Some of the Other Realities of War..

A visitor no family wants

A knock at the door … two soldiers in Class A uniforms standing outside. It’s something every family of a deployed soldier dreads.

And The Family

Donovan Brooks / Special to Stripes
Avery Gamboa, 4, places a flower on his father's grave

Alone and left to plan a new future

Spouses of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan who want to stay in their overseas homes face a complex set of requirements to remain longer than the typical 90-day limit following a spouse’s death, military officials said. Donovan Brooks / Special to Stripes
The grave of Army Staff Sgt. Joseph D. Gamboa on Guam, where his wife and five children moved a few months after he was killed in Iraq.