Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, contains graves of soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, March 13.
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Celeste Mills of El Paso, Texas, kneels beside the grave of her youngest son, Joshua Mills, who was killed in Afghanistan, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, March 13.
Related:
Family grieves for soldier who died after six tours of duty
Ted Aljibe / AFP - Getty Images
A US soldier from Viper Company (Bravo), 1-26 Infantry walks along with Afghan soldiers (front) during a patrol at Combat Outpost (COP) Sabari in Khost province in the east of Afghanistan on June 22. President Barack Obama will argue June 22 his Afghan war surge strategy has forged substantial progress and a "position of strength" which allows thousands of US troops to come home, officials said.
This photo symbolizes to me the seemingly endless slog of the Afghanistan war.
President Obama will speak to the nation tonight about his plans to end the war, while Republicans are split between defense hawks and deficit hawks.
The faces of these soldiers really tell a sad story. A lot has been reported lately about the difficulty of training the Afghan police force.
Steve Ruark / AP
An Army team carries a transfer case containing the remains of Pvt. Buddy W. McLain Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, McLain, of Mexico, Maine, died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
NBC News report from Monday:
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NBC News report from March:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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.
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.
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