My first combat deployment was to the Anbar Province in Iraq in 2004. We were located halfway between Ramadi and Fallujah, and it was a rough year. There were often incidents where civilians were killed, and usually U.S. forces, with Iraqi militia or law enforcement partners, would take the bodies for subsequent investigation. I distinctly remember the time my platoon was tasked with escorting the bodies back to a family. I sat in the gunnerâs turret of a Humvee while the women of the family came out of the house, keening and screaming and hitting themselves. It was a profound ...