War Is Personal

Eugene Richards

Reportage by Getty Images

WEST ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS, 2008. Having lost 40% of his brain in the explosion, Jose spent three years in military hospitals and underwent nearly two dozen surgeries. “At this point,” his sister, Elizabeth, says, “he cannot walk, talk, drink, and has not made consistent, purposeful movements. I don’t know if Jose understands me, but in my heart, I believe that he does.” Lifting him up from his bed, Nelida adds, “And I’m not going to stop. As a mom, I will never give up. If I was to give up on Jose, I should have given up the day he came back from Iraq.”

Eugene Richards, "War Is Personal," in POYi Archive, Item #44707, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/44707 (accessed November 23, 2024).