U.S. Marine Cpl. Devin Deweerdt (right), a 20-year-old

U.S. Marine Cpl. Devin Deweerdt (right), a 20-year-old mortarman with 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and native of Riverton, Utah, and fellow Marines discuss insurgent activity in the area with Afghan National Police Sgt. Abdul Ghani (left) through their interpreter Ali during a meeting here, Feb. 25. On his second deployment to Afghanistan, Deweerdt tackles an exhaustive daily schedule of foot patrolling and standing guard duty. When his work is done, he returns to his small patrol base, where he lives without internet or phones. Before the Marine left home, he and his wife resolved to handwrite each other a letter for each day they’re apart. Four months into his deployment, Deweerdt is still writing. Every night, he sits on a green fold-up cot in his tent, places a sheet of notepaper on his black storage container, dons a pair of headphones and escapes into a letter.