At 11:30 a.m. Monday morning, Dan Haley was entertaining the questions of students from Metropolitan State College of Denver. A few hours later, he found out that the Denver Post had won its seventh Pulitzer Prize.

"People want to feel that their newspaper gives them something that they only get because they read that newspaper," said Haley to the students. This Pulitzer recognizes the Denver Post's ability to do exactly that.

Craig F. Walker earned the Pulitzer in feature photography "for his intimate portrait of a teenager who joins the Army at the height of insurgent violence in Iraq." It's the Post's first Pulitzer since 2000, when it won a prize for its coverage of the Columbine High School shootings.

The feature follows Ian Fisher from his high school graduation, basic training, and deployment in Iraq to his return.

"Not much I can add to Craig's big honor other than to say: He is an amazing photographer and it's always nice to see the good ones rewarded for all of their hard work," said Haley in an email.

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