Battle-Scarred: Sebastian Junger’s Last Patrol Premieres on HBO

2 minute read
People wait for the bus close to Penn Station in New York City. Two combat vets and two journalists (and a dog) walked along the Amtrak rail lines from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia to Pittsburgh over the course of a year. Through the heat and summer and the bitter cold of winter, sleeping in the woods and under bridges and in abandoned buildings, buying food as they went and bathing in rivers and cooking on open fires and getting their water from streams, these four men set out to encounter America. All of them had been in a lot of combat, all of them had lost close friends, and all of them had decided to come home. The question that they were trying to answer - over the course of four hundred miles - is why that is so hard to do.
People wait for the bus close to Penn Station in New York City. Two combat vets and two journalists (and a dog) walked along the Amtrak rail lines from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia to Pittsburgh over the course of a year. Through the heat and summer and the bitter cold of winter, sleeping in the woods and under bridges and in abandoned buildings, buying food as they went and bathing in rivers and cooking on open fires and getting their water from streams, these four men set out to encounter America. All of them had been in a lot of combat, all of them had lost close friends, and all of them had decided to come home. The question that they were trying to answer - over the course of four hundred miles - is why that is so hard to do.Guillermo Cervera—HBO
By Olivier Laurent

The Last Patrol, Sebastian Junger’s third and final chapter in a trilogy of films about war and its devastating effects on soldiers, came to fruition after he and documentary photographer Tim Hetherington made plans to walk from Washington D.C. to New York City along railroad lines.

The trip would mimic the long patrols both men were accustomed to when covering the war in Afghanistan, on embeds with the U.S. military. The only difference being that they wouldn’t be shot at, wouldn’t have to run for cover, wouldn’t fall into an ambush.

Their trip never came to be. In April 2011, Hetherington was killed in Misrata, Libya, while covering the people’s uprising against their dictator, Muammar Gaddafi.

Washington, D.C. Amtrak
Washington, D.C. AmtrakGuillermo Cervera—HBO

Hetherington’s death shocked an entire industry of journalists and photographers, and convinced some of them to give up on war, Junger included.

This year, Junger went on that “last patrol”, reigniting the plans he had made with his friend and colleague to walk along America’s railways. Accompanied by combat veterans Brendan O’Byrne, who appeared in Junger’s Restrepo, and Dave Roels, as well as Spanish photographer Guillermo Cervera, who witnessed Hetherington’s death, he walked from Washington D.C. to Philadelphia and to Pittsburgh.

Together, the four men, all war veterans in their own ways, discussed “why combat is so incredibly hard to give up,” they say. The resulting documentary, which chronicles their “last patrol” premieres on Monday, November 10 on HBO.

The Last Patrol by Sebastian Junger is available on HBO and HBO GO from November 10 at PM (CET).

An exhibition of Guillermo Cervera’s images from The Last Patrol and from 20 years of documenting armed conflicts and social issues around the world is on show at Anastasia Photo in New York City.

Phil Bicker, who edited this photo essay, is a senior photo editor at TIME.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent

People wait for the bus close to Penn Station in New York City. Two combat vets and two journalists (and a dog) walked along the Amtrak rail lines from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia to Pittsburgh over the course of a year. Through the heat and summer and the bitter cold of winter, sleeping in the woods and under bridges and in abandoned buildings, buying food as they went and bathing in rivers and cooking on open fires and getting their water from streams, these four men set out to encounter America. All of them had been in a lot of combat, all of them had lost close friends, and all of them had decided to come home. The question that they were trying to answer - over the course of four hundred miles - is why that is so hard to do.
People wait for the bus close to Penn Station in New York City. Two combat vets and two journalists (and a dog) walked along the Amtrak rail lines from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia to Pittsburgh over the course of a year. Through the heat and summer and the bitter cold of winter, sleeping in the woods and under bridges and in abandoned buildings, buying food as they went and bathing in rivers and cooking on open fires and getting their water from streams, these four men set out to encounter America. All of them had been in a lot of combat, all of them had lost close friends, and all of them had decided to come home. The question that they were trying to answer - over the course of four hundred miles - is why that is so hard to do.Guillermo Cervera—HBO
New York City
New York CityGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Somewhere in Pennsylvania
Somewhere in PennsylvaniaGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Restaurant in Chester, PA
Restaurant in Chester, PAGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Baptist church in south D.C.
Baptist church in south D.C.Guillermo Cervera—HBO
New York City
New York CityGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Amish kids somewhere in Lancaster, PA
Amish kids somewhere in Lancaster, PAGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Somewhere in the outskirts of Philadelphia
Somewhere in the outskirts of PhiladelphiaGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Washington D.C., Presidents Church, Saint John's Episcopal Church
Washington D.C., Presidents Church, Saint John's Episcopal ChurchGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Train somewhere in PA
Train somewhere in PAGuillermo Cervera—HBO
A woman hangs out in front of her house in Baltimore
A woman hangs out in front of her house in BaltimoreGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Power plant, Wilmington, DE
Power plant, Wilmington, DE Guillermo Cervera—HBO
Baltimore
BaltimoreGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Daisy dog plays with a stick in the Delaware River
Daisy dog plays with a stick in the Delaware RiverGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Familly at their house in Baltimore
Familly at their house in BaltimoreGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Parking lot somewhere in Pennsylvania
Parking lot somewhere in PennsylvaniaGuillermo Cervera—HBO
A bar somewhere in Abingdon, Maryland
A bar somewhere in Abingdon, MarylandGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Delaware River
Delaware RiverGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Church in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
Church in Chestnut Hill, PhiladelphiaGuillermo Cervera—HBO
Children play in a playground in Harrisburg, PA
Children play in a playground in Harrisburg, PAGuillermo Cervera—HBO

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