It means that he got hurt (from an explosion) during the war but he is still alive.

Like an explosion [emoji]

A bomb went off and although it was directly on him, he survived the explosion.

He was in some sort of explosion. Bomb, mine, gas, ... Sometimes it might be used figuratively, or to mean his house was blown up, rather than he himself. More commonly, it likely means he, himself was in an explosion of some sort.