(Franklin Fisher/Stars and Stripes)

Baghdad, December 2003: Near the Palestine Hotel, Staff Sgt. Tim Litwin, 38, of Paris, Tenn., pets Lucy, a dog who’s been a constant companion to U.S. troops ever since the fall of the city months earlier. Litwin is a squad leader with the 1st Armored Division’s Company B, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment.