Staff Sgt. Joseph W. Stevens

In the early days of the war, Joseph Stevens told his family about how he was killing time with scorpion-versus-spider fights in buckets. But when he last came home, things seemed to have changed. "He was on edge; every little noise, he was looking around," said his mother, Alice Valdez. "When he came home on the July 5, I asked him how he slept and he said, 'OK, until I heard shots; then I sat up and started looking for my gun and couldn't find it. Then I realized it was Fourth of July.'" Stevens, 26, of Sacramento, Calif., was among five soldiers killed Jan. 24 when their Bradley Fighting Vehicle overturned in a canal. He was stationed in Vilseck, Germany. Stevens had been in the military for six years and recently re-enlisted for four more. He had been married for four years but recently divorced. Stevens' sister, Amanda Wellons, said their last goodbye was difficult. After checking his bags at the airport, she began to cry. "He said, 'You guys have to go,' " she said. "When we dropped him off at the airport, in my heart I knew that was the last time I would see him alive."