ABOARD THE BATAAN The crew of this warship has glimpsed American land for the first time in nearly 11 months, marking the last leg in what's become the longest U.S. Navy ship deployment in nearly 40 years.

By Julie Watson CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. The lone Marine to face sentencing for the killings of two dozen unarmed Iraqis in one of the Iraq War's defining moments walked away with no jail time Tuesday after defending his squad's storming of the homes of Haditha as a necessary act "to keep the rest of my Marines alive."

By Emery P. Dalesio RALEIGH, N.C. The new owners of the security company formerly known as Blackwater said Saturday they have settled a lawsuit brought by some of the survivors and estates of Iraqis killed during an infamous 2007 shooting in Baghdad.

By Bushra Juhi BAGHDAD Hundreds of Sunni Muslims gathered in Baghdad on Friday to celebrate the withdrawal of American forces, but in a sign of the sectarian divisions that re-emerged immediately after their departure, Shiite Muslims did not join the event.

By BEN NUCKOLS and SAMANTHA GROSS WASHINGTON Americans probably won’t be seeing a huge ticker-tape parade anytime soon for troops returning from Iraq, and it’s not clear if veterans of the nine-year campaign will ever enjoy the grand, flag-waving, red-white-and-blue homecoming that the nation’s fighting men and women received after World War II and the Gulf War.

Unit size About 200 soldiers
Location of deployment Iraq
Deployed February and March
Returned Wednesday

The Virginia National Guard announced the following homecomings this week.

Unit size About 300 soldiers from three units

Location of deployment Iraq

Deployed June

Returned Sunday and today

By Rebecca Santana

AT THE IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER Outside, it was pitch dark. The six American soldiers couldn't see much of the desert landscape streaming by outside the small windows of their armored vehicle. They were hushed and exhausted from an all-night drive - part of the last convoy of U.S. troops to leave Iraq during the final moment of a nearly nine-year war.

GREENSBORO, N.C. As the last U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq on Sunday, friends and family of the first and last American fighters killed in combat were cherishing their memories rather than dwelling on whether the war and their sacrifice was worth it.

BAGHDAD

NATO has ended its seven-year training mission in Iraq with a ceremony in Baghdad's Green Zone. During Saturday's ceremony, senior Iraqi military commanders praised NATO's role in training Iraqi army and security forces since the program began in 2004.