She returns to bed with her mind more at ease, though she had already known that Craig was not on board the first American helicopter that crashed at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

This scene is illustrative of the days that have passed for the McCormick family—his parents in Los Gatos, his wife in San Diego and his two brothers— since Craig left to go overseas nearly two months ago. Danger is never far from their minds, but one thing that helps calm the family members' nerves is the knowledge that Craig, a flight surgeon, is not exposed to the front line of war.

As a Navy flight surgeon assigned to the Marine helicopter squadron HMM-268, otherwise known as The Red Dragons, Craig is responsible for the physical and mental well-being of 30 pilots. He has the ability to "ground" a soldier, meaning that if at any time someone is experiencing grief over the loss of a comrade and is not in the proper mental state to fly a plane, Craig can keep that soldier from flying. He is also involved with any investigation of dead bodies to determine the cause of death.

Before becoming a flight surgeon, the 31-year-old lieutenant went through flight training to better understand the physical and mental rigor pilots go through. Also, it wasn't until about three months ago that Craig had ever held a gun, which he learned to shoot during special arms training, said his father, Marty, who was stationed at a Naval base during the Vietnam War but never saw combat.

Among the men and women Craig looks after were the four U.S. Marines who died on the first day of fighting when their helicopter crashed nine miles south of the Iraqi border town of Umm Qasr.

Craig writes in an email to friends and family on the Monday following the Thursday crash:

It has been an extremely difficult past few days. Not only in the midst of a war with missiles launched at us daily, but losing my friends out here as well has been indescribable. Now that some time has passed, it has become a little easier, but since I have to investigate the crash, I have to relive it every day.

We had a beautiful memorial service out here that has helped tremendously in allowing us to move on. We still have a job to do, which makes our grieving process that much more difficult. I'm so grateful to all of you for the tremendous support ... Thank you and know that I am safe and sound and will be coming home as soon as possible.

Photograph courtesy of Marty and Nancy McCormick Lt. Craig McCormick, USNR, reports to training in his flight suit at Pensacola, Fla. A Los Gatos native, McCormick is a U.S. Navy flight surgeon assigned to overseeing the health of 30 Marine pilots.

While the men and women stationed overseas may know Craig as a competent doctor, friends and family back home also refer to him as someone with a great sense of humor and athletic prowess and as an all-around good guy.

Raised in Los Gatos, Craig attended Van Meter Elementary and Fisher Middle School. He graduated from Los Gatos High School in 1989, where he was on the soccer, track and water polo teams and was vice president of the student body his senior year. He also played soccer in college and was on the All-Navy soccer team for two years.

After high school, Craig went on to major in integrative biology at UC-Berkeley, where he pledged Phi Kappa Tau. It was during this time that Craig began talking to a recruiter for the Navy, as he looked for scholarship opportunities to help finance his medical schooling. After earning his undergraduate degree, Craig spent six months working as a substitute teacher at Fisher Middle School before heading off to the East Coast.

He studied medicine at New York Medical College, where he took part in the medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha. It was also there that he met Andrea. The couple married in July 2002.

"I certainly had a different plan for my first year of marriage," Andrea said about being separated from Craig during the war. "It's not ideal, but I'm getting through it."

Andrea, who is practicing internal medicine at Scripps Clinic in San Diego, credits her family for helping her through these trying times and says she talks to her mother-in-law several hours a week.

Andrea recalls the family receiving a notice on Jan. 10 that Craig might have to leave for an air base in Kuwait any day. That day did not come for another month, however. Meanwhile, the newlyweds would wake each morning unsure if it would be Craig's last day at home. There was one week where Craig would be dressed in uniform and have his bags packed each morning when Andrea left for work, just in case he was summoned.

"That part was pretty dreadful," Andrea said.

When Craig actually left for Kuwait on Feb. 8, the family had learned by then that he would be leaving for sure. Andrea took Friday afternoon off from work to spend more time with Craig before he would leave the next morning. Her sister flew down Friday evening, and the three went out to dinner and spent Craig's last night at home playing a card game.

Andrea never got to spend Valentine's Day with her husband but said "every day before he left was a celebration." Also, prior to his leaving Craig had ordered a dozen roses to be delivered to Andrea on Valentine's Day.

Hale said that Craig was more concerned for Andrea than himself.

"The main thing he said was for all of us to check in with his new bride," Hale said of his last phone conversation with Craig.

Life hasn't been easy either for Craig's parents, who still reside in Los Gatos, or Craig's two brothers.

"We would watch the news for a while and I'd have to get away from it," admits Marty. After news of the first American casualties two weeks ago, Marty said watching the Academy Awards was "a welcome respite."

It's also difficult for the family to hear reports of antiwar protests at times. "I still defend the right to protest peacefully," said Nancy, Craig's mother. While she supports free speech, it's also discouraging for her to hear of protests that become violent.

Nancy also does not hesitate to say that she supports the troops. Marty and Nancy put together care packages for their son about three times a week.

Once, Craig wrote a note home on the back of a Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) wrapping paper. MREs are prepackaged meals that the troops carry with them. That particular wrapping paper that Craig sent home was part of a prepackaged turkey breast filet dinner that he had eaten that night. It described the turkey breast as "chunked and formed, grilled in gravy with potatoes."

"Wanted to assure you that your care packages are well-received when you see what the other dining options are," he wrote.

Besides his parents, Craig's mother-in-law, an elementary school teacher, also has her students write letters to the squadron that Craig is involved with.

Craig responded to the class in a letter dated March 17:

We joke that life here is like the movie "Groundhog Day." We wake up every morning to the same routine. We go to breakfast and then to the hangar to plan missions and fly the helicopters. We come back from the hanger to the tent city for lunch and then back to work for the afternoon. Some days we fly during daylight and sometimes we fly at night to practice using our Night Vision Goggles ...

We have bunkers that we take shelter in in case of attack. As soon as any bombs stop dropping, medical personnel must come out in order to start treating casualties ... Everyone carries medicine that each person is trained to stick into his or her own leg if we get hit. We pray that it never happens but prepare for the worst.

Photograph by George Sakkestad Nancy and Marty McCormick show their support of U.S. troops in the Middle East with a flag waving outside their home.

The McCormicks are a tight-knit family. Tyler McCormick, 27, describes the sibling rivalry between Craig and him when they were younger as a lighthearted one.

"He was competitive and knew how to push my buttons, but in the end, he probably made me a stronger person," Tyler said. "I definitely had a chance to watch what he did and how he succeeded."

Even with Tyler living in Santa Clara and Craig in San Diego, the two managed to see each other about 10 times a year and would talk at least every other week.

The member of the family Craig saw most often was his older brother, Robb, who also lives in Southern California.

"I would definitely say he's my best friend now as well as my brother," Robb, 33, said about how attending medical school with Craig brought the two closer together, as they would often study together and Craig would come over for dinner.

While Craig takes his studies, his profession and his marriage seriously, family and friends agree there's a much lighter side to Craig's personality. Nicknamed "Corms"—short for "McCormick"—Craig has a fun, competitive spirit that is rarely matched. He will turn anything from a card game to answering the phone into a competition, friends say.

"He's one of those wonderful guys with a sharp and dangerous sense of humor and knows how to get under people's skin," said Hale, referring to mind games Craig uses against his opponents while playing Hearts.

John Stevens, Craig's roommate his last year in college, remembers Craig—who was Stevens' best man at his wedding—showing up to the reception wearing fake buck teeth and smiling for all the cameras. Years later, Stevens and about 15 other friends turned out to Craig's own wedding with their own set of buck teeth. Needless to say, Craig took the joke in stride.

But jokes aside, Stevens said that the men and women overseas are in good hands with Craig. "He's a good conversationalist and will stay up and talk you through whatever" is bothering you, Stevens said.

Now, friends and family await Craig's safe return to the United States—Craig plans to start his residency in radiology at Stanford Hospital next year—and the one person most eager to see him again is his wife.

"I'm just anxious for him to return," Andrea said. "A lot of times I focus on what he's doing. I know he's doing an incredibly important thing that he's good at, and that eases my mind."