Pfc. Jonathan Martinez, of Brooklyn, N.Y., Company

Pfc. Jonathan Martinez, of Brooklyn, N.Y., Company B, Task Force 2-28, 172nd Infantry Brigade, rests his squad automatic weapon on the ground as he searches for mail addressed to him, Sept. 17. It was the first mail in three weeks to arrive at Combat Outpost Zerok and in a day and age where Facebook and cell phones make it easy to stay in contact with loved ones at home, the same scene still plays itself out every day at U.S. combat outposts and forward operating bases all across Afghanistan.