(CNN) -- You can take the man out of the uniform, but you can't take the uniform out of the man. Once a soldier, always a soldier. That's why, despite my cautious optimism regarding President Obama's recent announcement of the planned end of the Iraq war, I'm still a little wary. This isn't the first time a president has told me the war was over. On May 1, 2003, my men and I were in Kuwait, waiting for orders to move into Iraq. A young rifle platoon leader in the infantry, I knew just enough to be both eager and nervous. Everyone knows what happened next: the aircraft carrier, the flight suit, the Mission Accomplished banner. A declaration of an end to major combat operations.
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Paul Rieckhoff says he once was fooled into thinking the Iraq war was over
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After the "Mission Accomplished" speech, the real war began, he says
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Whatever happens after U.S. troops leave Iraq, the war will continue for America
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He says it could cost up to $1 trillion to care for the Iraq, Afghanistan veterans
More than 4,400 @placeholder families are forever shattered, having lost a son or a daughter or a mother or a brother.