This Medal of Honor Recipient Single-Handedly Cleared a House of Iraqi Insurgents. TIME Was There

Former Army Staff Sgt. David G. Bellavia is set to become the first living serviceman to receive the Medal of Honor for his service in the Iraq War. And TIME readers had a close-up view on the heroic actions 15 years ago that earned Bellavia the nation's highest military honor.

TIME featured Bellavia on the cover in November 2004 with a first-person account of Bellavia's platoon being ambushed during operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah.

Former Army Staff Sgt. David G. Bellavia is set to become the first living serviceman to receive the Medal of Honor for his service in the Iraq War. And TIME readers had a close-up view on the heroic actions 15 years ago that earned Bellavia the nation's highest military honor. TIME featured Bellavia on the cover in November 2004 with a first-person account of Bellavia's platoon being ambushed during operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah.