With the 8-year-old Iraq War rapidly coming to an end and U.S. troops streaming to the exits, the majority of 800 25th Infantry Division headquarters soldiers in the country will be coming home to Hawaii earlier than anticipated, officials said.

Most will be home by Christmas, with the first returning in mid- to late November and other soldiers redeploying by mid-December.

"All I can say is that I’m happy and I’m excited. I did a lot of praying that (the return) would still be in the December time frame," said Dayshawn Pierre, a mother of three in Hawaii whose husband is a private first class in Iraq.

Lt. Col. Sean Wilson, a 25th Infantry spokesman in Baghdad, said a very small "trail party" of about 30 Schofield Barracks soldiers will remain in Kuwait handling logistics through early January.

Maj. Gen. Bernard Champoux, the 25th Division commander, has oversight for central and southern Iraq and will soon also have control of the north as the last division-level headquarters of the Iraq War.

Previously, division commanders operated in the north, in Baghdad and in the south with up to tens of thousands of troops under their control.

As of last week there were 41,000 U.S. military personnel in Iraq.

Champoux will be among the last to leave as he makes sure that everyone is out who needs to be out, Wilson said. "He’s made that particularly clear."

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, the official spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said during a press teleconference last week that the United States had redeployed 1.6 million pieces of equipment since the start of Operation New Dawn in September 2010 and still had 800,000 pieces of equipment to go.

On the road were 399 convoys and more than 13,900 trucks moving equipment out of Iraq, he said.

Buchanan said the United Sates went from 505 bases in Iraq at the start of 2008 to 92 in September 2010. That number dropped to 23 as of last week.

Ironically, the Schofield soldiers originally were set to return to Hawaii in about the same time frame now in place, but the yearlong deployment was extended in June by 31 days — meaning the likelihood that many would spend another round of holidays away from their families.

The U.S. maintained a relatively high number of troops in Iraq leading up to the withdrawal, in part to assist Iraqi forces, as well as to be able to deal with any unknown threats that could have arisen, Buchanan said.

He also said troop numbers were kept steady to preserve options if the Iraqis decided to request U.S. military assistance beyond Dec. 31.

Experts say a last-minute agreement to keep traditional U.S. military forces in Iraq is unlikely, and as a result a complete pullout of the 41,000 troops is expected.

The 25th Division’s Wilson said the Schofield headquarters soldiers will be busy supporting remaining Army brigades by providing staff coordination and facilitating leader engagements with Iraqis leading up to the return home.

Sgt. Jesus Aranda, who is part of the headquarters, said it’s "great" to be able to spend Christmas with his wife this year.

"We missed our first Christmas as a married couple last year," he said.

It also could be the last time a large unit of Schofield soldiers serves in Iraq.

"I’m just truly thankful for it all (to be over), and hopefully everyone will come home safely and we can all be at peace — for now," said Pierre, the Schofield mother whose husband is in Iraq.

Pierre was reminded about Afghanistan, but she said, "I don’t want to even think about that."