Chris Hondros was a friend of Liberia

By: Charles Mombo
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To Liberians and the rest of the world, Hondros is best known for his famous or “not-too-famous” photograph of a Liberian militia commander loyal to the government jumping in the air after firing a rocket-propelled grenade at rebel forces at a key strategic bridge on July 20, 2003 in Monrovia, Liberia.

To Liberians and the rest of the world, Chris Hondros is best known for his famous or “not-too-famous” photograph of a Liberian militia commander, Joseph Duo, loyal to the government jumping in the air after firing a rocket-propelled grenade at rebel forces at a key strategic bridge on July 20, 2003 in Monrovia, Liberia.

Hondros had covered wars in Liberia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. His work has been widely published around the world. In 2003, Hondros made a picture of a Liberian government soldier with an RPG launcher that became one of the most iconic documents of that civil war.

Hondros' photographs from Liberia, and many others, won top honors in photojournalism, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, and the Best of Photojournalism.

Chris Hondros is best known for his famous or “not-too-famous” photograph of a Liberian militia commander, Joseph Duo, loyal to the government jumping in the air after firing a rocket-propelled grenade at rebel forces at a key strategic bridge on July 20, 2003 in Monrovia, Liberia.

Below, Joseph Duo (L), 28, a former Liberian government soldier, talks with photographer Chris Hondros at his home October 5, 2005 in Monrovia, Liberia.

Duo, now de-commissioned by the United Nations and unemployed, lives in a squalid neighborhood on the outskirts of Monrovia with a wife and three children, but his fame lives on.

He's well known among Monrovians and is often stopped by people who recognize him from the photo. He is unapologetic about his military career, which began at the start of the Liberian civil war in 1990, when he was 14.

'You have to adapt yourself to the system, and that's the system I found myself in,' he says, 'I fought in the interest of the people.' (Photo Getty Images)

At a 2005 reunion, Chris Hondros meets with Joseph Duo who is now de-commissioned by the United Nations and unemployed, lives in a squalid neighborhood on the outskirts of Monrovia with a wife and three children, but his fame lives on.

Listen to Hondros recount a funny story that resulted from this world-famous Liberian militia commander, Joseph Duo.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/42686283#42686283