Last U.S. Troops Left Iraq Today, McLean Neighbors Played Historic Roles

The last U.S. soldiers rolled across the border into Kuwait Sunday morning officially ending the eight-year war in Iraq.

The last troops left Contingency Operating Base Adder in the early morning on Saturday, according to the Washington Post. About 100 of the last armored vehicles rolled along an empty stretch of highway to the Kuwaiti border from dusk through the break of day, according to Reuters.

McLean neighbors played leading roles in the war from policymakers, intelligence officers  to servicemen men who fought.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is seen along with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield as the major architects of the war. The war marked the first time in U.S. history that the nation went to war with a nation that had never attacked it.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell made the case of war before the United Nations in February 2003.

Gen. David Petreaus, now CIA Director, commanded the (legendary) 101st Airborne Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It was his first combat assignment, and he came under fire during an ambush in Najaf, according to the New York Times.

In early 2007, he took over command of the Multi-National Forces in Iraq just as President Bush revamped his war strategy and ordered what the administration described as the "surge" of forces, a buildup that peaked in summer 2007, the Times reported.

James Anderson, who formerly worked at Greenberrys,  served in Iraq with the 29th Infantry Division.*

Sgt. First Class Rodolfo Ruiz said he couldn't wait to call his wife and kids to let them know he was safe.

As the last troops crossed into Kuwait, they celebrated by honking horns on the transport vehicles they were in, according to Reuters.

In 2009, President Barack Obama called for the withdrawal of 90,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by August 2010, according to a 2009 USA Today article. Troops leaving Saturday and Sunday were responsible for training Iraqi troops and police to maintain the country when the United States pulled out. The U.S. will still have a presence in Iraq, as the country will be home to largest American embassy in the world, according to the New York Times.

Of the 16,000 Americans who will be in Iraq after the military pullout, most of them contractors, less than 200 of them will be military personnel, according to the New York Times. The cost of the war in Iraq, according to the Washington Post, is more than $1 trillion and more than 4,400 soldiers were killed in eight years of fighting.

*If you know of other neighbors who served in Iraq, please let us know. We hope they are home and safe.

The 29th landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day.