Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, 2006: No words, even a thousand, can describe the reality of a child wounded in a war zone. A photo can only give us a glimpse. Here an injured child clutches a surgical glove made into a balloon and painted with a clown's face. She is “caught in the crossfire,” “a civilian casualty” in reports in Canada; she is a haunting reality to the physicians who treat her. When not treating armed forces members, much of the current work of military physicians on deployment is in treating civilians. This includes working in villages and the countryside, where access to advanced medical care is otherwise non-existent. — Cathy Younger-Lewis, CMAJ. Photo by: Ruth Collins-Nakai