US Army Staff Sgt. Jackie Vanover, from Spanaway, Wash., holds a hand-made message for his family, including his 2-month-old daughter, Austin, after crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait. Vanover, of the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, is in the last combat brigade to leave Iraq as part of the drawdown of US forces.

Maya Alleruzzo/AP