Maine's Homefront
Days into the war in Iraq, the human cost of it became apparent when a U.S. Marine who grew up in Maine died. Major Jay Thomas Aubin died two days after the war started when the helicopter he was piloting crashed and killed all eleven aboard.
The private and public grieving for Aubin was the beginning of family sacrifices throughout Maine. Another family struggled when the mother and father of two young children where deployed to the Middle East by the U.S. Air Force. The children's grandparents cared for them until their parents returned more than five months later.
A pregnant wife coped as best she could while awaiting news of her husband in combat.
A new mother who was also in the Army National Guard left her four-month-old son with her husband while she was deployed.
And more war dead were remembered.
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The aunt of Marine helicopter pilot Major Jay Thomas Aubin holds his portrait while family members mourn his death inside his mother’s home. Aubin was one of the first casualties of the war in Iraq.
Nancy Chamberlain, the mother of Major Jay Thomas Aubin, puts on her dead son's pilot's wings with the help of her sister, Elaine Strout, in Chamberlain's Winslow, Maine, home. It was the day they learned of Aubin's death.
The sister, mother and other relatives of Major Jay Thomas Aubin grieve Friday, March 23, 2003, while comforting each other after learning of Aubin's death in the Iraq war.
Major Jay Thomas Aubin's cousin Tori Dubay weeps outside his mother's home after learning of his death that day.
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jeff Herron places the American flag in front of a photograph of Major Jay Thomas Aubin at the memorial Mass for Aubin at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Winslow.
Alone in her grief while surrounded by hundreds of other mourners, Nancy Chamberlain weeps for her son at the memorial Mass for him at St. John The Baptist Catholic Church in Winslow.
Marine Major Chris Ross presents Aubin's mother Nancy Chamberlain with the American flag during the Mass for her son at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Winslow.
Sue and Howard Holinger's grandchildren, Jacob and Catherine, have been living with them in Belgrade since the children's parents were both deployed to the Middle East by the Air Force. Behind Sue Holinger is her sister-in-law, Alice Holinger, who was visiting.
Grandmother Sue Hollinger cuddles with her granddaughter Catherine, whose mother and father were both deployed to the Middle East with the U.S. Air Force.
Grandfather Howard Holinger fills the role substitute father as he playfully carries his granddaughter Catherine around her room before tucking her into bed for the night.
It's a gentle "honk" on the nose from her grandfather for Catherine Holinger at bedtime, whose parent's are deployed in the Middle East.
Catherine Holinger waits patiently to be reunited with her parents after a five-month absence when they were deployed to the Middle East.
Deborah and Christopher Holinger reunite with their children, Jacob and Catherine, in the Portland Jetport for the first in five months.
Catherine Holinger and her mom, Deborah, left, get right down to playing after their separation five months earlier.
Kristin Norris was eight months pregnant while her husband Nicholas was in combat somewhere in Iraq as a U.S. Army private. She was waiting for his homecoming at her parent's house in Plymouth, near where the couple attended Nokomis Regional High School.
Kristin Norris plays a recording of her husband reading a children's story to their unborn child. She said she gets sad sometimes listening to the recording. She was in the nursery her parents set up in their home.
Kristin Norris makes sure her new-born son and his father aren't strangers when Nicholas returns from serving in Iraq. Nicholas missed the birth of his son Quinton Nicholas Norris, but later returned home to wife and child safely.
Amanda Bolduc, a U.S. Army National Guard 2nd Lieutenant, will soon have to leave her three-month-old son Brayden in Skowhegan when she is deployed. After finishing her training for the day, she checked Brayden's diaper after picking him up from daycare.
While Amanda Bolduc is deployed with the U.S. Army National Guard, Brayden's father Rob will look after him.
Amanda Bolduc spends a few more close minutes with her four-month-old son Brayden before deploying overseas for 18 months with the U.S. Army National Guard.
As Brayden's mom Amanda deploys to Iraq, at right, Rob will be taking care of their four-month old son with help of family. In the background is his father-in-law Bob Thompson.
Rob Bolduc waves goodbye to his wife as she leaves for 18 months.
When the family of Sgt. Richard K. Parker, 26, learned that he was killed in action while serving in Iraq, his uncle Duane Pinkham placed a pair of Parker's boots in front of the Phillips' Veterans Memorial. The monument is at one end of the village, near the Phillips Congregational Church, in background.
The body of Army Pfc. Jason E. Dore arrives in Augusta with military honors as his family watches nearby. He was killed in action in Baghdad.
The Patriot Guard escorts the body of Army Pfc. Jason E. Dore more than 60 miles from Augusta to his hometown of Moscow. He was killed in action in Baghdad.
Gail Dore is presented her son's commendations including a Bronze Star during his funeral outside the Quimby School in Bingham.
Sophie Belanger, the fiancee of Pfc. Jason Dore, pauses to remember him after speaking at his funeral.
Kate Vasconi helps Colby College Republicans place nearly 3,000 American flags on the campus the night before the sixth anniversary of the 9/11. Her emotions were raw as she talked about her father who was sickened as a New York City firefighter helping with the aftermath.