Part I

The Marine from
down the street

Even the wisecracking Patrick Murray was grim with anger and grief as his platoon strapped on armor and helmets to go back out on night patrol.

Part II

1/25 lands in Iraq

No training could truly prepare reservists of the 1st Battalion of the 25th Marines for what they found at the end of March 2006 when they arrived in Fallujah.

Part III

9/4/06: The deadliest day

Murray's company drew some grim duty: guarding a memorial service in downtown Fallujah for a fallen Marine.
"Our job was to stir up the hornets' nest," Murray said.

Part IV

Some assembly required

The right leg was hamburger, bits of bone and shreds of tendon. Inside Fallujah Surgical, Murray made the doctors promise to try to save his leg, but as he went under, a voice said, "I think we may have to amputate . . ."

Part V

Epilogue

He's home, dealing with diagnoses of traumatic brain injury and a condition that may weaken the joint between his right leg and hip. Nevertheless, says his mother, “If you would have told me . . . ‘In a year, Patrick will be on his feet, he’ll be so positive about his future and have this great job’ … if you had told me that, I would have said, ‘Thank you, God.’ ”