Photo on Right: Digital print / helmet was taken a few days before he was killed and is believed to be the last known photo taken of him, just outside Yusufiyah south of Bagdhad Iraq. In that photo Mike is actually holding and IV Fluid bag as he stands over a soldier on the ground being worked on by a medic. The IED that hurt this soldier was one that Mike and his team had just passed by as they met the wounded soldier's team/vehicle. The soldier is banged up and going to live, and Mike is smiling because one of his best high school friends, Alden Williams, who along with their other good friend Chuck Crowder joined National Guard and went to Georgia Military together, had driven up. Alden was part of a Medical Relief team that answered calls when a soldier was wounded and he was surprised to find his good friend Mike standing there, so he told him to "smile" and took his picture. The family did not know of this photo until after Mike's death. The family was surprised because he had a mustache and never had one before. He was keeping it a secret to surprise them when he was due home on leave just a few weeks after his death. He had grown the mustache, along with his hair as part of a "dare" with two battle buddies who wanted to see who could get the most grown out before they got noticed and yelled at by command. As was later noted when Mike was asked wasn't he afraid what command might do, he responded "well there aren't any barber shops where we are at and what are they going to do, send me to Iraq?"
Photo on Left: Taken at Line Creek Nature Trail on GA 54 just as you enter Peachtree City. It was a family outing with a photographer to take a Family picture before Mike left for deployment training at FT. Stewart. It was random and unplanned as the family and photographer walked the trail for various shot locations, Mike's dad asked the photographer to do one of Mike alone. The photographer, Sherry Litzenberger, told Mike to "walk over there by that rock" and he did and as he turned, she snapped the shot, and the family moved on. When Mike was killed, this was the photo used by the family for his memorial service and media requests.