COVER STORYFor many D-Day vets, anniversary could be their lastAs the 65th anniversary of the World War II Allied invasion of Europe approaches, even the youngest men who survived the bloody beach assaults, night parachute drops and glider landings into northeast coastal France now find themselves in their 80s. • Story
Married in Montana: Servicemembers take advantage of state’s double-proxy lawA quirky law makes Montana the only state that legalizes double-proxy marriage, so named because two people stand in for the bride and groom. The paid proxies exchange a few perfunctory “I do’s” and seal the deal without locking lips. Such ease has made wedding-by-proxy attractive to military lovebirds separated by geography or war, even though long-distance matrimony is about as romantic as getting engaged over Twitter. • Story
Therapist treats wartime trauma with artArt therapy is the latest approach the Army is using in Europe to address soldiers’ psychological problems stemming from downrange deployments. Since early May, soldiers and civilians seeking psychological treatment have had the option of joining a Tuesday afternoon art therapy session at the new Grafenwöhr Behavioral Health Clinic. • Story
Rabbits near Aviano runway rounded up by volunteers, ItaliansHow many Americans and Italians does it take to capture a rabbit? The math turned out to be about a 10-to-1 human-to-rabbit ratio last week as the base held its annual roundup. The little furry guys can move. • Story
U.S. troops work to balance development, security at Iraq’s busiest commercial portUmm Qasr is Iraq’s busiest commercial port. Located inland near Basra on a strait that rises from the Persian Gulf, the port brings in 85 percent of the country’s grain supply and 80 percent to 90 percent of all its commercial goods. In also comes anything that a person could think to smuggle, Army officers acknowledge, and no one has any idea how much illegal trade in weapons, drugs and people are coming through the ports or other border areas in southern Iraq. • Story
U.S. forces focus on southern part of Iraq-Iran borderFor years, U.S. and Iraqi officials have talked about the deadly supply of weapons coming from Iran into Iraq, munitions that range from sophisticated bomb-making materials to simple hand-thrown grenades. But no one has ever caught a smuggler in transit, according to U.S. Army officials working with Iraqi border forces in Basra. • Story and photo gallery
Spouse CallsA weekly column in Stripes' Scene magazine by Terri Barnes, a military wife and mother of three who lives and writes in Germany. • This week's column • Terri Barnes' blog
About the U.S. editionFor the first time since the Civil War, Stars and Stripes is returning stateside. The U.S. edition, available to local newspapers as a supplement, features some of the best content from the week’s daily overseas editions ... the top military stories from several news bureaus within Stars and Stripes’ three theaters — Europe, Pacific and Middle East — as well as coverage of military issues from the Pentagon and Capitol Hill.
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