The first year of the deployment was bearable, at least. Jodi Velotta got by on the daily phone calls and e-mail exchanges she had with her husband, Brad, in Iraq. She sent photos of their fast-growing brood, while Brad, a 29-year-old Army captain, focused on keeping his men alive. But since August, when Brad's Blackhawk Company and the rest of the 4-23 unit of the 172nd Stryker Brigade were redeployed to the heart of Baghdad, the couple has grown more distant, like two planets spinning farther away from each other.
展开▼
