By Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes
At the height of sectarian fighting here in the summer of 2006, Sunni tribesman surrounded a house in an isolated Shiite village being wiped off the map.
According to U.S. commanders, the five men inside held out for three days until, out of food, water and ammunition, they surrendered in exchange for a promise of safe passage out of the area. Taking their women and children and fleeing as hundreds of other Shiites already had, the men made it only a few miles before they were stopped at a Sunni checkpoint.
