During the Second Battle of Fallujah, when the tracked vehicle Justin Boswood was riding in dropped its gate, he leaped up, turned to the left and was immediately met with intense enemy machinegun fire to welcome him to a surreal scene with buildings reduced to rubble, power lines falling and cars exploding. “It was a lot to take in, in a short amount of time,” he said. Boswood’s story is just one of many included in the multimedia project DAV published in 2024 commemorating the 20th anniversary

Yesterday in 2004, #Marines launched the Second Battle of Fallujah, also known as Operation Phantom Fury. For more than six weeks, Marines and U.S. Army Soldiers fought alongside coalition partners to clear the city of insurgents. The street-to-street and house-to-house fighting was some of the most intense combat of the Iraq War, and led to acts of exceptional courage by Marines and Soldiers. Nine Marines were awarded the Navy Cross for their heroism, and U.S. Army Staff Sergeant David Bellavia