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.

两周前，美国驻伊拉克最后一支作战部队--陆军第四装甲旅——在黎明前时分踏上了归途。成千上万的士兵和数百辆军车离开巴格达，最后一批队伍在凌晨进入科威特。七年多以前，美国军队和联盟部队沿着同样的道路火力推进，但是这次却一枪不发。只看见一支车队满载着英勇的美国军人踏上回家之路。

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.”

当然，战士们放弃了很多东西。战争开始时，有些人还只有十几岁。很多人曾转战多次，远离同样勇敢地承担自己的重任的家人，得不到丈夫的拥抱，没有母亲的亲吻。最令人痛苦的是，自战争开始至今，第四装甲旅的55名成员作出了最后的牺牲，成为在伊拉克献出自己生命的4,400多名美国人的一部分。一位上士曾说，“我知道对我那些在战斗中牺牲的战友们来说，这一天也许有着非凡的意义。”

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.

这些美国人为了两个多世纪以来我国人民刻骨铭心的价值观献出了自己的生命。与近150万曾在伊拉克服务的美国人一样，他们在一个遥远的地方为他们从不相识的人作战。他们直视人类最黑暗的发明——战争——帮助伊拉克人民寻求和平之光。

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.

在没有受降式的年代，我们必须通过我国伙伴的成功和我们本身的国力争取胜利。一个个为国服务的美国人加入了一支由英雄组成的队伍，连绵不绝，世代延续，从列克星敦到葛底斯堡，从硫磺岛到仁川，从溪山到坎大哈——任何参加作战的美国人都可以看到，我们子孙能过上比我们更好的生活。我们的军队是我们国家这艘航船上的钢筋铁骨。我们的国家可能正在渡过激流险滩，但我们因此获得了信心，坚信我们的航向正确无误。冲破黎明前的黑暗，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.

谢谢大家。愿上帝保佑诸位。也愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国，保佑所有为她服务的人们。