Slideshow: American Wars by Peter van Agtmael

On the eve of arguably the biggest election of our lifetimes, it should be impossible to overlook what will be the most difficult task facing our new president: commanding our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Current economic woes and the election itself may have overshadowed these wars in media coverage for the last several months, but nearly 200,000 American servicemen and women remain in the two countries and thousands have returned home in various states of injury, in need of care and support, whether physical, mental or emotional. FADER contributor Peter van Agtmael has been back and forth to Iraq and Afghanistan repeatedly since 2006, documenting the lives of young soldiers as they fight and as they return home. Some of his photos appeared in our current Photo Issue, and we've assembled even more here in this slideshow, with narration from Iraq veteran Raymond Hubbard.