In love and war: marriage on the front lines

[unhappycamper]

Spc. Amanda Perez, 23, smiles at husband Sgt. Miguel Perez, 24, as they have lunch at Camp Prosperity in Baghdad. The Perezes are one of six married couples who deployed to Iraq with the 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, a Texas Army National Guard unit headquartered in Houston. They met in the Guard and married at a courthouse on Oct. 2, during a break in training.


In love and war: marriage on the front lines
By Lindsay Wise - Houston Chronicle via AP
Posted : Saturday Jan 2, 2010 14:55:36 EST

BAGHDAD — You won’t find Iraq listed as a Top 10 honeymoon destination in the glossy pages of any bridal magazine, but there’s nowhere else newlyweds Miguel and Amanda Perez would rather be right now.

“I like to think about it like it’s the military sending us on a vacation,” joked Miguel, a 24-year-old sergeant from Houston. “Sand and palm trees everywhere — a nine-month honeymoon.”

The Perezes are one of six married couples who deployed to Iraq with the 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, a Texas Army National Guard unit headquartered in Houston. About 3,000 soldiers from the brigade are stationed across the country, assigned to missions such as Green Zone security, detainee operations, force protection and convoys.

Both Perezes served in Iraq before. Miguel deployed from 2006-07. Amanda deployed from 2008-09.

“We know what the military expects of us, and we know that the military has to come first,” said Amanda, a 23-year-old specialist from Beaumont.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_iraq_married_on_frontlines_010110/