At Fort Hood, Texas, families anxiously wait to welcome home soldiers from Iraq. After a 15 month tour of duty, the soldiers are finally returning. "It was hard because ever day you are away from your family, in real bad conditions, afraid for your life," states one returning soldier. His colleague agrees: "I don't want to go back." But they all know that returning is a definite possibility. Many soldiers are already facing their second tour of duty and their families are being forced to endure a separation like no other. At Shoemaker High School, three quarters of the students have relatives serving in Iraq. Counsellor Barbara Critchfield has seen how the stress of war has affected the students' grades and behaviour. "It's hard to worry day in day out if your parent is going to come home to you." Jessica Blakenbecler was the first student to lose a parent. Her father's convoy was hit by grenades. "I just started screaming and I fell to the floor crying and crying," she recalls. And as another division prepares to ship out from Texas, more families will be left behind to wait and wonder. As Barbara Critchfield comments: "It's not just the parents fighting this war. The kids are fighting too."