Comment on this story | View Comments | addthis_pub = 'nvdaily'; addthis_brand = 'nvdaily.com'; addthis_pub = 'lash'; Sign up for breaking news alerts here! Tuesday, November 11, 2008 Harold...

Scott holds his Army of Occupation medal. Rich Cooley/Daily Audio Scott recalls a humorous experience in Korea Billy J. Scott Hometown: Marlow, Okla. Current residence: Boyce Birth date: July...

Col. Bill Hammack meets President Ronald Reagan. While working at the Pentagon, Hammack served on Reagan's inaugural committee. COURTESY PHOTOAudio "The Marine Corps has allowed me to meet the...

Cathy Williams talks about her Air Force service. Dennis Grundman/Daily Audio Audio: Cathy Williams' most interesting deployment was to Saudi Arabia Cathy Williams Hometown: Voluntown, Conn. Current residence: Browntown...

Mike Connelly in pictured in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91. Courtesy photo Persian Gulf War veteran Mike Connelly now lives in Mt. Jackson. Rich Cooley/Daily...

t's a long way from Central High School to Kabul, Afghanistan. But for Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, it's a journey that began with a desire to serve and continues to this day.

MAURERTOWN--The year since Thomas Wilson was killed fighting for his country in Afghanistan has turned his family into reluctant soldiers. They've had to bury and live without their "airborne country boy," soldiering on through their own grief and pain. During that same time, they've received comfort and support from the community, the military and total strangers.

The day Justin Mongold earned his first Purple Heart, his mother saw it on TV. It was November 2003 and Mongold, then 22 and already a sergeant, was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army.

STEPHENS CITY — The 19-year-old's T-shirt says it all: "Half of my heart is deployed. Half of his heart is due in September." Newlywed Casi Scadden is busy planning for her baby shower. Ladybug likenesses are on gifts and baby items at her parents' Stephens City residence. There's a bassinet, all ready for her little girl. In another room, wedding gifts are still displayed. After eloping on Jan. 3, her new husband, Lance Cpl. Kevin Scadden, a U.S. Marine, is off in the hot sands of Iraq. Scadden's e-mails request baby wipes, his only way of cleaning up over there in the 130-degree temperatures.