The Home Front: Families Dealing with Loved Ones at War

In 2003 Anna and Tonya Cyr found out that they would be heading into the 2004 New Year without their husbands, Jason and Ron Cyr, brothers and members of the Maine National Guard. Jason, 30, and Ron, 28, were called to duty and sent to Iraq for an indefinite amount of time.  With little notice or formal training they packed their bags and headed to Fort Drum, New York, where they received two months of intensive preparation for war.  As Jason and Ron were getting ready for war, so were Anna and Tonya.  They moved into what was once Anna and Jason's house in Lewiston, Maine, to raise their three small children together.  They became soldiers' wives, sole caregivers and providers, and began mourning the loss of husbands who were far away and facing extreme danger.