Finding The Way Home

The mayor and police chief of Bradford, Ark., along with eight other Guardsmen, are back from Iraq. But they, and their town, aren't the same

Mayor Paul Bunn paces the parking lot in front of Bradford's city hall, barking out orders on his cell phone while smoking a cigarette. The puffing and the posturing are habits honed by a year of leading troops through hellfire in Baghdad. "People do what I say, when I say, how I say, and no questions asked," says Bunn in his staff-sergeant mode, stubbing out the cigarette. The city staff—all two of them—ruin the effect, however, by peering out a city-hall window and smiling indulgently at the boss. It is his first day back at work. They're just glad to have...

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