A soldier waves to fellow soldiers on the ground from

A soldier waves to fellow soldiers on the ground from his post atop a heavily armored gun truck. The "Gunner" spends as many hours as it takes to complete their transit sitting in the turret prepared to protect the members of the convoy if necessary. The final convoys exited Iraq without meeting resistance. In a fitting end to Operation New Dawn, taking place in the morning hours of Dec. 18, 2011, the final crossing of U.S. forces from Iraq took place just after dawn and provided a visible end to one of the longest chapters in U.S. military history. During the 8 years and 9 months spent in Iraq, more than one million U.S. service members took part in myriad missions across Iraq.