The troops tightly embraced spouses, children and other relatives who had waited on the Texas Army post for their 3 a.m. arrival Sunday. The soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division said they were glad to be home before Christmas — and relieved to be out of Iraq.
Staff Sgt. Elama Palemene hugged his wife and two young daughters after returning from his fourth deployment.
Palemene’s group was among many returning to Fort Hood in recent weeks — one nearly every day — because of the troop withdrawal, said Staff Sgt. Jefferson VanWey, a 1st Cavalry spokesman.
Palemene said he was happy upon hearing the news that the very last US combat troops rolled out of Iraq across the border into neighboring Kuwait at daybreak Sunday. Their convoy’s exit marked the end of a bitterly divisive war that raged for nearly nine years and left Iraq shattered, with troubling questions lingering over whether the Arab nation will remain a steadfast US ally.
Palemene said he hopes the country remembers that US troops are still fighting in Afghanistan.
