When news broke of the fall of Kabul in 2021, my heart stopped. Like many other veterans, I felt complex emotions. A war fought for 20 years was now over—and we didn’t win. What now? The sacrifices we made and the wounds of my fellow veterans linger with no closure. But the world moved on. The cost of war: Over-prescription of drugs, a mental health crisis, rising suicide rates, and a generation of wounded warriors left with no advocacy or recovery.

Responding to the pain, my photos draw attention to the veteran care crisis. Light painting, a long-exposure photography technique, captures light trails only the camera can see, like the invisible wounds many veterans suffer. Although the U.S. Government spent an astronomical amount of money on the Afghanistan war, the warriors paid the deeper price. Their personal sacrifices should be brought to the light and not be allowed to fade into history. This photo series helps the viewer reflect on the cost of war—after the bullets stopped flying.