Megan McCloskey ©Stars and StripesIraq, January, 2007: U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Tien, commanding officer of Friedberg, Germany-based 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, hands a stuffed animal to an Iraqi child in Hamdiyah, a section of Jazeera that until a few weeks before was too hostile for coalition forces to stop and interact with the neighborhood residents.

RELATED MATERIAL: A 2007 Stars and Stripes story about the battle for Jazeera.