Reporter: Lisa Millar
The first anniversary of the war in Iraq is upon us.
Saddam Hussein no longer rules the country and Iraqis are preparing, with some trepidation, to take control of a very uncertain future.
They do so in an unstable and still violent environment in which the toll on Iraqi and American lives continues to spiral upwards.
Most of the 560 odd US soldiers have died since President Bush declared an end to active combat on May 1.
Of the 130,000 US troops still deployed in Iraq, around 20,000 come from the massive Fort Hood military installation in central Texas.
For the community of military families, it's been a long and fretful year, as the ABC's North America correspondent Lisa Millar reports.
LISA MILLAR: On America's biggest army base in the middle of Texas, families anxiously wait to welcome home soldiers from Iraq.
FELICE BABERS, WIFE: Oh, yeah!
Finally, after 15 months.
Wonderful.
LISA MILLAR: Their tour of duty is over and relatives can only hope they're coming home for good.
ROSA-MARIA BELTRAN: It's like having your heart taken away from you, you know?
It's really depressing, I knew he had a job to do, but it's really depressing.
LISA MILLAR: Tonight, the wait is excruciating.
OFFICIAL: We have the US over here providing you with snacks and drinks.
Please help yourself.
WOMAN: Everything happens for a reason.
Everything happens for a reason.
So I don't know what their reason is right now, but I hope it's a good one.
LISA MILLAR: Finally, they arrive.
This homecoming is part of the biggest global redeployment of combat troops since World War II.
By May, the US will have brought home 130,000 men and women and sent their replacements to Iraq.
Macy Burdine's daughter, Connekia, is a military police officer.
MACY BURDINE, MOTHER: I've been holding my breath.
I've just been holding my breath.
I promised I weren't going to do this, I wasn't going to cry or anything, but in the end, I'm so happy to have her home.
Oh, God, I'm so happy.
This is my baby.
LISA MILLAR: The initial welcome over, the talk turns to the heat, the cold, the sand and the danger of Iraq.
SOLDIER 1: It was hard, because every day you are away from your family.
You are in real bad conditions, danger for your life every day.
SOLDIER 2: I don't want to go back in a hurry.
I'm grateful for the experience.
It was a long year.
I don't want to go back.
LISA MILLAR: But as they collect their bags and head home, they know going back is a definite possibility.
One year on from the start of the war, many soldiers are already facing their second tour of duty.
Their families are being forced to endure a separation unlike any other they've ever experienced.
It's the start of another day at Shoemaker High.
The school is just a kilometre from Fort Hood.
Of the 2,000 students, more than three-quarters have a relative serving in Iraq.
Barbara Critchfield is one of the school's counsellors.
She's seen how the stress of war has affected the students' grades and behaviour.
BARBARA CRITCHFIELD, COUNSELLOR: There is just a little more tension.
You know, you might bump into them and they might say, "Excuse me," on one day and then the next day, they might just...
LISA MILLAR: Want to punch you?
BARBARA CRITCHFIELD: Might just explode.
Well, yeah.
It just depends what's happening and what the news is saying and, you know, their mood.
LISA MILLAR: The school's principal admits they were all a little naive when the first troops left.
NELDA HOWTON, PRINCIPAL: Oh, definitely, definitely.
I think everybody thought they'd just be gone a short while and be right back.
LISA MILLAR: Now they brace themselves for bad news.
NELDA HOWTON: I check the ages.
I know this sounds crazy, but whenever someone is killed and they give the age of the person, I'm almost relieved whenever they're younger than what the age of one of our parents might be.
BARBARA CRITCHFIELD: Their minds are just not on school.
You know, it's hard to worry day in and day out, you know, if your parent is going to come home to you and these kids live with that.
I mean, it's a real fear for them.
LISA MILLAR: The names of their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, are written on these cardboard stars.
Blue and silver for those still serving, gold for those killed.
JESSICA BLANKENBECLER, STUDENT: It was just a nice comfort for me to walk down the hall and see my dad's star.
LISA MILLAR: Sergeant James Blankenbecler was the first parent to die, leaving behind a devastated 14-year-old daughter.
JESSICA BLAKENBECLER: We pulled up in our driveway and I got out of the car really fast to see what they were going to say, so I could hear them perfect.
And then they said - they told my mum to step out of the car, that they had some news to tell us about my father.
By then I already... I started screaming and I fell to the floor and I was crying and crying.
And the guy, one of the soldiers came and he picked me up and he brought me inside.
LISA MILLAR: Sergeant Blankenbecler's convoy was hit by grenades north of Baghdad last October.
He had been in Iraq just 17 days.
JESSICA BLAKENBECLER: The way the sadness comes is it like comes and it hits you really hard because you just can't believe that happened to your dad.
It just hits you really hard and then sometimes it will go away for maybe a day and then it will come back and it will hit you really hard again.
The only feelings I have is just sadness and that I miss him.
STUDENTS: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
LISA MILLAR: Every day at this school begins the same way - a pledge of allegiance to the flag and a moment of silence.
TEACHER: Now please join us in a moment of silence.
A moment for Nick Bookout to think of his parents.
NICK BOOKOUT, STUDENT: I pray for them every night to be safe and all that.
LISA MILLAR: He's 15-years-old and both his parents are serving in Iraq. His mother in a maintenance unit, his father managing a military store near Baghdad.
NICK BOOKOUT: Just knowing the fact that my mum's over there in danger and I can't do nothing to protect her or none of our family can do nothing to protect her.
LISA MILLAR: His Mexican grandparents left their home 200 kilometres away to look after Nick, his young brother and sister.
The computer is their lifeline.
Nick's parents have just sent him a photo.
They're together in Iraq for the first time in a year.
NICK BOOKOUT: When I found out that that had happened I kind of got this, you know, "Oh, great, Dad's happy now."
‘Cause that was one of the reasons that he went over there.
And I thought, "Now my mum's safe, since my dad's over there to protect her."
So it kind of gave me a feeling of relief inside.
LISA MILLAR: It is small relief, though.
His counsellor sees the heavy burden Nick and his friends carry.
BARBARA CRITCHFIELD: It is not just the parents fighting this war.
You know, the kids - the kids are fighting it too.
LISA MILLAR: The anniversary of the start of the war is looming in the students' minds.
Many are wondering if the world still cares or realises that, for them, the war hasn't ended.
The same kind of fear is felt in the homes on the military base among the partners left behind.
DEBBIE BUSCH: I don't think the war is a two hour movie where we win and it's done.
And I think that freedom - there's a high price for freedom.
ROBIN CROUSE: I would just love America to realise that it's not over and it is not going to be over until the people of Iraq have the liberties and freedoms that we, I think, a lot of times take for granted in this country.
LISA MILLAR: Just yesterday, Sharon Miller learnt her husband's convoy had been attacked.
She had to tell her daughter he'd been badly injured.
SHARON MILLER: When I went in to tell her, she looked up at the Purple Heart and she just started bawling and I went... sorry.
LISA MILLAR: Despite the risks, they remain as committed to the battles in Iraq and their President, George W Bush, as they were a year ago.
STELLA JASON: Do I think he had weapons of mass destruction?
Yes.
Do I believe they still exist?
Yes, absolutely.
DEBBIE BUSCH: As our nation started out, you know, we believe in freedom and we believe in standing up for people.
So, I believe in what we're doing.
LISA MILLAR: Back on base, the preparations are beginning for another reunion ceremony.
The bus loads of soldiers coming home tonight will pass these signs on their way to meet their families.
Tonight, there'll be more tears and laughter as they're welcomed home.
But across this massive military base, another division is preparing to ship out.
They've been told they'll be gone for more than a year.
Left behind, more families to wait and wonder.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAMES HUTTON: We know that our role constitutionally is to follow the orders of our commander in chief and we're prepared to do that at any time.
NICK BOOKOUT: Who's to say that even if we do get this cleaned up and brought back into where it's supposed to be that it's not going to happen again and my mum's going to have to go back over there again?
BARBARA CRITCHFIELD: You know, it needs to end and everybody needs to come home safe so we can go on with our lives.
LISA MILLAR: Saddam Hussein may be gone, leaving Iraqis to build a new future, but for American soldiers and their families, there is no end in sight.
KERRY O'BRIEN: Another side to the story of the war in Iraq.
The first anniversary of the war in Iraq is upon us.
Saddam Hussein no longer rules the country and Iraqis are preparing, with some trepidation, to take control of a very uncertain future.
They do so in an unstable and still violent environment in which the toll on Iraqi and American lives continues to spiral upwards.
Most of the 560 odd US soldiers have died since President Bush declared an end to active combat on May 1.
Of the 130,000 US troops still deployed in Iraq, around 20,000 come from the massive Fort Hood military installation in central Texas.
For the community of military families, it's been a long and fretful year, as the ABC's North America correspondent Lisa Millar reports.
LISA MILLAR: On America's biggest army base in the middle of Texas, families anxiously wait to welcome home soldiers from Iraq.
FELICE BABERS, WIFE: Oh, yeah!
Finally, after 15 months.
Wonderful.
LISA MILLAR: Their tour of duty is over and relatives can only hope they're coming home for good.
ROSA-MARIA BELTRAN: It's like having your heart taken away from you, you know?
It's really depressing, I knew he had a job to do, but it's really depressing.
LISA MILLAR: Tonight, the wait is excruciating.
OFFICIAL: We have the US over here providing you with snacks and drinks.
Please help yourself.
WOMAN: Everything happens for a reason.
Everything happens for a reason.
So I don't know what their reason is right now, but I hope it's a good one.
LISA MILLAR: Finally, they arrive.
This homecoming is part of the biggest global redeployment of combat troops since World War II.
By May, the US will have brought home 130,000 men and women and sent their replacements to Iraq.
Macy Burdine's daughter, Connekia, is a military police officer.
MACY BURDINE, MOTHER: I've been holding my breath.
I've just been holding my breath.
I promised I weren't going to do this, I wasn't going to cry or anything, but in the end, I'm so happy to have her home.
Oh, God, I'm so happy.
This is my baby.
LISA MILLAR: The initial welcome over, the talk turns to the heat, the cold, the sand and the danger of Iraq.
SOLDIER 1: It was hard, because every day you are away from your family.
You are in real bad conditions, danger for your life every day.
SOLDIER 2: I don't want to go back in a hurry.
I'm grateful for the experience.
It was a long year.
I don't want to go back.
LISA MILLAR: But as they collect their bags and head home, they know going back is a definite possibility.
One year on from the start of the war, many soldiers are already facing their second tour of duty.
Their families are being forced to endure a separation unlike any other they've ever experienced.
It's the start of another day at Shoemaker High.
The school is just a kilometre from Fort Hood.
Of the 2,000 students, more than three-quarters have a relative serving in Iraq.
Barbara Critchfield is one of the school's counsellors.
She's seen how the stress of war has affected the students' grades and behaviour.
BARBARA CRITCHFIELD, COUNSELLOR: There is just a little more tension.
You know, you might bump into them and they might say, "Excuse me," on one day and then the next day, they might just...
LISA MILLAR: Want to punch you?
BARBARA CRITCHFIELD: Might just explode.
Well, yeah.
It just depends what's happening and what the news is saying and, you know, their mood.
LISA MILLAR: The school's principal admits they were all a little naive when the first troops left.
NELDA HOWTON, PRINCIPAL: Oh, definitely, definitely.
I think everybody thought they'd just be gone a short while and be right back.
LISA MILLAR: Now they brace themselves for bad news.
NELDA HOWTON: I check the ages.
I know this sounds crazy, but whenever someone is killed and they give the age of the person, I'm almost relieved whenever they're younger than what the age of one of our parents might be.
BARBARA CRITCHFIELD: Their minds are just not on school.
You know, it's hard to worry day in and day out, you know, if your parent is going to come home to you and these kids live with that.
I mean, it's a real fear for them.
LISA MILLAR: The names of their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, are written on these cardboard stars.
Blue and silver for those still serving, gold for those killed.
JESSICA BLANKENBECLER, STUDENT: It was just a nice comfort for me to walk down the hall and see my dad's star.
LISA MILLAR: Sergeant James Blankenbecler was the first parent to die, leaving behind a devastated 14-year-old daughter.
JESSICA BLAKENBECLER: We pulled up in our driveway and I got out of the car really fast to see what they were going to say, so I could hear them perfect.
And then they said - they told my mum to step out of the car, that they had some news to tell us about my father.
By then I already... I started screaming and I fell to the floor and I was crying and crying.
And the guy, one of the soldiers came and he picked me up and he brought me inside.
LISA MILLAR: Sergeant Blankenbecler's convoy was hit by grenades north of Baghdad last October.
He had been in Iraq just 17 days.
JESSICA BLAKENBECLER: The way the sadness comes is it like comes and it hits you really hard because you just can't believe that happened to your dad.
It just hits you really hard and then sometimes it will go away for maybe a day and then it will come back and it will hit you really hard again.
The only feelings I have is just sadness and that I miss him.
STUDENTS: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
LISA MILLAR: Every day at this school begins the same way - a pledge of allegiance to the flag and a moment of silence.
TEACHER: Now please join us in a moment of silence.
A moment for Nick Bookout to think of his parents.
NICK BOOKOUT, STUDENT: I pray for them every night to be safe and all that.
LISA MILLAR: He's 15-years-old and both his parents are serving in Iraq. His mother in a maintenance unit, his father managing a military store near Baghdad.
NICK BOOKOUT: Just knowing the fact that my mum's over there in danger and I can't do nothing to protect her or none of our family can do nothing to protect her.
LISA MILLAR: His Mexican grandparents left their home 200 kilometres away to look after Nick, his young brother and sister.
The computer is their lifeline.
Nick's parents have just sent him a photo.
They're together in Iraq for the first time in a year.
NICK BOOKOUT: When I found out that that had happened I kind of got this, you know, "Oh, great, Dad's happy now."
‘Cause that was one of the reasons that he went over there.
And I thought, "Now my mum's safe, since my dad's over there to protect her."
So it kind of gave me a feeling of relief inside.
LISA MILLAR: It is small relief, though.
His counsellor sees the heavy burden Nick and his friends carry.
BARBARA CRITCHFIELD: It is not just the parents fighting this war.
You know, the kids - the kids are fighting it too.
LISA MILLAR: The anniversary of the start of the war is looming in the students' minds.
Many are wondering if the world still cares or realises that, for them, the war hasn't ended.
The same kind of fear is felt in the homes on the military base among the partners left behind.
DEBBIE BUSCH: I don't think the war is a two hour movie where we win and it's done.
And I think that freedom - there's a high price for freedom.
ROBIN CROUSE: I would just love America to realise that it's not over and it is not going to be over until the people of Iraq have the liberties and freedoms that we, I think, a lot of times take for granted in this country.
LISA MILLAR: Just yesterday, Sharon Miller learnt her husband's convoy had been attacked.
She had to tell her daughter he'd been badly injured.
SHARON MILLER: When I went in to tell her, she looked up at the Purple Heart and she just started bawling and I went... sorry.
LISA MILLAR: Despite the risks, they remain as committed to the battles in Iraq and their President, George W Bush, as they were a year ago.
STELLA JASON: Do I think he had weapons of mass destruction?
Yes.
Do I believe they still exist?
Yes, absolutely.
DEBBIE BUSCH: As our nation started out, you know, we believe in freedom and we believe in standing up for people.
So, I believe in what we're doing.
LISA MILLAR: Back on base, the preparations are beginning for another reunion ceremony.
The bus loads of soldiers coming home tonight will pass these signs on their way to meet their families.
Tonight, there'll be more tears and laughter as they're welcomed home.
But across this massive military base, another division is preparing to ship out.
They've been told they'll be gone for more than a year.
Left behind, more families to wait and wonder.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAMES HUTTON: We know that our role constitutionally is to follow the orders of our commander in chief and we're prepared to do that at any time.
NICK BOOKOUT: Who's to say that even if we do get this cleaned up and brought back into where it's supposed to be that it's not going to happen again and my mum's going to have to go back over there again?
BARBARA CRITCHFIELD: You know, it needs to end and everybody needs to come home safe so we can go on with our lives.
LISA MILLAR: Saddam Hussein may be gone, leaving Iraqis to build a new future, but for American soldiers and their families, there is no end in sight.
KERRY O'BRIEN: Another side to the story of the war in Iraq.