Specialist Quianna Biggs, 26, of Nanuet, spends the final moments taking photos with her family before the opening of the farewell deployment ceremony for the New York Army National Guard Soldiers of the 101st Expeditionary Signal Battalion where soldiers said goodbye to their families before departing for post-mobilization training at Fort Bliss, Texas and eventual deployment to Afghanistan, August 19, 2012. ( Melissa Elian/The Journal News )
Rebecca Santana, of the Bronx, makes use of the final moments with her two sons Ethan, 2, and Christopher, 11, before the farewell deployment ceremony for the New York Army National Guard Soldiers of the 101st Expeditionary Signal Battalion where soldiers said goodbye to their families before departing for post-mobilization training at Fort Bliss, Texas and eventual deployment to Afghanistan, August 19, 2012. ( Melissa Elian/The Journal News )