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The way home

FIRST OF FOUR PARTS

Keeping it together

Cari Collins rests and lets her daughters read to one another before bedtime recently in their Wasilla home. With her husband, Capt. Brian Collins, deployed to Iraq, Cari has been the sole caretaker for four daughters.

There's no smell of coffee first thing in the morning, no man-size shoes on the mat by the door, no one to sleep on the other side of Cari Collins bed. Her husband, Brian Collins, a captain in Iraq, has been deployed for more than a year.

Audio Slide Show: Collins

SECOND OF FOUR PARTS

Anchored in faith

Long before dawn, before her children stir, when darkness still fills the windows on Fort Richardson, Lauren Bretz wakes to pray:Protect the children, keep them healthy and cheerful. Make her a better mother and a better wife. Keep Nat safe in Iraq, bring

Video: Nat Bretz returns

Audio Slide Show: Bretz

THIRD OF FOUR PARTS

Talk about stress

Fort Richardson, where every housing unit has a name, there's a sign out front of a faded block of apartments that reads, "Welcome to Independence. Mayor: Vicki Bell."

FOURTH OF FOUR PARTS

Counting the days

For a while it seemed the calls came every day: soldiers injured, soldiers killed, soldiers injured, soldiers killed. Colleen Mihalic looked at the caller ID in her Eagle River living room and debated whether to quit answering the phone.

Audio Slide Show: Mihalic

AUDIO SLIDESHOW

Crystal Becker says goodbye

Crystal Becker's mind goes back to the moment before she saw the soldiers in dress uniform on her front porch. Her daughter Cierra, 7, hunched over a school project. Cheyenna, her 5-week-old baby, dozed in a swing.

Multimedia: The Way Home

Cari Collins: Keeping it together

Cari Collins offers a glimpse into her life raising four daughters alone while her husband serves in Iraq, and what his return will mean.

Lauren Bretz: Anchored in faith

For Lauren Bretz, strength to handle her husband's yearlong deployment came from her faith.

Vicki Bell: Talk about stress

Vicki Bell gives insight into the unique challenges of military matrimony others" and her own.

Colleen Mihalic: Counting the days

Colleen Mihalic recounts her journey through isolation and sadness and finally welcomes her husband home.

Military photos

Sen. Begich visits troops in Afghanistan

Sen. Mark Begich meets with U.S. Marines at Patrol Base Boldak in Afghanistan's Helmand Province January 14, 2012. Also pictured is Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan.

Alaska Sen. Mark Begich visits Afghanistan in mid-January, meeting Alaska-based military personnel from Fort Wainwright's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division in mid-January.

Coast Guard icebreaker escorts tanker through Bering Sea ice

The Russian-flagged tanker Renda steams toward Nome, Alaska, through a path in the Bering Sea ice broken up by the Coast Guard Cutter Healy Jan. 6, 2012.

A Russian tanker carrying fuel for an iced-in Nome that without a delivery could run out of crucial supplies before winter's end encountered ice early Friday in the eastern Bering Sea and was escorted by the Coast Guard Cutter Healy Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. Read more

2012 Alaska Military Images: Alaska National Guard

Staff Sgt. Jeremy Hanson of the Alaska Army National Guard works on his race sled in preparation for a test run for the 2012 Iron Dog snowmobile race January 6, 2012 at the Alaska National Guard maintenance building on Camp Denali, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. This is the first year Hanson will be riding for the Alaska National Guard in the Iron Dog.

Military photographers share scenes of Alaska National Guard life.

PHOTO GALLERY

Raptor crash

Capt. Jeff Haney died in an F-22 Raptor crash located approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska, November 16, 2010.

PHOTO GALLERY

Investigation into Danny Chen's Afghanistan death

In a Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 file photo, a portrait of Pvt. Danny Chen is displayed on a vehicle during his funeral procession in New York. Chen was killed on Oct. 3 in a noncombat-related death in Kandahar province in Afghanistan. The U.S. Army says eight American soldiers have been charged in connection with the Oct. 3 death of Chen. In a statement, the military said the eight soldiers from Chen's company faced charges ranging from dereliction of duty, assault, negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter. Chen was found in a guard tower in Kandahar province with what the Army described at the time as an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

Pvt. Danny Chen of the 3rd Battalion, died in Afghanistan in early October. The U.S. Army says eight American soldiers have been charged in connection with the Oct. 3 death of Chen.

PHOTO GALLERY

Leaving Iraq

The US flag, Iraq flag, and the US Forces Iraq colors are seen before they are carried in during ceremonies marking the end of US military mission in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. After nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead, 32,000 wounded and more than $800 billion, U.S. officials formally shut down the war in Iraq a conflict that U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was worth the price in blood and money, as it set Iraq on a path to democracy.

After nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead and 100,000 Iraqi dead, U.S. officials formally shut down the war in Iraq - a conflict that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was worth the American sacrifice because it set Iraq on a path to democracy.

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