Two weeks ago, America’s final combat brigade in Iraq — the Army’s Fourth Stryker Brigade — journeyed home in the pre-dawn darkness. Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of vehicles made the trip from Baghdad, the last of them passing into Kuwait in the early morning hours. Over seven years before, American troops and coalition partners had fought their way across similar highways, but this time no shots were fired. It was just a convoy of brave Americans, making their way home.

兩周前，美國駐伊拉克最后一支作戰部隊--陸軍第四裝甲旅——在黎明前時分踏上了歸途。成千上萬的士兵和數百輛軍車離開巴格達，最后一批隊伍在凌晨進入科威特。七年多以前，美國軍隊和聯盟部隊沿著同樣的道路火力推進，但是這次卻一槍不發。只看見一支車隊滿載著英勇的美國軍人踏上回家之路。

Of course, the soldiers left much behind. Some were teenagers when the war began. Many have served multiple tours of duty, far from families who bore a heroic burden of their own, enduring the absence of a husband’s embrace or a mother’s kiss. Most painfully, since the war began, 55 members of the Fourth Stryker Brigade made the ultimate sacrifice — part of over 4,400 Americans who have given their lives in Iraq. As one staff sergeant said, “I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and died, this day would probably mean a lot.”

當然，戰士們放棄了很多東西。戰爭開始時，有些人還只有十幾歲。很多人曾轉戰多次，遠離同樣勇敢地承擔自己的重任的家人，得不到丈夫的擁抱，沒有母親的親吻。最令人痛苦的是，自戰爭開始至今，第四裝甲旅的55名成員作出了最后的犧牲，成為在伊拉克獻出自己生命的4,400多名美國人的一部分。一位上士曾說，“我知道對我那些在戰斗中犧牲的戰友們來說，這一天也許有著非凡的意義。”

Those Americans gave their lives for the values that have lived in the hearts of our people for over two centuries. Along with nearly 1.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq, they fought in a faraway place for people they never knew. They stared into the darkest of human creations — war — and helped the Iraqi people seek the light of peace.

這些美國人為了兩個多世紀以來我國人民刻骨銘心的價值觀獻出了自己的生命。與近150萬曾在伊拉克服務的美國人一樣，他們在一個遙遠的地方為他們從不相識的人作戰。他們直視人類最黑暗的發明——戰爭——幫助伊拉克人民尋求和平之光。

In an age without surrender ceremonies, we must earn victory through the success of our partners and the strength of our own nation. Every American who serves joins an unbroken line of heroes that stretches from Lexington to Gettysburg; from Iwo Jima to Inchon; from Khe Sanh to Kandahar — Americans who have fought to see that the lives of our children are better than our own. Our troops are the steel in our ship of state. And though our nation may be travelling through rough waters, they give us confidence that our course is true, and that beyond the pre-dawn darkness, better days lie ahead.

在沒有受降式的年代，我們必須通過我國伙伴的成功和我們本身的國力爭取勝利。一個個為國服務的美國人加入了一支由英雄組成的隊伍，連綿不絕，世代延續，從列克星敦到葛底斯堡，從硫磺島到仁川，從溪山到坎大哈——任何參加作戰的美國人都可以看到，我們子孫能過上比我們更好的生活。我們的軍隊是我們國家這艘航船上的鋼筋鐵骨。我們的國家可能正在渡過激流險灘，但我們因此獲得了信心，堅信我們的航向正確無誤。沖破黎明前的黑暗，光明就在前方。

Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America, and all who serve her.

謝謝大家。愿上帝保佑諸位。也愿上帝保佑美利堅合眾國，保佑所有為她服務的人們。