Carmen Gentile (born June 21, 1974) is an American journalist, author and public speaker who specializes in reporting on conflicts and the developing world. He is the author of the memoir ''Blindsided by the Taliban,'' a dark-humored retelling of his unusual injury in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

while embedded with American troops near the Pakistani border. In September 2010, Gentile was shot in the side of the head with a

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...

that did not detonate, although it blinded him in his right eye and crushed part of his skull.

Background

Gentile was born in

New Kensington, Pennsylvania New Kensington (known locally as New Ken) is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 12,170 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is situated along the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh ...

, and attended Shadyside Academy. He graduated from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

with a degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

Islamic studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

Events of ''Blindsided by the Taliban''

On September 9, 2010, Gentile was walking through a remote village in mountainous, eastern Afghanistan in the company of American and Afghan troops. While reporting for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

- Gentile was a freelance radio reporter who also occasionally contributed video - he was injured when an assailant fired a

from a very short distance away. The ordnance struck Gentile in the side of the head, blinding him in his right eye and crushing bones in his cheek. The rocket then ricocheted off of Gentile and struck a young platoon leader, Lt. Derek Zotto, in the elbow. Gentile managed to capture his highly unusual injury on video. He underwent several surgeries including one at a U.S. military hospital at

Bagram Airfield Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base , is located southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is under the Ministry of Defense (Afghanistan), Afghan Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient town ...

in Afghanistan. After numerous operations and months of rehabilitation, Gentile returned to Afghanistan and resumed front line reporting, which is chronicled in his critically acclaimed book ''Blindsided by the Taliban'' (2018). Since its publication, Gentile has been featured on

NBC Today ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

CNN Sunday Morning,

C-Span Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

and other leading programs. In November 2019, it was announced that George Marshall Ruge will direct the feature-film length adaptation of ''Blindsided by the Taliban''.

Awards

Gentile is the recipient of the Galloway Award, named for ''UPI'' combat correspondent and

McClatchy Newspapers McClatchy Media Company, or simply McClatchy and MCC, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law. Originally based in Sacramento, California, United States, and known as The McClatchy Company, it ...

columnist

Joseph Galloway Joseph Galloway (1731August 29, 1803) was an American attorney and a leading political figure in the events immediately preceding the founding of the United States in the late 18th-century. As a staunch opponent of American independence, he wo ...

, for a story in ''Salon'' that is excerpted from ''Blindsided by the Taliban'' and is said to be both "straight-forward and harrowing."

Motorcycle storytelling

In recent years, Gentile has combined storytelling from places like

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

with his passion for

motorcycling Motorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. For some people, motorcycling may be the only affordable form of individual motorized transportation, and small-engine displacement, displacement motorcycles are the most common motor vehicle in ...

, writing stories for publications like ''Motorcyclist'' an
Postindustrial
the media outlet Gentile founded in 2018 covering the

Rust Belt The Rust Belt, formerly the Steel Belt or Factory Belt, is an area of the United States that underwent substantial Deindustrialization, industrial decline in the late 20th century. The region is centered in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (Uni ...

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

, and Postindustrial Communities around the world.

Works

* Gentile, Carmen (March 6, 2018). ''Blindsided by the Taliban: A Journalist's Story of War, Trauma, Love, and Loss'', Skyhorse Publishing.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gentile, Carmen American newspaper journalists Novelists from Pennsylvania Writers from Pittsburgh Journalists from Pittsburgh Living people American war correspondents Villanova University alumni 1974 births People from New Kensington, Pennsylvania American male journalists 21st-century American journalists 20th-century American journalists