Day 1 Series overview The men of Triple Deuce: ‘Closer than brothers’ in the Army family Advertisement Day 2 A truck bomb shatters the calm and bonds the brothers anew: A moment that changed everything Master sergeant, wife adjust to new roles and the effects of the bombing Day 3 Three couples describe how they kept their unions strong during the Triple Deuce’s 14 months in Iraq and after the unit came home: The Bartells The Holmeses The Lees Day 4 The heartache and hope of life after war: A family broken by war For the first time, they're one big family Day 5 The lawyer turns protester, and the medic becomes a dad: "The smartest guy in Company B" When home is as scary as war Series conclusion

Over several months in 2008, Stars and Stripes reporters and photographers traveled to Iraq, Kuwait and Fort Drum, N.Y., chronicling the lives of the “Triple Deuce” — the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division — both soldiers and their families.

As with most deployed units, there was triumph and tragedy. The unit presided over a calming of their area in northern Iraq, but it endured a horrific truck bomb attack that took the life of one of their own and badly wounded others.

Soldiers in the field pressed on.

When they came home, life was not the same. Children had grown and changed. To their babies, they were strangers. Wives had learned to manage with-out them, even while they yearned for their return.

Today and for the next four days, Stripes will tell the story of men sent to war and the people who supported them from thousands of miles away — the longing, the sorrow, the joy of reuniting and the apprehension at what lay ahead.

Stripes’ Nancy Montgomery will continue to follow the men of Triple Deuce and their families as they adjust to a life informed by war.

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