Editor's note: Below is an excerpt from CNN executive producer and author Suzanne Simons' new book, "Master of War: Blackwater's Erik Prince and the Global Business of War." Donna Zovko, mother of Jerry Zovko, who was killed in Fallujah, testifies at a House hearing. (CNN) -- March 31, 2004, started early for the four men and the convoy they were escorting. Their differences set aside for the time being, the men hopped into their Pajeros and pulled out, heading to the heart of Falluja. Westerners would typically avoid the downtown area, opting instead for a bypass route around the city, but that morning, the convoy set out on Highway 10, right through the busy streets of the city.
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Blackwater sent personnel to Falluja on March 31, 2004
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The men were ambushed and fatally shot
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The bodies were burned, beaten, dragged through the street and hung from a bridge
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The men's deaths sparked a U.S. military assault on the Iraqi city
Locals videotaped as a mob of men and boys began to chant and celebrate, many of them cheering, "Falluja is the graveyard of @placeholder."