Karbala, Iraq: Later known among the troops as "The Battle Royal" due to extremely heavy and prolonged combat, the 7th of May was the beginning of a new phase in the United States' military campaign against firebrand cleric Muqtada Sadr's militia, known as the Mahdi Army. It kicked off two days prior during a night operation against strongholds of the militia, though this was the first day infantry troops were actively engaged in urban combat.

On this street, a soldier from the 1-36 Infantry, First Armored Division shouts "grenade!" as he lobs one over a wall behind which a militia fighter took cover.