NAJAF, Iraq —— Twenty-five-year-old Najaf resident Iklas Hakak will probably never forget the Marines of the Camp Pendleton-based 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

They changed her city and changed her life, and now it was time for them to go.

During a battle in August in which the Marines drove out a thuggish militia in Najaf, about 100 miles southwest of Baghdad, an errant American shell crashed through the roof of her house and struck Iklas in the legs.

One leg was severed above her knee, and the other foot now stops at just below her ankle. The once-active geography graduate now spends most of her time on a mattress, under blankets, on the floor.

Since finding out what happened to her, the Marines have done what they can to care for Iklas. They got her to Baghdad for extensive surgery, arranged for her to get prosthetic legs once she has healed, and, most of all, became her friends.

They drop by often.

Last weekend she and her family were invited to their base to celebrate Iklas' 25th birthday. Her sisters and cousins, all draped in black head-to-toe Arab garb, lined up in the military cafeteria for french fries and spicy buffalo wings before Marines sang a somewhat sad, American-style "Happy Birthday."

And on Saturday, a handful of the Marines stopped at Iklas's family home to say good-bye.

It was simple. Quiet. Somewhat awkward.

Their distant lives became tangled in a war that none of them chose. The Marines lost seven of their friends in the same fighting that took Iklas' legs.

Incredibly, she and her family seem to bear no grudge. She smiles when they arrive and usually sheds a tear or two, then smiles again when they go.

On Saturday, Iklas shook their hands. The Marines promised to write, and then moved on.

The commander of the Army National Guard troops who will replace the Marines has promised to follow up on her care and continue the visits. Her penetrating eyes, warm smile and capacity for forgiveness seem to have drawn him in just as they did the Marines.

Within about a week, the Marines will be in San Diego again after nearly nine months away from home. After fierce fighting last summer and months of rebuilding, they left Najaf in peace, with dozens of new and refurbished schools, markets and other projects as a legacy.

They will surely tell their families about Iraq, about the war, and perhaps about beautiful Iklas of Najaf, for whom no words seem enough to say good-bye.

Contact Darrin Mortenson at dmortenson@nctimes.com.