A LINE of heavily armored American military vehicles, headlights twinkling in the pre-dawn desert, lumbered past the barbed wire and metal gates marking the border between Iraq and Kuwait early yesterday and rolled into history.

For the troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, it was a moment of relieffraught with symbolism but lightened by the whoops and cheers of soldiers one step closer to going home.

Seven years and five months after the US-led invasion, the last American combatbrigade was leaving Iraq, well ahead of President Barack Obama's August 31 deadline for ending US combat operations there.

When 18-year-old Luke Dill first rolled into Iraq as part of the US invasion, his Humvee was so vulnerable to bombs that the troops lined its floor with flak jackets.

Now 25 and a staff sergeant after two tours of duty, he rode out of Iraq this week in a Stryker, an eight-wheeled behemoth encrusted with armor and add-ons to ward off grenades and other projectiles.

"It's something I'm going to be proud of for the rest of my life - the fact that I came in on the initial push and now I'm leaving with the last of the combat units," he said.

He remembered three straight days of mortar attacks outside the city of Najaf in 2003, so noisy that after the firing ended, the silence kept him awake at night. He recalled the night skies over the northern city of Mosul being lit up by tracer bullets from almost every direction.

Now, waiting for him back in Olympia, Washington is the Harley-Davidson he purchased from one of the motorcycle company's dealerships at US bases in Iraq - a vivid illustration of how embedded the American presence has become since the invasion of March 20, 2003.

That presence is far from over. Scatterings of troops still await departure, and some 50,000 will stay another year in what is designated as a noncombat role. They will carry weapons to defend themselves and accompany Iraqi troops on missions (but only if asked). Special forces will continue to help Iraqis hunt for terrorists.

So the US death toll, at least 4,415 by Pentagon count as of Wednesday, may not yet be final.

The Stryker brigade, based in Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state and named for the vehicle that delivers troops into and out of battle, has lost 34 troops in Iraq. It was at the forefront of many of the fiercest battles. It evacuated troops at the battle of Tarmiyah, an outpost where 28 out of 34 soldiers were wounded holding off insurgents.

The brigade's leadership volunteered to have half of its 4,000 soldiers depart overland instead of taking the traditionalflight out, a decision that allowed the unit to keep 360 Strykers in Iraq for an extra three weeks. The remainder of the brigade flew out with the last of the troops slated to leave later yesterday.

The Strykers left the Baghdad area in separate convoys over a four-day period, traveling at night for security reasons.

For Dill, who reached Kuwait with an earlier convoy, the withdrawal engendered feelings of relief. His mission - to get his squad safely out of Iraq - was accomplished.

Standing alongside a hulking Stryker, his shirt stained with sweat, he acknowledged the men who weren't there to experience the day with him.

"I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and died, this day would probably mean a lot, to finally see us getting out of here," he said.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• relief [ri´li:f] n.救济；援救；减轻 (初中英语单词)
• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
• illustration [,ilə´streiʃən] n.插图，图解，例证 (初中英语单词)
• departure [di´pɑ:tʃə] n.离开，出发 (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
• security [si´kjuəriti] n.安全；证券；抵押品 (初中英语单词)
• mission [´miʃən] n.代表团；使馆vt.派遣 (初中英语单词)
• safely [´seifli] ad.安全地；平安地 (初中英语单词)
• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
• infantry [´infəntri] n.步兵(部队) (高中英语单词)
• invasion [in´veiʒən] n.入侵；侵害；侵犯 (高中英语单词)
• combat [´kɔmbæt] v.&n.斗争；战斗；争斗 (高中英语单词)
• ending [´endiŋ] n.结尾，结局 (高中英语单词)
• sergeant [´sɑ:dʒənt] n.警官；军士 (高中英语单词)
• initial [i´niʃəl] a.最初的 n.首字母 (高中英语单词)
• leadership [´li:dəʃip] n.领导(能力) (高中英语单词)
• remainder [ri´meində] n.剩余物；残余部分 (高中英语单词)
• alongside [əlɔŋ´said] ad.在旁 prep.横靠 (高中英语单词)
• brigade [bri´geid] n.(军队的)旅；队，组 (英语四级单词)
• mortar [´mɔ:tə] n.灰浆 vt.用灰浆涂抹 (英语四级单词)
• vehicle [´vi:ikəl] n.车辆；媒介物 (英语四级单词)
• traditional [trə´diʃənəl] a.传统的，习惯的 (英语四级单词)
• accomplished [ə´kʌmpliʃt] a.完成了的；熟练的 (英语四级单词)
• fraught [frɔ:t] a.充满...的 (英语六级单词)
• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)
• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)
• overland [´əuvə,lænd, ,əuvə´lænd] a.陆上的 ad.陆上 (英语六级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)