In his documentary, Ware described what happened next. "Someone had to go back in there. Someone had to kill them," Ware said. "It was Staff Sgt. Bellavia."
Followed by Ware and one other soldier, Bellavia went back in to the pitch black house. He killed three of the enemies and wounded a fourth.
"He just rolled and he tore up the stairs," Bellavia said. "This guy's hurt and I, I like my chances with a guy that's hit repeatedly. And he's bleeding. I could see the blood. He's mine."
The official Army account says Bellavia "silenced" the wounded fighter.
"I hit him with my helmet. I hit him with everything I could," Bellavia said. "All I could think of is that if I could just hit this guy enough times with my helmet, you know."
The rest of what happened is as savage as combat gets and Bellavia put it all in this book. On Tuesday, he became the first living soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions in Iraq.
"My award has always been that i'm alive and i'm home. And that's the greatest thing in the world to have," he said.
Here's something even greater: Every man in his squad came home alive with him.