Jun

2010

12:14pm, EDT

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

U.S. Army Sgt. Grayson Colby holds the hand of a critically wounded U.S. Army soldier while aboard a MEDEVAC helicopter from Charlie Co. Sixth Battalion, 101st Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Shadow June 24, 2010 near Kandahar, Afghanistan. As combat operations begin to escalate near Kandahar, the 101st Airborne MEDEVAC unit transports casualties of war as well as sick and injured local residents.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

U.S. Army soldiers carry a critically wounded American soldier on a stretcher to an awaiting MEDEVAC helicopter.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Blood and medical supplies litter the floor of a U.S. Army MEDEVAC helicopter.

MEDEVAC crews busy in Kandahar

Update 12:42 p.m. ET: Getty Images confirms to us that all three of these pictures tell the story of one badly wounded soldier. From the photographer: "All the same incident. He suffered life threatening wounds from a blast. Condition unknown but was awake when we dropped him off." Sullivan has been with a MEDEVAC unit for some time, and you can see much more of his work on Getty's site.

Original post: The storm of news out of Washington around Gen. McChrystal's departure from command seems a long way from the pictures Justin Sullivan took today, which do still remind us of what is at stake for our troops in Afghanistan. For an in-depth look at medical operations in Afghanistan, see this picture story by freelance photojournalist Erin Trieb. Also worth a look is C.J. Chivers and Tyler Hicks' June 12 story from The New York Times, which describes in detail how busy chopper crews are in Marja.