Cliff Owen/Associated Press
- After a raid on an Afghan village, US Maj. Joshua Mast tried for years to adopt a baby he found in the rubble.
- He claims her parents were foreign fighters and that she was stateless. Villagers say her parents were farmers.
- State and federal courts are still in the process of determining who receives custody of the child.
The Afghan villager was afraid the American soldiers might come. And one cool night in fall, as his children lay asleep, helicopters roared overhead.
At the first sound of gunshots, he yelled for his wife and 10 children to take cover. His young daughter grabbed her sleeping infant sister off the bed. Their mud compound exploded, and a blast sent a huge shock through the home.