ILLUSTORIA MAGAZINE

Young reader in your life? Subscribe to Illustoria magazine today. Recognized by The New York Times as a best gift for kids!

In These Deserts: War Stories From Afghanistan

In 1990, six-year-old Nathan Bradley read a magazine article about Afghanistan and was fascinated, vowing to someday see it for himself. He finally got his chance in 2009 as an Army officer, and he’ll go back eventually. His column chronicles his travels through the concertina wire gates, the bomb filled culverts, the rough adobe castles, the concrete blast walls and the sprawling gravel yards of our longest war—all the scenes that spoke to him—but most importantly it chronicles the stories of the Afghans he’s come to know.