military, including stints as a door gunner in Vietnam and then as a command sergeant major in the Alaska Army National Guard.

When her daughter said she wanted to join the Army, Covel said she was shocked at first, then proud.

"I thought it was probably going to be a really good move for her," she said, adding that being a military wife did little to reduce the worry she feels for her daughter. "I think mommas always worry. I'm very proud of her in what she's doing and how she's progressed.

"The first time she was deployed and she was finally going to be out on a mission instead of with a MASH unit, she didn't call back. ‘Oh, I'll call you back in a couple of days,' but she didn't call back. I emailed her, then emailed again, and emailed again. Then after awhile I went ahead and we did a Red Cross (check) on her to make sure she was OK."

Covel's been assured that won't happen again, and said she's pleased the photograph of her is considered one of the year's best.

"I'm really proud of her," she said. "That's what she does as a medic. She says that when she's busy, that's good for her (because the time goes faster), but no t good for other people."

The photo of Jessica is included with a host of other memorable images, including grieving families on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, the aftermath of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, and Occupy movement protests. What strikes Covel about her daughter's picture is that it shows a nice moment rather than tragedy.

"The other ones are all about tragedies, then there was that one (of Jessica), and that just warmed my heart," she said. "I know from my husband being over there kind of what's really going on that nobody ever reports about - the good stuff."

Skyler said he likes looking at the photograph and remembers the fun he has with his mother.

"You can tell it's her from the ponytail," he said. "She has a ponytail all the time for special occasions."

His sister has a simple answer for what she sees in the image.

"It shows that she's doing it right," Hailey said.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.