, he has suffered from memory loss, extreme mood swings, and occasional tremors, and the brain damage is likely irreversible. At the time of his incarceration, Coma had been battling severe PTSD from his military service in Panama and the Gulf War. Before the wars, he’d been a bit of a troublemaker but had no serious run-ins with the law. When he left the service, he couldn’t hold down a job and started robbing banks. As part of the getaway plan for his last robbery, he drove his car through a chain-link fence that led to the Puget Sound and emerged from the car in a full scuba suit. A cop tackled him before he could get into the water. USA. Shelton, Washington. 2019. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

ed Landry Jones to portray him more realistically. He watched as Landry Jones slept between the body bags of the eight soldiers killed in the battle. Afterwards, the crew filmed a scene of a phone call Carter had with his daughter where he tells her about killing the bad guys so she can be free. Sofia. Bulgaria. 2018. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

nd dimes from lunch money and allowances. Mobile, Alabama, USA. 2010. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

ids fights to stay awake after weaving unsteadily past the soldiers. USA. Mineapolis, Minnesota. 2020. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

l to go to the National Guard headquarters. As her sister drove her, she wrote, “If he is dead, I have to process this. I don’t have a choice. I can’t fall apart. My kids matter most.” She said she knew he was dead when she arrived and no one would look her in the eyes. Major Abdul Rahman Rahmani, an Afghan army helicopter pilot who worked with Brent, posted a letter addressed to Jennie that outlined his admira- tion, calling Brent a “compassionate man whose life was not just meaningful, it was inspirational.” The community of North Ogden, where Brent was mayor, gave enor- mous financial support, raising $500,000 for the family, while a foundation paid off the remaining $250,000 of their mortgage. A local car dealership gave Jennie a new car. USA. North Ogden, Utah. 2019. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

n testimonials of sexual abuse in the military (one in three women experiences sexual assault while serving). One veteran sang opera, while another talked about her brother’s suicide after suffering from PTSD. The T-shirt commemorating the competition is a cutout silhouette of a woman holding a baby in one hand and a machine gun in the other, with the backdrop of a red American flag. Washington DC. USA. 2017. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

dren, many of them missing limbs, sat around a garden of perfectly manicured rose- bushes. One soldier lying on a bed was just a torso, his legs and arms both amputated above the joints. He chain-smoked cigarettes, and when I offered him one he grasped it in his bandage-swaddled stumps, puffing it a few times before lying back on the sweat-soaked gurney. Sometimes children visiting other patients would hide in corridors and stare at him, or move a bit closer before running off. After photographing the soldier I went to the children’s ward, where an Italian nurse was giving physi- cal rehabilitation to a nine-year-old amputee. As she stretched the girl’s limbs, her screams stabbed through the hospital. Erbil. Iraq. 2017. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

e town lay in ruins. ISIS graffiti was scrawled on the walls of the church, ranging from the mundane (“Ahmad was here,” “Take off your shoes”) to the sinister (the ratio of ingredients for making car bombs). Shattered Christian religious artifacts used by ISIS for target practice had been swept into a corner, and a decapi- tated full-size statue of Santa Claus was sprawled in the courtyard. Most of those attending the church service were Iraqi soldiers and journalists, but a handful of local residents came, too, including a small girl in bright-colored robes who was a particular darling of the Iraqi soldiers. They cooed at her outfit and swept her up in their arms to cover her in kisses. Qaraqosh. Iraq. 2017. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

barrage crept closer. Despite the nearby danger, hundreds of student and faculty volunteers rallied to clean and restore the damaged buildings. Before ISIS occupied Mosul, the university was one of the largest and most important educational and research institutions in the Middle East. During ISIS’s reign, it is estimated that 8,000 books and over 100,000 manuscripts in the library were destroyed. Mosul. Iraq. 2017. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

borders. The Croatian authorities, unsure how to deal with the sudden influx, kept them penned up in a train station in the sweltering late summer heat. Lacking food and water, the refugees protested, ultimately pushing through police lines. The Croatian authorities set up another cordon, but eventually relented and arranged for a fleet of buses to carry them to Zagreb so they could continue their journey to Western Europe. Some Croatian police seemed indifferent to the refugees’ desperation, but others mentioned being refugees themselves as children during the Balkan wars of the early ’90s and extended acts of kindness when they could. The refugees were exhausted and many annoyed with the constant media presence. As the police lines imploded, I was admonished in English several times that the media should stop portraying them as a defenseless, dehumanized horde. Owing to decades of anti-Islam propaganda, many townspeople on the border seemed to regard the refugees with deep suspicion. Tovarnik. Croatia. 2015. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

S. military in 2020 was $721.5 billion, more than those of China, Saudi Arabia, India, France, Russia, the UK, and Germany combined. Las Vegas, Nevada. USA. 2018. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

. Also since 2011, the NFL has earned approxi- mately $94 billion, which means the amount distributed in support of the military is approximately .03% of the NFL’s total revenues. Salute to Service stemmed from an initia- tive by the Pentagon to boost waning recruitment for the unpopular wars, and since 2009, the Pentagon has given at least $12.2 million to the NFL for propaganda. Senator John McCain conducted an investigation into the practice and released this statement with a detailed report of his findings: “Americans across the country should be deeply disappointed that many of the ceremonies honoring troops at professional sporting events are not actually being conducted out of a sense of patriotism, but for profit in the form of millions in taxpayer dollars going from the Department of Defense to wealthy pro sports franchises. Fans should have confidence that their hometown heroes are being honored because of their honorable military service, not as a marketing ploy.” Interestingly, one of the biggest controversies in the past few years has been NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to support civil rights for minorities, but players didn’t even appear on the field for the anthem until 2009, when the Pentagon started pressuring the NFL for displays of patriotism. Meadowlands, NJ. USA. 2018. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos

plays in heavily trafficked areas of Manhattan and Brooklyn showcase military hardware to an adoring public. NYC. USA. 2013. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos