Eight-year-old Alex Velasquez waits for his father’s return in the back of the family truck on Camp Pendleton, Calif., Dec. 20, 2012. His father, Staff Sgt. Andres Velasquez, was returning from a seven month deployment to Afghanistan as a tropospheric scatter radio multi-channel operator assigned to the 9th Communication Battalion. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joshua Young
