As parades went, it was the most unusual in American military history.
The river Tigris did not run green, but several hundred US troops turned out last year for a Baghdad Saint Patrick's Day parade.
There are plan to march again this year, but for security reasons, of course, nobody is saying exactly when.
Last year, 1st Sergeant Scott McWilliams, a native of Chicago's South Side, was the instigator and he got the Army's permission.
"They don't have too many Irish out here," he told AFP press, "although there are a few."
The parade took place, where else, in the Green Zone -- and while there was no Guinness, there was plenty of Irish songs and laughter.
Participants clad in mock-Irish green performed two laps of the Green Zone , handing out green trinkets and other paraphernalia to loud applause.
Chicago parade organizers had sent the Irish trinkets and flags to them.
"I think it's a great day, a little time-out. It's about camaraderie, a touch of home here in Iraq, a little bit of America," said one soldier.
Air Force Major Aaron Judge drank a fizzy green liquid from a plastic glass.
"I'm dreaming of other things. It's green near-beer," he grinned. "This takes off the stress -- it's a lot of fun."
Local Iraqis were bemused.
"I don't know what is happening," admitted 26-year-old Khalid Walid Ali, who worked as a storage man.
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