The devastating toll of the Afghanistan War

America’s longest war, which spanned 20 years and included more than 800,000 U.S. troops, ended one year ago when Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, boarded the last C-17 cargo plane out of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Four U.S. presidents — George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden — oversaw the war that began in October 2001, just weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but only the current administration was able to do what the final three sought: to end the war.