Ben Garvin

Stills: A Soldier Bride

While Spc. Amanda Ploog drove in convoys in Iraq for nearly two years, her fiance Paul Barker worked a manufacturing job in Minnesota, waiting and worrying. The longest deployment in National Guard history tested not just the strength of their new relationship, but their ability to relearn how to love one another.

(1st place multimedia, MN Press Photog.'s Assn.)

Audio Slideshows

Launch Part I

Launch Part II

Launch Part III

Amanda's parents Sue and Jim Ploog hang a welcome home sign in front of their home in rural Cedar, Minn., on July 19, 2007. "It's hard to imagine the change that will happen when she gets back home," said Sue, who said the hardest part was learning of her daughter's extension as part of the so called 'surge'. "It was almost like we held a funeral for her. She wasn't coming home."
   
"I feel distant from her, I really don't know what to expect," said Paul, who's pictured here a week before his fiance's return. He moved up to Minnesota from Kentucky to be with Amanda, but she was soon sent to Iraq for a record-length 22-month deployment. "She's made friends with alot of guys over there, that's all she talks aout. I trust her, but I do have my doubts sometimes." Paul worked a factory job and lived with Amanda parents in rural Cedar, Minn., waiting for nearly two years.
   
Amanda returns her weapon after arriving from Iraq to an airbase in Wisconsin.
     
  
Paul and Amanda embrace moments after Amanda's unit was dismissed at the Bloomington (Minn.) Armory on July 20, 2007. Her unit’s 22-month deployment was the longest continuous deployment of any military unit during the war in Iraq.
   
After arriving home from Iraq earlier in the day, Amanda talks with her best friend in her room as Paul lays on the bed. "I just think of the way things used to be and hope that they're going to be the same way," said Paul.
   
Amanda reacts after winning a midway shooting game at the Anoka County Fair. "You have to be patient, get a clear sight picture and know what you're shooting at," said Amanda, who easily beat Paul in the game.
     
  
   
Amanda and her mother Sue browse wedding dress options at David's Bridal in Roseville, Minn. "A dress is never comfortable, I don't care who you are," said Amanda. "An army uniform, you can sit any way you want an it doesn't matter."
   
Amanda, back right, and her childhood friend Jen Kise try to contain their laughter as they make a prank call to Amanda's x-boyfriend during her bachorlorette party at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis. They played drinking games and visited a number of downtown bars.
     
  
Amanda shows off her tennis shoes to friends during a smoke break between formal photos and start of her wedding at Glen Cary Lutheran Church in Ham Lake, Minn. "I'm not a heels person," she said. At left is Paul and at right is her father Jim.
   
Amanda and Paul on their wedding day at Glen Cary Lutheran Church in Ham Lake, Minn.
   
After being married, Paul and Amanda Barker leave for the VFW hall where they held a reception for friends and family. "The army seems so far away now, when really it was just a couple months," said Amanda. "This is my normal life now." Amanda plans to stay in the Minnesota National Guard and doesn't expect to be deployed again to Iraq. "I could happen, though. You never know."