A child does not fully comprehend the concept of death until about age 10, according to Leary. If a child has lost a parent, it is very likely that he will not grieve in front of his surviving parent.

These are defining times for Americans and our military members serving in Iraq. After years of war, an unstable Iraqi government is seemingly incapable of standing on its own.

Every service member has an immediately-accessible form in their records that contains up-to-date emergency and next-of-kin data.  It also serves as an application for dependency allowances.