Staff writer Tom Infield first reported on Alpha Company, a National Guard unit based in Northeast Philadelphia, in November 2004, when the soldiers were preparing to depart for Iraq. In the years since, he has revisited the company many times and written about the deaths of six members in 2005; deployment in Iraq at Forward Operating Base Summerall, which he visited in September 2005; the guardsmen's return to the United States; and the early readjustment at home.
Beginning last March, Infield, later assisted by correspondent Will Hobson, contacted 130 of the 131 survivors on the company roster; 126 of them agreed to be interviewed or to complete a survey of questions about how they were coping since coming home. Some were interviewed more than half a dozen times.