Approximately 8,000 U.S. service members died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Upon returning home, more than 30,000 have committed suicide. Clearly - on American soil - an unseen battleground still haunts many who’ve survived.
   Veterans with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and other invisible war-related injuries currently seek help from the two-week long Home Base Program, a collaboration between Massachusetts General Hospital and the Red Sox.
    Since 2020, I’ve been privileged to document almost 200 Home Base vets seeking reprieve from their traumas during Respite Weekend at the Harvard College Polo Farm in Hamilton, MA. This program gives participants an opportunity to relax with horses, and represents a unique collaboration among three-world class institutions to benefit those who’ve served.
   Approximately fifty veterans have allowed me to take a formal portrait of them, some volunteering their thoughts on their experiences. These reflections can be found throughout the captions.
The images serve as records of pain, conflict, resilience and joy as reflected in the faces and the activities of the men and women who allow me to photograph them.