Goodnight Baghdad: US troops leave Iraq after 23 years

The Iraq War was already four-years-old when I walked down the ramp of a C-17 at Al Taqaddum Air Base in April 2007. The fact that I am writing these words is proof that I survived that deployment and a subsequent one to Afghanistan in 2013.In the years since, I transitioned back into civilian life, established a new career, and saw my kids grow up and escape the nest. During nearly all of that time, there were still American troops on the ground in Iraq. I have a son serving in the military today. He has never been to Iraq, but I can absolutely sympathize with the Iraq veterans who came home