The Afghan Field Medic

PROPELLERS WHIR IN A DESERT outside Kandahar, Afghanistan, taking off and landing to transport Afghan soldiers to and from the battlefields of the almost 16-year war against the Taliban.

Waisuddin, 22, who, like many Afghans, goes by one name, serves as a medic when he’s not fighting on the frontlines. From under the sleeve of his Afghan army uniform, a long burn scar stretches