So we sat. And waited. And sat. And waited some more.

Finally, after a long while, when it seemed that things had calmed down, we were allowed to go back to the arena. I had mixed feelings about going back to work, but I also figured the best thing to do would be to return and finish setting up. As they say, the show must go on – mortar attack or not.

So we did what we came to Iraq to do. Set up for the Tribute to the Troops. What’s one more delay? We’re undefeated! An hour later we were informed that a Lieutenant Colonel wanted to talk to us. I asked what it was about, and was told, “I dunno. Probably asking you not to talk about the incident.”

But that wasn’t what the Lieutenant Colonel Chiarelli wanted at all. After a short speech thanking us for being the underappreciated slugs that we are – you know, the hardworking, energetic, brilliant and handsome guys routinely pull off the impossible, the ones that really put on the show – he handed out thirteen ‘Entertainment Excellence’ awards, one to each crew member present during the afternoon’s ‘episode.’

In Lieutenant Colonel Chiarelli’s words, “These awards honor entertainers or those working in entertainment organizations who are involved in action while visiting troops during a war. Fortunately, we don’t give many of these awards out.”

Another Beautiful Day Ends in Baghdad

By 11 PM we were close enough to being ready, so we all decided to call it a night, and headed back for the RAGT. The other crews that had toured forward operating bases all day were already back, and wanted to hear about our eventful day. A few cocktails were poured, and stories were swapped.

One of the funniest stories from the FOB’s involved a conversation between a wrestler and a soldier.

S: “So, when did you guys get to Baghdad?”

W: “Late last night.”

S: “Where’d you come in from?”

W: “Germany.”

S: “Wow. When we came in, we spent a week in Kuwait to acclimate before coming to Baghdad.”

W: “What’s Kuwait?”

And on it went. We stayed up later than we really should have, but it felt good to laugh and release some of the tension of the day. It was hard to believe that the show day was nearly upon us. After a few cocktails, sleep came easily.

Author: frenchy