Members of the Fourth Infantry Division's First Brigade and US Special Forces captured Hussein on December 13, 2003.
Hussein was on the run for nine months, and the time he spent hiding underground had clearly weathered him.
After Hussein and his family fled Baghdad, the US Department of Defense distributed their images on playing cards to assist in their identification. They added "captured" after they got him.
Hussein's capture was seen as a major victory for US forces, but the celebration of his arrest was short-lived. A mere four months later, US contractors would be killed and hanged in Fallujah, leading to a near year-long battle amid increasing disillusionment with the war effort.
Read more: 15 years ago, the US invaded Iraq — here's how it changed the Middle East country