two weeks ago america s final combat brigade in iraq, the army s fourth stryker brigade, journeyed home in the predawn darkness. thousands of soldiers and hundreds of vehicles made the trip from baghdad. the last of them passing into kuwait near the early morning hours. over seven years before american troops and coalition partners had fought their way across similar highways. but this time no shots were fired. it was just a convoy of brave americans making their way home. of course the soldiers left much behind. some were teenagers when the war began. many have served multiple tours of duty far from families who bore a heroic duty of their own and during the absence of a husband s embrace or a mother s kiss, most painfully since the war began, 55 members of the 4th
for so long the u.s. military continues to draw down of combat forces with a major milestone on the horizon. this week the final major combat unit, the 4th stryker brigade, 7th infantry division drove across the border and there are a couple more soldiers due to leave to get down to 50,000 boots on the ground to meet the deadline ending combat operations and the mission changes to operation new dawn and american soldiers will be there in a more advise and assist role, securing aerospace an borders, training iraqis and also, doing counterterrorism operations, general odierno s also leaving iraq after serving in a variety of key roles, most recently as the top commander and, odierno is clearly proud of the job u.s. troops have done in iraq and says it may take several years to properly assess the outcome. we made lots of progress here. i would say to determine whether we have won the war or not and what we can see that, in three to five years, and as we see how
and they won t be out of it anytime soon. so whereas my piece is done, and i don t expect to ever come back here, i know for the iraqis, there s still a long journey they have ahead of them. that is why the 4th stryker brigade was made to stay behind until the very last minute. iraq clinging to fragile stability undermine by squabbling politicians who still haven t formed a new government after election provide no clear winner earlier this year. violent extremists continue to have a power vacuum. but that is being quickly forgot bin the combat troops who already made it home. these are the scenes at for the lewis, washington, as the 4th wave made it back safely. in the seert, the mood pick up in anticipation of return for safety of american soil. your father and son, two people out here. , yes they are. they are beaming ear to ear with a smile. and bret, no doubt we will see many more smiles soon as
threat came in. two passengers, possibly of pakistani descent, were detained and then released. after a four-hour delay the other passengers were rescreened and rebooked on other flights. the u.s. combat operation in iraq has formally come to an end. the last members of the army s 4th stryker brigade rolled across the border into kuwait. some troops from that brigade are already back at their base in washington state. neal karlinsky was there for the homecoming. reporter: for the last combat brigade in iraq, this is what the end of a long, deadly war looks like. love you guys. reporter: for these families, the war in iraq has felt like a lifetime, and in some cases it really has been. a lifetime measured in children who weren t yet born when their parents went off to war. this soldier s kids greeted him with a huge necklace of his favorite candy. how does it feel? oh, it s i there s not enough words to express the feelings that i have right now to be home. i thank god eac
and they won t be out of it anytime soon. so whereas my piece is done, and i don t expect to ever come back here, i know for the iraqis, there s still a long journey they have ahead of them. that is why the 4th stryker brigade was made to stay behind until the very last minute. iraq clinging to fragile stability undermine by squabbling politicians who still haven t formed a new government after election provide no clear winner earlier this year. violent extremists continue to have a power vacuum. but that is being quickly forgot bin the combat troops who already made it home. these are the scenes at for the lewis, washington, as the 4th wave made it back safely. in the seert, the mood pick up in anticipation of return for safety of american soil. your father and son, two people out here. , yes they are. they are beaming ear to ear with a smile. and bret, no doubt we will