Fallen US soldier was just days away from returning home to her family

In Minnesota, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor was counting down the days until she could return home to her husband and two children. But a drone strike on a U.S. command center in Kuwait killed her and several other service members before that day arrived.

Her husband later said they had spoken just hours before the attack. The conversation was ordinary — the kind couples have when they expect many more to come. By morning, her messages stopped.

Now her family faces the reality of an empty home and a future without her. Behind the headlines about war and geopolitics is a family grieving a mother who was almost home.