Alex, 5, looks out from between his parents, Chris and Mary, during Mary's mobilization ceremony with the N.C. Army National Guard's 30th Corps Support Group. The ceremony was held at Durham's Northern High School on Feb. 2. After the ceremony, Mary moved to Fayetteville where she was stationed with her unit at Fort Bragg for 10 weeks before being deployed.

During one of Mary's weekend visits home to her family in March, Chris applies a bandage to Claire's knee while she rests in her monther's lap after a fall.

Claire stands on top of a recreation room ping pong table while Mary's mother, Mary Hudson, watches some of the 24-hour cable news coverage of the war after the invasion of Iraq began in March.

Mary yells down to her husband while Claire walks down the steps of the Johnson's home.

Chris plays with Alex and Claire inside a Pope Air Force Base hangar during a visit to Mary.

Alex (right) gets some assistance from a friend in trying on Mary's uniform and helmet inside her barracks at Fort Bragg. Mary's deployment orders were delayed several times by only a few days, leaving her to wonder if every visit by her children would be their last.

After eight weeks of waiting, Mary and the 30th Corps Support Group deployed to the Middle East on April 4, 2003. During her last hour on U.S. soil, she breaks down alongside Chris inside an airplane hangar at Pope Air Force Base.

Mary shares a final moment with Alex and Matthew while Claire and her mother, Mary Hudson, stand by at Pope Air Force Base. The unit then boarded buses from the hangar to the runway where they took off for an undisclosed location in the Middle East. Mary's deployment orders could last one year.