Authors to Discuss "Kimberly's Flight" at Museum Oct. 13

The public is invited to an informative and entertaining discussion and book signing with Anna Simon and Ann Hampton, authors of Kimberly’s Flight at the Pickens County Museum of Art & History. The story of Easley native, Captain Kimberly Hampton, America’s First Woman Combat Pilot killed in battle, the event will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday October 13 in the LaVonne Nalley Piper Auditorium of the Museum. Bring your own copy of the book to be signed or purchase one the day of the event for $29.95.

U.S. Army Captain Kimberly N. Hampton was living her dream flying armed helicopters in combat and commanding D Troop, 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry, the armed reconnaissance aviation squadron of the 82nd Airborne Division. She was an all-American girl from Pickens County, SC. Kimberly was a top scholar, student body president, ROTC battalion commander, and highly ranked college tennis player. In 1998 she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. Then driven by determination and ambition, Kimberly rapidly rose through the ranks in the almost all-male bastion of military aviation to command a combat aviation troop.

On January 2, 2004, Captain Hampton was flying an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter above Fallujah, Iraq, in support of a raid on an illicit weapons marketplace, searching for an elusive sniper on the rooftops of the city. A little past noon her helicopter was wracked by an explosion as a surface to air missile entered the exhaust and knocked off the helicopter’s tail boom. The helicopter crashed, killing Kimberly.

“Kimberly’s Flight is the story of Captain Hampton’s exemplary life. This story is told through nearly fifty interviews and her own emails to family and friends, and entwined with Ann Hampton’s narrative of loving and losing a child.

To further complement this special book signing, an exhibit of photographs of Iraq by Cindy Hosea will be on display during the month of October in the LaVonne Nalley Piper Auditorium of the Pickens County Museum.

In 2010, Mrs. Hosea stretched her photographic and writing boundaries when she accompanied Gold Star Mothers to Iraq. Her photographs of these visiting Americans and the Iraqis they met – as well as the physical environments around them – captured the essence and significance of this emotional journey for a special group of people. For a poignant account of this extraordinary trip, read Cindy’s blog athttp://myjourneytoiraq.blogspot.com.

Award-winning photojournalist Cindy Hosea captures images of the people, animals, and places of Upstate South Carolina and the southeast. As a Greenville (SC) Newsstaff photographer covering a variety of news and feature events, she is the primary photographer for the newspaper’s Specialty Publications Department, including Upstate Parent. She has provided freelance photography for a number of businesses, and her photography has appeared in regional and national publications such as Sandlapper,American Legion, USA Today, and Attache’ Magazine.

This book signing and special exhibit of photographs are part of the museum’s continuing effort to provide a variety of entertaining and educational programming for the community. The Pickens County Museum of Art & History is funded in part by Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Located at the corner of Hwy. 178 at 307 Johnson Street in Pickens SC, the museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Admission is free but donations are welcomed. For more information or to register for this class call the museum at (864) 898-5963.