David Eulitt

news: A soldier's goodbye from Mom

Sgt. Callie Darling said goodbye to her four-year-old daughter, Braelyn Rivera, shortly before Darling left with her unit, the Missouri Army National Guard 205th Area Support Medical Company, for training at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, then on to Iraq. Sgt. Darling, who was deployed to aid in Hurricane Katrina, is in her first overseas deployment.
A soldier's goodbye from Mom, photo by David Eulitt / The Kansas City Star ©

Sgt. Callie Darling said goodbye to her four-year-old daughter, Braelyn Rivera, shortly before Darling left with her unit, the Missouri Army National Guard 205th Area Support Medical Company, for training at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, then on to Iraq. Sgt. Darling, who was deployed to aid in Hurricane Katrina, is in her first overseas deployment.