PART IV: for 2 Soldiers, Families, Lives

By SHARON COHEN AP NATIONAL WRITER In that dreadful December, every day brought bloodshed, every week hundreds of attacks on Americans and Iraqis. Car bombings. Drive-by shootings. Kidnappings. Torture. Bullet-riddled bodies. Sectarian fighting. It was a horrible end to a horrible year in the Iraq war. And for two young soldiers, December 2006 was the month that changed everything, forever. The sky was clear on Dec. 2 when Sgt. John Kriesel's armored Humvee rolled out to check a report of suspicious activity: people digging on a dirt road near Fallujah. His Humvee was turning a corner when the left front tire ran over something. Riding shotgun in the vehicle, Kriesel heard a metallic plink - like a rock striking a 55-gallon drum. Then: BOOOM! The Humvee flew into the air, its doors blowing open, the gunner shooting out of the... [read full story]