The last vehicles in a convoy of the U.S. Army's...

The last vehicles in a convoy of the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait. (Dec. 18, 2011) Credit: AP

The U.S. convoys Sunday were the last of a massive operation to pull out American forces that has lasted for months to meet the end-of-the-year deadline agreed upon with the Iraqis during the Bush administration.

By Thursday,  two U.S. bases and less than 4,000 U.S. troops remained in Iraq — a drop from the roughly 500 military installations and as many as 170,000 troops in that country during the surge ordered by Bush in 2007, when violence was at its worst.

As of Saturday night, that was down to one base — Camp Adder — and the final 500 soldiers.

Have you known someone who was deployed since the 2003 invasion of Iraq?

Newsday LogoDON'T MISS THIS LIMITED-TIME OFFER1 5 months for only $1Save on Unlimited Digital Access
ACT NOWSALE ENDS SOON | CANCEL ANYTIME