Photo Galleries

Linden Blank served two tours in Iraq and spent a lot of time in the very hostile Anbar Province. (Dec. 8, 2011)

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Travis Heying / The Wichita Eagle

Augusta Marine Linden Blank hanging out with some Iraqi children after giving them some candy and soda in 2007

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Augusta Marine Linden Blank in a compound in Iraq during his second tour, from late 2008 to early 2009.

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Augusta Marine Linden Blank with some Iraqi soldiers during his second seven-month tour in late 2008 and early 2009.

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Augusta Marine Linden Blank's unit carrying one of four dead Marines on July 25, 2007. They were killed the previous day when the unit's convoy was hit by improvised explosive devices, detonating five minutes apart.

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Members of Augusta Marine Linden Blank's unit carrying four dead Marines on July 25, 2007. They were killed the previous day after the unit's convoy was hit by improvised explosive devices, detonating five minutes apart.

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Augusta Marine Linden Blank braces for a sand storm in Iraq. He was helping provide security while massive crane was brought in pick up an overturned Iraqi generator.

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Tech Sgt. Ashley Carpenter, medic with Kansas Air National Guard's 184th Intelligence Wing. She has served one tour in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. (December 6, 2011)

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Jaime Green / The Wichita Eagle

Kansas Air National Guard's Ashley Carpenter and her fiance, Derick Tibbetts, a Liberal native now in the active Air Force, outside a hospital in Basal, Iraq, during their 2007 deployment.

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Captain Jeremy Salsbury, middle, a nurse anesthetist with the Army Reserve, poses with his family, from left: Elijah, wife Katie, Braden, Jackson, Maggie and Carter. Jeremy was in Iraq in 2009 and will be deployed to Afghanistan in January. (Dec. 6, 2011)

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Travis Heying / The Wichita Eagle

Anita Dixon holds a painting of her son, Sgt. Evan Parker, who was killed in 2005 in Iraq by an improvised explosive device. (Dec. 6, 2011)

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Travis Heying / The Wichita Eagle

Anita Dixon holds a painting of her son, Sgt. Evan Parker, who was killed in 2005 in Iraq by an improvised explosive device. (Dec. 6, 2011)

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Travis Heying / The Wichita Eagle

Karen and Bob Funcheon stand in front of a pencil drawing of their son Alex Funcheon, who was killed in Iraq in 2007. Bob left his job in sales to go back to school where he is becoming a social worker. His goal is to be a therapist for soldiers suffering PTSD from the war. (December 5, 2011)

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Jaime Green / The Wichita Eagle