FALLUJAH, Iraq Down a steep staircase littered with glass shards and rubble, U.S. Marines descended Thursday to a dark basement believed to have been one of Fallujah's torture chambers. They found ...

NPR — along with seven public radio stations around the country — is chronicling the lives of America's troops where they live. We're calling the project "Back at Base." This is the first installment ...

Jan Bender remembers the moment as if it were yesterday. Taking cover from insurgents, his fireteam had just assembled in the dark in front of a house in Fallujah, Iraq, when the Marines were ...

Photo courtesy of Kristopher Battles. A new painting at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, depicts the dust, darkness, and confusion of the brutal house-to-house fighting ...

FALLUJAH, IRAQ — In 2004 and 2005, the Iraqi city of Fallujah was a killing field. Al Qaeda dominated the streets. Insurgent snipers sought to pick off U.S. Marines on patrol. Some of the fiercest ...

Marines make their way through the streets of Najaf in 2004. (Courtesy Manifold Productions, Inc.) Jan Bender remembers the moment as if it were yesterday. Taking cover from insurgents, his fireteam ...

Jan Bender remembers the moment as if it were yesterday. Taking cover from insurgents, his fireteam had just assembled in the dark in front of a house in Fallujah, Iraq, when the Marines were ...