- A Polish man named Jerry is put in Birdy's squad for a week. He can play soccer, so they have him train them so they can beat the Iraqi kids in Ba'qubah.
- When they get there, there are teenagers from three villages to play them instead of little kids. They kick the Americans' butts.
- The boy who recruited them, Omar, tells the soldiers they won because they're Muslim and calls each of the soldiers an infidel.
- Things are slow for a while. The soldiers design a pretend trap for Wile E. Coyote after watching too much Looney Tunes.
- They also talk a lot about what isn't being shown on the news. The official word is the war is over, but men keep getting killed.
- When it's almost time for bed, Birdy's squad is ordered to a highway to be part of a ceremony to turn that area over to the Iraqi police.
- When they get there, it's all a press exercise. The press takes footage of the Iraqi police doing drills, but everyone knows there's no real story.
- On the ride back, a series of IEDs go off, and then shots ring out from the distance. Though the IEDs hit the press truck, none of the press are badly wounded.
- But gunshots hit a squad car, injuring Victor's hand and killing Pendleton. Birdy's the one who finds his body.
- There's a memorial for Pendleton, but no one has anything to say about him, because no one really got to know him.
- The chapter ends with a letter from Birdy to his mom, thanking her for the dolls. He doesn't mention Pendleton's death.