On the day of local soldier Michael Merila's funeral, as well as every other day, the Veterans Memorial Cemetery flag flies at half-mast. Merila died Feb. 16, 2004, when his convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device in Talifar, Iraq. He would have been buried here, but because of the extensive nature of his injuries, his body was cremated.
This winter, U.S. News & World Report photographer Jim Lo Scalzo drove the length of the U.S.-Mexican border from El Paso, Texas, to San Diego, Calif.
(3/10/06)
Yemen, an impoverished Muslim nation on the Arabian Peninsula, became a surprising U.S. ally in the wake of September 11. A look at the country and its people
(3/3/06)
