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,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

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) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...

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. It is situated along the Allegheny River, northeast of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Penns ...

and attended Shadyside Academy. He graduated from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

with a degree in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

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, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

- 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 Afghan Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient Bagram at an elevation of above sea leve ...

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'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk 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 wa ...

CNN Sunday Morning ''CNN Sunday Morning'' is a news program on CNN in the United States hosted by a series of rotating news anchors. Prior to that, it was hosted by T.J. Holmes until he left the network in December 2011. The program is produced in Atlanta At ...

C-Span Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

and other leading programs. In November 2019, it was announced that

George Marshall Ruge George Marshall Ruge is an American film director, producer, writer, second unit director, stunt coordinator, and actor. Ruge is known for his work as director, second unit director, and stunt coordinator on such film projects as the ''Pirates ...

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 The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states and ...

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 1700s. As a staunch opponent of American independence, he would bec ...

, 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,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

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-displacement motorcycles are the most common motor vehicle in the most populous co ...

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

Rust Belt The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions and ...

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

, 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 Living people American war correspondents Villanova University alumni Journalists from Pennsylvania 1974 births People from New Kensington, Pennsylvania American male journalists 21st-century American journalists 20th-century American journalists