Blown to Hell in Afghanistan: The Comic Book

In 10 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 155,000 U.S. troops have been concussed in blasts from Improved Explosive Devices. That number is growing at an accelerating rate as insurgents trigger more and more bombs — presently at least 1,300 a month in Afghanistan alone.

Between 5 and 15 percent of concussion victims suffer long-term effects, including memory loss, erosion of analytical skills and even gradual, but permanent, changes in personality. Short of neurologists (the Army has just 40) and inclined to ignore conditions with no obvious outward symptoms, the Pentagon fails to screen most bomb victims for brain injuries.

In March, I found this out firsthand, when the Army vehicle I was riding in was struck by an IED outside the village of Pakhab-e-Shana in eastern Afghanistan.

We’ve already showed you my chaotic video from outside and inside the truck in the seconds following the blast. Now, thanks to artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner and editor Matt Bors at the Website Cartoon Movement, you can follow me in the days and weeks after I got blown to Hell in Afghanistan.


It was a tough time. After getting the brush-off from an Army neurologist, I tried and failed to explain to my friends and loved ones that my brain might not work right any more. But how would I know for sure, and how could they possibly understand?

There’s a tragic caveat to the comic — something I learned only recently. One of the Pakhab-e-Shana blast victims — I won’t say which — has begun to show signs of a Traumatic Brain Injury, including chronic confusion and memory loss. But he hasn’t been able to convince the Army that his injury is real.

He’s not alone.
Wired