This gallery gives visitors a glimpse onto today’s fields of battle, precipitated by the acts of terrorism suffered by the U.S. on 11 September 2001. Through photographs, combat art, maps, and text, the museum shares with the visitor powerful images from Afghanistan and Iraq. Because these conflicts are ongoing, this gallery will be frequently updated.

Marine Corps photographers assigned to Combat Camera Units capture powerful images that add depth and detail, personality and emotion to battlefield scenes. Their work also helps commanders in the field who need images to make real-time decisions and learn lessons. Since World War II, photographers armed with rifles and camera equipment have been documenting everything the field units do—from eating in makeshift mess halls to charging through combat zones. Today, 400 personnel are assigned to Combat Camera. Unless noted otherwise, Combat Camera personnel, who deploy globally wherever Marines are in the fight, took the photographs in this gallery.

War disrupts family life, and it is especially hard for children to understand why their mother, father, or siblings must deploy to places so far away. Children have their own special place in this gallery to help them understand why their loved ones have been called away.

This is a temporary exhibition. When the National Museum of the Marine Corps opens its second phase, it will dedicate a permanent gallery that fully explores the deployment of Marines during the post-Vietnam War era, including the conflicts in the Persian Gulf, the Global War on Terrorism, and the many other actions Marines have been called upon to perform.