Texarkana serves: local service members around the world
The military's own photographers have recorded Texarkana-area service members at work around the world for two decades. See 110 of their photos.
They fix generators in Baghdad and fighter jets in the Arabian Gulf. They teach Iraqi air traffic staff, hunt for bombs in Iceland, lead Marines at Quantico and play guitar for an Easter service on the deck of an aircraft carrier.
The U.S. military’s own photographers have been recording Texarkana-area service members at work for years. A TXKtoday search of DVIDS, the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service where the armed forces publish their photos and stories, turned up more than 180 photos of about 100 people from Texarkana and nearby towns, taken from 2006 through 2025. Nearly every caption names the service member and a hometown.
This month, TXKtoday’s 11 for 11 series remembers people from this area who died in America’s wars. This gallery is for the ones who came home, and the ones still serving. Below is a selection of the strongest photos, with what each service’s caption said at the time, followed by every photo in the collection. Ranks and assignments are as of the date of the photo.
Leading Marines, soldiers and sailors
Honored
Builder 1st Class Joseph Hawthorne was named Navy Diver of the Year in May 2019, as TXKtoday reported at the time. In March 2026, now a chief petty officer, he was named the USO Sailor of the Year for leading an underwater recovery mission in Lithuania, TXKtoday reported. The Navy’s 2019 caption lists his hometown as Texarkana; the USO announcement described him as a New Boston native.
On the job, around the world
Coming home
Every photo
Here is the full collection, in order by last name: sailors from New Boston, Hooks, Redwater and Fouke aboard carriers and cruisers from the Arabian Sea to the Philippine Sea, Seabees training in California, soldiers from Nash, New Boston and Atlanta in Iraq and Afghanistan, Marines from De Kalb and Texarkana, and airmen building bases overseas. Tap any photo to enlarge it and read its full caption, then use the arrows to page through them all. A few routine ceremony photos, such as promotions, were left out.
All were published by the U.S. military, and photos taken by service members as part of their official duties are in the public domain. Ranks, assignments and hometowns are as the military reported them on the date of each photo.
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Do you know a Texarkana-area veteran or service member with a story? Contact TXKtoday.
Sources: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) photos and captions: DVIDS image 7970806; DVIDS image 7544958; DVIDS image 197678; DVIDS image 2608061; DVIDS image 5425839; DVIDS image 6590986; DVIDS image 5373629; DVIDS image 8678328; DVIDS image 8242014; DVIDS image 7854883; DVIDS image 128595; DVIDS image 138740; DVIDS image 2864852; DVIDS image 2041342; DVIDS image 7291583; DVIDS image 4243887; DVIDS image 9177677; DVIDS image 515445. TXKtoday, “Texarkana man recognized as Navy Diver of the Year,” May 28, 2019, and “New Boston native named USO Sailor of the Year,” March 25, 2026.