Retired Marine Staff Sergeant Vincent Gizzarelli (top left) poses for a photo with his family in their brand new house, Jacksonville, N.C., April 28. The house was built using supplies and donations from local businesses and various veterans' groups. Gizzarelli was medically retired from the Marine Corps after suffering traumatic brain injury and shrapnel wounds from multiple IED blasts that he sustained on his second tour to Iraq. - Retired Marine Staff Sergeant Vincent Gizzarelli (top left) poses for a photo with his family in their brand new house, Jacksonville, N.C., April 28. The house was built using supplies and donations from local businesses and various veterans' groups. Gizzarelli was medically retired from the Marine Corps after suffering traumatic brain injury and shrapnel wounds from multiple IED blasts that he sustained on his second tour to Iraq.

1st Lt. David Pursel (center), the logistics officer with a police advisory team preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, talks to Afghan role-players at the Advisory Training Cell, II Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., Feb. 28, alongside the rest of the Marines and sailors on his team. Talking with the role-players helped Pursel, a native of Jacksonville, N.C., and the rest of his team prepare for the cultural differences between themselves and the Afghans they will be working hand-in-hand with during their upcoming seven-month deployment to Washir district, Helmand province. - 1st Lt. David Pursel (center), the logistics officer with a police advisory team preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, talks to Afghan role-players at the Advisory Training Cell, II Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., Feb. 28, alongside the rest of the Marines and sailors on his team. Talking with the role-players helped Pursel, a native of Jacksonville, N.C., and the rest of his team prepare for the cultural differences between themselves and the Afghans they will be working hand-in-hand with during their upcoming seven-month deployment to Washir district, Helmand province.