Oran soldier appears on the cover of 'American Rifleman'

Kitty Prindle of Oran holds up a copy of "American Rifleman" which features her son on the cover.

ORAN - It's not the cover of the Rolling Stone, but Chad Prindle's parents couldn't be any prouder.

Army Specialist Prindle, son of Brent and Kitty Prindle of Oran, appears on the cover of American Rifleman's April 2004 issue.

The picture of Prindle, distributed around April 13 last year, was taken by John Moore, the Associated Press photographer embedded with his company during Prindle's combat tour as part of Alpha Company of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment of the Third Infantry Division.

"It was mainly just talking about the Army weapons," said Mrs. Prindle. "His name isn't mentioned. When that picture was on the Internet it just said 'army specialist.'"

Other pictures with Specialist Prindle in them do identify him, however. "I think he's on seven different pictures on the Internet," Prindle said. "I've got a pretty good scrapbook on him."

Prindle and his unit were deployed to Kuwait on Nov. 26, 2002, and crossed the border into Iraq on March 21. During this time, he served as the company's sniper, often working alone instead of in the standard two-man team.

Arriving back in the United States on Aug. 11, Prindle and his unit were slated for one year stabilization at their home station, Fort Stewart, Ga., but ended up being stationed overseas again. "He's in South Korea," said Mrs. Prindle.

The cover shot came as a surprise to all of the Prindles.

"He didn't know," said Mrs. Prindle. "A buddy of his stationed at Fort Benning saw someone reading the magazine."

After being informed by the friend that her son was on the cover, Mrs. Prindle received a copy from a person in town who had the issue.

American Rifleman, an NRA publication, has 7 million subscribers, according to Mrs. Prindle. "They're supposed to send us some copies," she said.