A U.S. soldier with an interesting character

Army Spec. Zachary Boyd, a 2007 graduate of Keller Central High School, was in his sleeping quarters this week when the Taliban attacked in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Boyd rushed to a defensive position clad in his helmet, vest and boxers -- the pink ones decorated with the "I Love NY" slogan.

His mother was surprised to see that her son was in the Times, but she was not surprised that he was wearing unusual skivvies.

"It was typical," she said. "He has always been an interesting little character."(...)She said that her son had planned to attend Texas Tech University on an ROTC scholarship, but later chose to serve as an enlisted man first.

"He wanted to be an officer, but he didn’t want to be one that the men would not respect," she said. "He felt he needed to know the Army from the bottom up to be an effective leader."

Interesting character, indeed.