5280 Magazine, December 2007
By Patrick Doyle, Photograph by Marc Piscotty

Mark Wilkerson went to Iraq a true believer: He supported the president, the war, and the troops he was fighting with. But what he saw on the ground forced him to question everything he'd ever known—and to decide he'd never go back.

On Sunday, December 27, 2004, the postholiday Colorado Springs traffic slowed as U.S. Army Specialist Mark Wilkerson steered a white 2001 Chevy Cavalier through town, his wife, Sarah, seated to his right. He waited for the light at Briargate Boulevard, turned left, and wound his way through the north part of the city before turning into the parking lot of the Days Inn. The hotel was sandwiched between a McDonald's and a KFC/Taco Bell. At least there'll be plenty of places to eat, Mark thought. He and Sarah stepped out of the car into the biting winter air, popped the trunk, and unloaded two duffel bags and a suitcase full of clothes.

One week earlier, Mark and Sarah had packed up their two-bedroom apartment near Fort Hood, Texas, put most of their belongings in a small storage unit, and told their friends and the soldiers in Mark's unit, the 401st Military Police Company, that they were headed to Colorado Springs for Christmas. Mark was soon to be deployed to Iraq for his second tour, and Sarah would be moving home with her family.

But as they had packed, Mark and Sarah were making other plans: Once they got to the Springs, they'd change their cell phone numbers. They'd re- register their cars in Colorado. And they'd clean out their bank account—withdrawing $500 a day from the ATM, until their life savings, about $4,000, was in cash.

Click here for the full article on 5280.com with photos from Wilkerson's military scrapbook.