America’s long war in Iraq ended quietly yesterday, with an hour-long ceremony behind concrete blast walls at the Baghdad airport.

The war lasted nearly nine years, more than twice as long as World War II. But there were no wild celebrations across the country. No dramatic surrender ceremonies with a vanquished enemy. Not even a sense of national unity and purpose — President Barack Obama’s decision to end the war on schedule remains a campaign issue.

And there remains an unanswered question: Did we win?

Whether the results were worth the cost — 4,500 American lives, 32,000 wounded, $1 trillion spent — will remain a subject of debate for years to come. There were no weapons of mass destruction and no terrorists linked to the 9/11 attacks. Iraq’s oil did not pay for the war. Saddam Hussein, the hated dictator, was captured eight years ago and executed in 2006.

No, the U.S. may claim some measure of victory if and when Iraq transforms itself into a stable, prosperous democracy in a region that desperately needs one. To the everlasting credit of our troops who fought and died there, Iraq has been left with an unparalleled opportunity to succeed.

But the end of the war doesn’t mean the end of the U.S. commitment, here and across the country. More than 170 Hawaii-based troops were killed in Iraq, according to the Associated Press, with the heaviest price paid by soldiers from Schofield Barracks and Marines from Marine Corps Base Hawaii and Kaneohe Bay.

For the families of the dead, and for many servicemen and women returning from duty, there remains a cost of war that they will need help to pay.

» More than 84,000 veterans in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been granted disability compensation by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many of those wounds are invisible: Up to 30 percent of soldiers returning from combat in Iraq experience post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, according to a 2010 Army study. Their medical bills will remain a long-term public commitment.

» There were also dramatic increases in the suicide rate among soldiers. According to Department of Defense statistics, there were 33 reported Army suicides in July, a record number. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates a veteran dies by suicide every 80 minutes.

» In 2010, the jobless rate for veterans who served since 9/11 was 11.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Last month, Obama signed into law legislation that creates tax breaks for companies that hire unemployed veterans. It’s now up to the private sector to take advantage of an opportunity to do well by doing good.

» It’s been estimated that there are more than 1,000 homeless veterans in Hawaii, some presumed to have substance abuse or mental health issues, but also some who simply have military training that can’t transfer to a civilian workforce.

If opinion polls are to be believed, Americans have little interest in the war in Iraq. But the costly lessons of Operation Iraqi Freedom, an adventure that wreaked havoc on our economy and on the lives of hundreds of thousands, should not be forgotten.

And neither should the shared sacrifice of the thousands of American service members who served in those long and repeated deployments to Iraq. They deserve our gratitude and full measure of support.