But on Aug. 2, the third of Vincent's trips as a freelance journalist to the war-torn country came to a tragic end when he was found murdered in Basra. He had been shot several times in the chest and dumped in the streets.

His father, Charles Vincent, said they first knew something was wrong Tuesday morning, when his daughter-in-law called to tell them that her husband may have been abducted.

By 8 p.m. they had learned of their son's death.

Since then, Charles and his wife Isabelle have been spending time with friends and family or gardening to deal with their loss, and Charles said it slowly gets better everyday.

"We have our moments, our spells," said his wife. "We ask 'Why? Why? Why?' but then in the next breath we say 'He spread the truth,' and it helps."

Steven Vincent, 49, was abducted along with his interpreter and friend Nooriya Tuaiz, who was found alive but wounded after being shot as well. She said that she and Vincent were stopped after leaving an ATM, handcuffed and taken away. He was found dead hours later, not far from the center of Basra. As they were abducted, Tuaiz dropped her identification, so witnesses would know who she was.

Vincent had been visiting Iraq since the fall of 2003. He freelanced for the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor and other publications. His first book, Into the Red Zone: A Journey Into the Soul of Iraq, was released in November of 2004. After it was published, Amazon.com listed the book as number 28,622 on its list of book sales. As of Aug. 9, it was number 871. And following his death, Vincent's blog (http://spencepublishing.typepad.com/in_the_red_zone/) received more than 65,000 hits.

His last published work was an article in the July 31 New York Times that criticized the British government for allowing Shiites to take over security forces in Basra to carry out assassinations of former Baath party members. Saddam Hussein was the head of the Baath party.

Vincent started writing at an early age. His first paid work, a poem called "Let Them Eat Stuffing," was used as advertising by Stouffers.

In the early 70s, he helped turn Homestead High School's student newspaper into a National Lampoon-style satire. After high school, he hitchhiked to New York and drove a cab between freelance jobs.

In 1982, while standing in line to see Star Wars, Vincent met Lisa, his future wife. His parents say he had seen it almost 25 times by then, and legend has it that she had seen it more than 200 times.

Vincent was working as an art critic in New York when the 9-11 attacks occurred. The events changed him as dramatically as they changed the New York skyline.

"I decided that if I was going to have an opinion about Iraq, and the soldiers being sent there, I figured I should go myself," Vincent told The Courier in a past interview. "And I wanted to go completely on my own, no attachment to any organization."

The same autonomy that he gained by operating alone--without security--also increased the risk.

Although he emailed his wife and parents constantly, they all lived in fear that one day they would stop hearing from him. When the New York Times article came out, their fears increased.

"As soon as I read it, I thought 'Oh... you shouldn't have done that," Charles Vincent said.

Vincent's family is now gathering on the East Coast for the funeral. Because of his service to the people of Iraq, the United States is flying his body home as it would a fallen soldier's, and he will receive full honors, with a military guard at his burial and a flag draped over his casket.

"We think it's wonderful, but he's still not here with us," Isabelle Vincent said.