Thank You USO

We had a real treat last night. I don’t know if it was an all-of-a-sudden deal or planned out. We only had a few days notice. The USO sponsored a concert for all the country loving troops. It was Trace Adkins who performed. I usually listen to a mixture of regular rock and roll, oldies and country. I really enjoyed the concert. It was outside. The temp finally cooled down to about 85-90 range. He has a new album coming out in November, so he played a few songs from it and they were great. Last year he won an award from USO for supporting our troops for the song “ Arlington”. He said when he recorded it, the critics gave him quite a bad write up, but he didn’t care. He wrote it for the troops. I don’t know if he was just saying that or not. I don’t see a lot of performers doing what he is doing, coming over to Iraq to give the troops a free concert in a war zone. When he played that song last PM, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Actually, the ovation was more for the fallen troops who are already at Arlington Cemetery. He acknowledged that fact. It is quite an emotional song if you are not familiar with it.

At the concert I ran into a lot of different people. A lot of the enlisted men and women were there. It was very interesting talking to them and learning of their experiences. They were quite friendly and gave me a tour of their vehicles. I was able to see the insides of an Abram tank, a Bradley, a Stryker and an MRAP. It is unbelievable how dedicated these guys are. All of them go outside the wire every day. Sometimes their mission takes them out for 2 or 3 days. Every day they go out there knowing someone is trying to shoot them or throw grenades at them or just blow them up just because they are Americans. No one complained to me either about how bad they have it. They just suck it up and say that is what they are trained to do. As I have said before, these guys are the true heroes. They do it for us without question and do it for the love of their country. It was really inspiring to talk to them and I thanked them for what they are doing. They got it a hundred times worst than me.



The tour of the tank was neat. The Sergeant showed me inside. For as big as it is, there is not a lot of room in it. The main barrow is 120mm. He pulled out one of the shells, and they are huge. It is like holding a kid. The shell is at least 2 feet long and the diameter is 5-6 inches. I bet it weighs 40 -50 lbs. The optics are amazing as well. You can see distance at night with no problem at all. I would rather have one on my side than take one on.

Take care, less than 5 weeks to go

Tom