AFTER RETURNING HOME

A fascinating account of some of the 3d ID soldiers back at home.

And it isn't all pretty. Read the whole thing.

Throughout our time in the Middle East, almost every soldier I met spoke of their desire to get back to the United States, to get away from the danger and bloodshed and to be reunited with their families. Now that they are back home, most of them, to my surprise, say that they just want to be back in Iraq. They are frustrated with the tedium and routine of normal living, and have found it difficult to integrate themselves into civilian life. They miss the thrill of warfare.

"I loved it," says Black. "I miss it," says Doc.

Some are coping better than others. Sgt Weaver is not at the barbecue. Those who know him say he doesn't go out much any more, so I decide to pay him a visit at home. It is the middle of the day, but the curtains are drawn and he is sitting alone on a couch. His pupils are dilated, a possible side-effect of the antidepressants that he has been taking.

While he was in the Middle East, his wife became involved with another man and, a few weeks after Weaver's return, she told him she was divorcing him. He shows me the hole he punched in the wall of the living room. Next to it hangs a citation for the Bronze Star he received after the campaign.