We're Out

The occasion was all over the news yesterday and today... Hell, Fox News even sent Geraldo to Kuwait to cover the withdrawal, an event I took a pass on.  I can't think of one single, solitary reason to lend my eyes to anything featuring that guy.  Period.  That said, I did see several smaller pieces here and there, one o' them being this one from the Usual USAF Source:

Sixty-two airmen and 55 soldiers flew aboard a C-17 from Imam Ali Base in southern Iraq to Kuwait, Dec. 17, 2011. This was the final US military flight from Iraq as part of the phased pullout of US troops, which concluded on the following day. Here, the airmen and soldiers aboard the C-17 prior to its takeoff.  Air Force photo by MSgt. Cecilio Ricardo

Last US Military Flight Leaves Iraq: Iraqi-Kuwaiti theater—Sixty-two airmen and 55 soldiers assigned to Camp Adder, known to the Iraqis as the Imam Ali Base, on the outskirts of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, boarded a C-17 from Travis AFB, Calif., on Dec. 17 for a flight back to Kuwait. It was the last flight from the last US military base on the last night of Operation New Dawn, said Maj. Gen. Anthony Rock, 321st Air Expeditionary Wing commander, who flew from Kuwait back to Iraq to thank the troops for their service and make the historic flight back with them. The Daily Report was aboard for both legs. "This is a very historic night. I encourage all of you to look at the airmen to your left and to your right and shake their hands," said Maj. Gen. Russell Handy, the senior Air Force leader in Iraq, who also made the flight back to greet the troops. Handy told the airmen to remember the hundreds of thousands who served before them and the 4,500 Americans who gave their lives in Iraq. "We buy a lot of equipment in the Air Force, but it's really all about the people. If there was ever an operation that was about the people, it's what we did here in Iraq. Thanks for your service and everything you've done," he said. Camp Adder transitioned back to the Iraqis on Dec. 16.

—Amy McCullough

Thanks for your service, indeed.  There are NO words to express the debt o' gratitude we owe these fine young people.  The old ones, too.