Two soldiers and their wives are bound by war -- and childre
Editor's note: This is the third of four stories profiling soldiers and their families whose lives were defined by the Iraq war. The first and second were published earlier this week.
Camp Virginia, Iraq (CNN) -- Pfc. Josh Wombold manned the gun in the turret of a hulking armored vehicle, scanning the road and its surroundings. He was looking for anyone or anything that might pose a threat to the convoy.
This was, at last, the road out of Iraq -- the final and perhaps most dangerous stretch for soldiers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, as they made their way through the southern Shiite heartland to Kuwait.
In a few short hours, the war would be over for these soldiers.
In another vehicle, Sgt. 1st Class Daniel DeGeneres listened to the radio traffic from Josh. He wasn't worried about the lanky 20-year-old from West Milton, Ohio. He was a tough soldier, with a good head on his shoulders, who had served as a gunner from Mosul to Kirkuk to Baghdad to Nasariyah.
Pfc. Josh Wombold found out that his wife, Sarah, was in labor while he was serving in Iraq.But Josh had gotten news just a few hours earlier, during their last refueling stop, that his young wife was in labor with their first child. Daniel felt for him; he knew what it was like to miss family milestones. This was his fifth deployment to Iraq. He'd been gone for birthdays, anniversaries and, toughest of all, a pregnancy that ended in tragedy for him and his wife.
Josh didn't have a chance to learn how his wife was doing back in Texas. The convoy had to push south.
The new bonds of war
The bonds of war in Iraq were not cemented in one long, extended deployment but rather through multiple rounds of duty that required soldiers to leave their families repeatedly for 12 and 15 months at a time.
Soldiers seasoned by the Iraq war -- with two, three, four and five deployments -- taught hard-learned lessons to the next generation who earned their military mettle in places like Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk.
Daniel spent more time in Iraq than any American soldier spent fighting in Europe or Japan during World War II; he surpassed the time put in by soldiers in Korea and by most in Vietnam.
His experience proved to be a comfort to less experienced soldiers, who themselves would be seasoned warriors by the time they left Iraq.
It was a new bond in a new type of war.
On the home front, similar bonds formed between spouses left behind. The Iraq war saw the creation of new Army-isms, such as "geographically single parent," to describe a husband or wife who raised a child while their spouse was away.
A military home front organization was also expanded; Family Readiness Groups helped smooth communication with families during long and frequent deployments.
The spouses of officers and noncommissioned officers were called on to lead those groups because of their experience. A seasoned military spouse could be a rookie's best friend.
Sarah Wombold, right, meets with her doctor, left, accompanied by her friend, Amanda DeGeneres. Unlikely friends
On the surface, Sarah Wombold and Amanda DeGeneres appeared the unlikeliest of friends.
Sarah was a newlywed when she arrived at Fort Bliss with her husband in late 2010. Soon, the 21-year-old learned she was pregnant.
Amanda DeGeneres, 26, had arrived at the sprawling Army installation in El Paso, Texas, the same year. She and her husband, who was from Mesa, Arizona, met while in the Army. They have been married almost four years.
Sarah was wide-eyed about military life (neither she nor her husband grew up in military families). Amanda knew the Army inside and out.
She'd enlisted after a year in college in Bryan, Ohio, as a way to pay for her nursing degree. She had served in Iraq herself, and now she was heading up the Family Readiness Group for her husband's squad at Fort Bliss -- and becoming Sarah's friend and guide.
As different as they seemed, the two women had something in common. Their husbands were part of the last brigade being deployed to Iraq. The assignment: To turn out the lights at U.S. bases before the deadline to withdraw troops.
The women had something else in common, too: Children.
Amanda gave birth a year earlier to a boy named Traber. This would be the first time she'd parent him alone for an extended period of time. Sarah was preparing for her first child. She and Josh hoped for a boy.
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