First off I want to give a special shout out to The Pentagon who have been monitoring my blog for the past week and a half. Hi guys! Scott had told us not to write anything that we were doing that day or in the future but past tense stuff was cool. Whew. Today will be one of the most memorable for me a all of the bases have been unique and I so admire the camaraderie that exists at all of the FOBs. Our first stop was at FOB Kalsu home of the 4th Brigade Combat Team 3rd Infantry Division and a great group of guys (and gals too).
Scott does a very funny observational joke about the gravel here and that is the one constant at every FOB we perform at: gravel. I know it's there to prevent all of the sand from flying around but it sure gets to be a drag when having to walk on so much of it. Both Graham and I only brought tennis shoes and yeah, it gets a little sore after trudging around on those rocks let me tell you. Bought some scarves for Nancy from what looks like a kiosk located on the base. Scarves shouldn't take up too much room in the bag and wouldn't that be a hoot if they said, "Made in America" on them (they didn't). It was pretty hot and probably should have applied some sunscreen on but after the sandstorms and what not it does kind of cling to one's face and even the soldiers were commenting that they tend to skip the lotion for that reason.
Chatted with the soldiers after and it was here that I decided to give the letters I had been carrying with me to one of the guys and said that they would not only post all of the South Tahoe letters from the elementary school children but would write to them as well. After the show the three of us were presented with 'Certificate of Appreciation' from the soldiers of FOB Kalsu, Iraq for your enthusiasm and dedication to the morale and welfare of US troops is greatly appreciated." The only thing we could say was thanks you for letting us be a part if only for a few hours of your family. The next FOB we visited was from the soldiers and officers of "Ghost Squadron" from the 7th Squadron 10th Cavalry. I think I know why they are called "Ghost" because their FOB is next to this slaughterhouse that Uday (one of Saddam's since departed sons) owned or was in charge of. We were given a tour of the facility and had two armed soldiers along with flashlights (more like spotlights) to check on some of the vacant rooms inside. After the soldiers informed us that this would be a great place to film a Hollywood horror picture both Graham and I took pics on the meat hooks that the guys got a kick out of. I'm glad they didn't leave us there.
Flying out of these places and looking down at the landscape you have a greater appreciation for your own hometown. While flying over a neighborhood one couldn't help but notice the same color (tan) in all of these places. Just looked so depressing. The last FOB was also the smallest and the most intense. While flying out on the Black Hawk it was close to sunset and I didn't know until after that there was the possibility of snipers in the area. When we landed it was 'outside the wire' because of the size of the base so we had soldiers pointing their guns in opposite directions as we exited the helicopter.
Graham told me that there were several other soldiers near the front of the chopper that had guns fixed on nearby buildings that looked abandoned. What was really interesting was that before we landed the Black Hawk had launched these red rockets or flares and later they told me that was a common defense tactic to thwart any possible incoming missiles or ground fire that may have had a lock on the helo. Okay. The soldiers had just finished coming off of a mission and before the next unit was scheduled to depart we did a show for them. No microphone needed as we were basically in a gym-like structure but scaled down. You could see in their eyes some were really tired and we did another one of our abbreviated performances so that they could concentrate on more important things like eating and sleep. Again (and I know this sounds repetitive) the best part was shaking their hands and just listening for once their stories. Took off under the cover of darkness for what would be our last show back in Baghdad.
Almost didn't make that one only because we had an Air Force colonel with us who was dropped off at another place before we wound up at Liberty Base, Baghdad at 7:45pm. The show we did was schedule at a place called The Lion's Den and Marlene (our escort this time) got us there for the 8pm show exactly at 8pm. We had enough time to take off the body gear and change before doing one of the more longer shows we had ever done. The Lion's Den consisted of military personnel, civilian contractors, FBI and CIA types and was a nice show to conclude on. We were pretty beat and like I said earlier it is very easy to lose track of time or even what day it is. After the show it was back to the JVB and the next morning Kuwait before heading home.
First off I want to give a special shout out to The Pentagon who have been monitoring my blog for the past week and a half. Hi guys! Scott had told us not to write anything that we were doing that day or in the future but past tense stuff was cool. Whew. Today will be one of the most memorable for me a all of the bases have been unique and I so admire the camaraderie that exists at all of the FOBs. Our first stop was at FOB Kalsu home of the 4th Brigade Combat Team 3rd Infantry Division and a great group of guys (and gals too).
Scott does a very funny observational joke about the gravel here and that is the one constant at every FOB we perform at: gravel. I know it's there to prevent all of the sand from flying around but it sure gets to be a drag when having to walk on so much of it. Both Graham and I only brought tennis shoes and yeah, it gets a little sore after trudging around on those rocks let me tell you. Bought some scarves for Nancy from what looks like a kiosk located on the base. Scarves shouldn't take up too much room in the bag and wouldn't that be a hoot if they said, "Made in America" on them (they didn't). It was pretty hot and probably should have applied some sunscreen on but after the sandstorms and what not it does kind of cling to one's face and even the soldiers were commenting that they tend to skip the lotion for that reason.
Chatted with the soldiers after and it was here that I decided to give the letters I had been carrying with me to one of the guys and said that they would not only post all of the South Tahoe letters from the elementary school children but would write to them as well. After the show the three of us were presented with 'Certificate of Appreciation' from the soldiers of FOB Kalsu, Iraq for your enthusiasm and dedication to the morale and welfare of US troops is greatly appreciated." The only thing we could say was thanks you for letting us be a part if only for a few hours of your family. The next FOB we visited was from the soldiers and officers of "Ghost Squadron" from the 7th Squadron 10th Cavalry. I think I know why they are called "Ghost" because their FOB is next to this slaughterhouse that Uday (one of Saddam's since departed sons) owned or was in charge of. We were given a tour of the facility and had two armed soldiers along with flashlights (more like spotlights) to check on some of the vacant rooms inside. After the soldiers informed us that this would be a great place to film a Hollywood horror picture both Graham and I took pics on the meat hooks that the guys got a kick out of. I'm glad they didn't leave us there.
Flying out of these places and looking down at the landscape you have a greater appreciation for your own hometown. While flying over a neighborhood one couldn't help but notice the same color (tan) in all of these places. Just looked so depressing. The last FOB was also the smallest and the most intense. While flying out on the Black Hawk it was close to sunset and I didn't know until after that there was the possibility of snipers in the area. When we landed it was 'outside the wire' because of the size of the base so we had soldiers pointing their guns in opposite directions as we exited the helicopter.
Graham told me that there were several other soldiers near the front of the chopper that had guns fixed on nearby buildings that looked abandoned. What was really interesting was that before we landed the Black Hawk had launched these red rockets or flares and later they told me that was a common defense tactic to thwart any possible incoming missiles or ground fire that may have had a lock on the helo. Okay. The soldiers had just finished coming off of a mission and before the next unit was scheduled to depart we did a show for them. No microphone needed as we were basically in a gym-like structure but scaled down. You could see in their eyes some were really tired and we did another one of our abbreviated performances so that they could concentrate on more important things like eating and sleep. Again (and I know this sounds repetitive) the best part was shaking their hands and just listening for once their stories. Took off under the cover of darkness for what would be our last show back in Baghdad.
Almost didn't make that one only because we had an Air Force colonel with us who was dropped off at another place before we wound up at Liberty Base, Baghdad at 7:45pm. The show we did was schedule at a place called The Lion's Den and Marlene (our escort this time) got us there for the 8pm show exactly at 8pm. We had enough time to take off the body gear and change before doing one of the more longer shows we had ever done. The Lion's Den consisted of military personnel, civilian contractors, FBI and CIA types and was a nice show to conclude on. We were pretty beat and like I said earlier it is very easy to lose track of time or even what day it is. After the show it was back to the JVB and the next morning Kuwait before heading home.
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