Today marks the sixth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war, and President Obama is vowing to get U.S. troops out of Iraq in the next year and a half.
The president says the most important decisions about Iraq's future must now be made by Iraqis.
According to the plan, roughly 100,000 U.S. combat troops will leave over the next eighteen months.
Once the drawdown is complete, a force of fifty thousand troops will stay in Iraq with a new mission. The campaign in Iraq has now lasted longer than the United States' involvement in World War II.
Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division helped lead the charge into Iraq on March 20, 2003, and many have paid the ultimate price for it.
Almost 500 trees have been planted along Warriors Walk in Fort Stewart in honor of 3rd ID soldiers killed in the conflict.
3rd ID Chief of Staff Col. Terry Ferrell was a squadron commander during the initial invasion.
"With all those that have given their lives and the countless soldiers and rotations we've served, we've made great strides and achieved wonderful successes, but it's come at a high cost, as you can see the beautiful trees here in bloom. But we know we've made great strides and great successes, and we will continue to do that as we move forward in that country and as we prepare for our next rotation," says Ferrell.
More than 4,200 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. Some estimates put the number of Iraqi civilian deaths at well more than 100,000. The anniversary of the war was marked with protests in several Iraqi cities today.
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