The Great Read: This Marine Died in the Iraq War. His Mother Asks, ‘What Was It For?’
Travis Fuller was from my hometown. I went back and talked with his family about how they made sense of his death, 25 years after Sept. 11.
The New York Times
The Great Read
August 31, 2026, 2:00 p.m. Eastern time

On weekdays and Sundays, we recommend one piece of exceptional writing from The Times — a narrative or essay that takes you someplace you might not expect to go.

A portrait of Travis Fuller.

This Marine Died in the Iraq War. His Mother Asks, ‘What Was It For?’

Travis Fuller was from my hometown. I went back and talked with his family about how they made sense of his death, 25 years after Sept. 11.

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