Casualties of war: Ann Jones shares scenes of recovery and rehabilitation

Editors' note: These photos by journalist-photographer Ann Jones show soldiers with catastrophic injuries at various locations and transfer points along the medical evacuation route from Afghanistan to the United States.

As journalist-photographer Ann Jones points out in her new book, "They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return From America’s Wars — The Untold Story," rehabilitation is very difficult for a soldier. The book includes insights from people who answered their country's call to fight — from Jones' father, a decorated World War I veteran who suffered frequent nightmares for decades, to veterans who recently returned from Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense granted Jones rare access to travel through Afghanistan with the medical evacuation units that pick up wounded soldiers and the "mortuary affairs" units that recover the remains of U.S. troops killed in battle. "They Were Soldiers" covers the long journey that critically injured soldiers in Afghanistan experience. Those who survive critical care at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany return to the U.S. for long hospital stays at major military hospitals such as Walter Reed Army Medical Center. View Jones' photos in the gallery above.

Ann Jones will join Consider This host Antonio Mora on Thursday at 10pm ET/7pm PT.