KRGV.com

Valley soldiers are reacting to the end of the war in Iraq. The U.S. Defense Department made the announcement Thursday, nine years after the start of "Shock and Awe." The soldiers we talked to say it's time for the U.S. military to come home.

Ramon Cardenas works as a security guard now. He was a driver for a National Guard unit in Baghdad from December 2009 to August 2010.

"I don't think we should still be over there, but I'm glad that we did because we showed the other countries that we're not afraid to fight, no matter what," says Cardenas.

No matter what means the high costs of the Iraq war: an estimated 4,500 U.S. dead, 32,000 wounded, 100,000 Iraqi civilians killed and the financial cost $800 billion.

In Alamo, Heinz Scheffler served with the Marines as a military police officer near the Syrian border from September 2008 to April 2009. He also agrees with the decision to bring the troops home now.

"Me myself being that I was out there, I know what the families go through, the agony and the pain of knowing that their family is out there. Every day is a 50-50 chance for survival," says Scheffler.

Back in Weslaco, Cardenas summed up his emotions.

"I feel relieved because it's one less thing that our country has to worry about," says Cardenas.

It is one less thing as the U.S. military says all the troops in Iraq will be home by Christmas. About 150 troops will remain in Baghdad for a training mission. Almost 30 soldiers from the Rio Grande Valley died in the Iraq war.