cnn's michael holmes was with the u.s.uwait back in spring of 2003. michael holmes really has come full circle now. he watched as the last u.s. military convoy arrived at the iraq/kuwait border crossing. take a look. >> reporter: it was indeed a historic moment just after dawn, around 7:30 a.m. u.s. soldiers leaving iraq. the same way they went in -- across the kuwaiti border nine years ago. after 4,500 deaths, more than 30,000 u.s. troops wounded and $1 trillion in costs, the war was over for these troops and, in fact, all u.s. troops. there is not one left in iraq outside of u.s. embassy and its compounds. of course the cost to iraqis even greater. well over 100,000 deaths in iraq, and hundreds of thousands of iraqis wounded by this conflict. of course, what happens now in iraq, what sort of iraq did the americans leave behind? well, there's a fractious political setup at the moment. the foundations of the political system are shallow. but the sectarian divisions run deep. a lot of people are worried about what happens n

our good colleague and good friend, michael holmes shares his year in the combat zone.th us. it's 24 minutes past the hour on this cnn saturday morning. >>> as we get close to the bottom of the hour now, a major milestone in the nearly nine-year u.s. war in iraq. all americans packed up yesterday and left an enormous military base near baghdad's airport and signed control over to the iraq authorities. it's camp victory over the american headquarters since very early in the war since the days when correspondent michael holmes may say made his first trip there to cnn, we asked him to share his thoughts, miss memories, both good and bad of his experiences of reporting on the war. >> it still, you know, resinates with me as a very big part of what i've been in the last eight or nine years. i look back on those photos right now and look back on what that's like, initially, this was day one of the setup. you could all the wires everywhere, people everywhere, plastic chairs. this was our live shot position. this was after post combat bureau, if you like. we're a pretty knight

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and this is where we can find our michael holmes. he is live at the iraqi/kuwaiti border. there of these soldiers wrapping things up, loading equipment on to vehicles and driving in the desert to kuwait. michael, tell us more. >> reporter: yeah, halah, i just heard the toot of a horn behind me. the last element of the last convoy is on approach. the gates you see behind me there are just past that is the official border between iraq and kuwait. and what's happened is, over the last few hours, we've been here all night at about four or five hours ago, around 3:00 a.m. local time, the first element of this last convoy crossed over the border here noor kuwait. this is a convoy of about 100 or more vehicles broken up into four elements. the military calls them series. three of those series have gone through. the last is on its way. here's the first truck now. it's probably, this vehicle here is probably part of the route clearance element that comes through ahead of each series and makes sure that the road is clear. and behind those vehicles there's going to be the last of the

>> reporter: michael holmes, cnn are baghdad. >>> up next on cnn, a former army captain who spent 15 months in iraq tells us how his blog became a huge hit among fellow soldiers. >>> the last american forces will be out of iraq by the end of the year. former army captain matt gallagher spent 15 months in iraq. he began blogging about his experiences soon after he arrived in 2007 as a lieutenant. his blog was enormously popular with fellow soldiers. then in 2008, the army shut down his blog. last year those stories were published so as a book called kaboom." so author matt gallagher joins me now from new york. thank you, sir. good to see you. doing okay? >> good to see you. yeah, absolutely. ha thanks for having me. >> you are the senior writer on the iava. matt, the question is, what's going through your head now? you've been there, the troops are coming home, you see the remaining troops will be home soon. how does that feel? >> very surreal time. i'm sure not just just for myself but all veterans of iraq. not being there, there's a sense of closure, of course, but seeing the images

>> reporter: michael holmes, cnn, baghdad. >> michael holmes is live now for us in kuwait city., regular, everyday people suffering the wounds of war. how do they balance their opt mix toward a future iraq versus anger? >> reporter: a lot of those that you see there wounded, some of them are philosophical. others are angry and they're not really getting the balance the anger. you know, brooke, the thing is, you think of it this way. last month alone, there were 200 iraqis killed by these sorts of attacks. bombings and shootings and the like. 350 of them wounded. what country in the world would have those sorts of fatalities and injuries and it doesn't even make news anymore. it really doesn't. and it is not unusual. it is happening all the time. i just came out of baghdad yesterday and the day i left, seven dead, 28 wounded in a variety of different attacks around the country. so for iraqis, the americans leaving, well, okay. fine. but the war is not over. >> so what's next for all these people you've met in your years of covering this war each and every year of the war since? >

cnn's michael holmes was there. you saw it live. his firsthand report next. world.s...the weather should never keep you inside. ♪ because they see no limits, there's eukanuba nutrition designed to help their body go as far as their mind wants to. eukanuba. extraordinary nutrition for extraordinary beings. see the difference in 28 days or your money back. forty years ago, he wasn't worried about retirement. he'd yet to hear of mutual funds, iras, or annuities. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement solutions for our military, veterans and their families. from investments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. >>> it was quite amazing to watch it happen live last night. nearly nine years, almost 4500 u.s. troops killed, another 30,000 wounded, the toll of the iraq war, a conflict now officially over after the last remaining u.s. troops left the country overnight. cnn's michael holmes wa

michael holmes, cnn, baghdad. >>> heartbreak. >>> and then something to think about. careerwise. would you ever say no to a promotion at work by risky career moves that actually could pay off big in the new year coming up. 's in "reclaiming your career." >>> all right. a look at the top stories straight ahead, including drug charges leveled against chicago bears wide receiver sam hurd. speaking live way reporter who has followed the case from the very beginning. >>> already. every week we focus on ways to get a jump-start in the workforce and in today's "reclaim your career" we're talking about five risky career moves that actually could pay off. valerie burton is the author of "where will you go from here"? valerie, a catch. the five career moves are not for everyone. so you've got to be calculating about this? >> you do. because the most resilient and successful people take risks, but they do it in a really smart way. there are mistakes people make when they try to take these career moves. >> one big risk is leaving your comfort zone. leaving the career, the job that you have,

cnn's michael holmes was traveling with them then. michael has certainly come full circle now. he was there at the iraq-kuwait border overnight as the last u.s. military convoy arrived. he joins us now. michael, full circle for you, full circle for a lot of people in this country who have watched this over the past nine years. >> absolutely. nine years, 4,500 u.s. servicemen lost their lives, more than 30,000 wounded. $1 trillion spent on this war. they've left a country that's not technically at war but it is certainly not at peace. those guys coming across the border, t.j., were elated. you heard the horns in that video you heard a few minutes ago blowing the big air horns on these large armored vehicles, high fives. they went to a place initially called midway yard where they deweaponed, if you like, all the weapons in fact were cleared. then they head down here to camp virginia. there were hugs, posing with american flags, taking photographs. a few last mem ms. then they came here. behind me you can see there, they are gathering some of them to watch the washington redskins

i'm about to talk about this with one of our anchors, michael holmes. first, watch his report. reporter: they are a legacy of the war here. squalor camps and they have not gone back home. >> translator: i don't sleep at night. ever since my husband died, i don't sleep. i wake up at 4:00 a.m., i pray and keep checking on my children. >> reporter: the lives of those children changed forever in 2004 when masked men came to their neighborhood and started shooting. the family fled and ever since this has been home. >> translator: what do i do? i'm a widow with children and i live here. i have no one. >> reporter: this place is home to 1200 men, women, and children, lots of children, living in appalling conditions on the grounds of what was a suddam hussein military base on the outskirts of baghdad. it is a terrible existence. >> translator: how should we feel, says, we have nowhere to go. mahmood fled sectarian violence in his home town. today his family of ten struggles just to survive. his 10-year-old daughter holds her baby sister and dreams. >> translator: i want to read and wri

our cnn correspondent michael holmes shares some milestones. >> reporter: it's still, you know, resonatesart of where i've been in the last eight or nine years. i look back on those photos now an remember what that was like. i was going on an average of twice a year for a month or six weeks at a time. initially this is like day one of the set-up. you see all the wires everywhere, people everywhere, plastic chairs. this was our live shot position. this was our first post combat bureau, if you like. we were a pretty tight-knit group. it is a bit of a club an anyone who was there at the time, you never forget it. in the early part of the war, we were able to travel what the military called unilateral. we'd go out, we'd do stories all over the country. that all changed in january of 2004 which is when we were attack. we were down in a place called hilla and we were ambushed. it was just a horrible, horrible day because, two men were killed that day. that's when embedding with the military became almost the only real safe way or safer way of getting out of the city. in '06 and '07, too, there