i knew they were his hands because i'm his mother. >> reporter: this is the mother of 21-year-old stephan mace, who loved animals, his army buddies, and his family. >> and i looked over to my husband and i said, richard, those are stephan's hands, i just know they are. after we saw that, i somehow tried getting in touch with the reporter. >> reporter: she found our karen russo, who was the reporter in the medevac helicopter that night, taping the scene. >> the mom had somehow, in less than ten seconds, maybe less than five seconds, recognized the soldier's hands as her son's. i had shot it in the dark without any light. >> reporter: he had been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. and died of wounds on october 3rd, 2009. just one year after this photo was shot, capturing his mother's love. >> this is one of my favorite pictures. when i'm down, it helps me.