Applause welcomes last Iraq vehicle as it arrives in Beaumont

Ports America stevedore Marshall Jones, far right, keeps the truck's side to the crowd. The Army's final vehicle from Iraq came back to the United States, Monday, May 7, 2012, to be part of the First Cavalry Museum at Fort Hood. It is a Mine Resistant Armor Protected vehicle, or MRAP for short. The Army closed the gate behind it as it left Iraq and the vehicle was lifted off a military cargo vessel at the Port of Beaumont. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise less Ports America stevedore Marshall Jones, far right, keeps the truck's side to the crowd. The Army's final vehicle from Iraq came back to the United States, Monday, May 7, 2012, to be part of the First Cavalry ... more Photo: Dave Ryan Photo: Dave Ryan Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Applause welcomes last Iraq vehicle as it arrives in Beaumont 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

The "last vehicle out of Iraq" touched down Monday at the Port of Beaumont as soldiers and civilians applauded to welcome it home.

The vehicle is an MRAP, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, and it was indeed a homecoming for this particular vehicle, built by BAE Systems in Sealy, west of Houston.

Its final destination is the First Cavalry Museum at Fort Hood in Killeen.

Cranes from the Ocean Crescent cargo ship lifted the MRAP off its deck and gently lowered it onto the port's Harbor Island wharf. A couple of dozen soldiers and civilian employees of the port-based 842nd Transportation Battalion held up digital cameras to snap images. As it touched down, they clapped and whooped.

Read this story in Tuesday's Enterprise.