TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20^TH:

Forgot to write about Aaron’s FLIP FLOPS.  When we were in DC last month for a performance of AUSA, he was wearing these horrible flip flops.  I tried to “kindly” quiz him and learned that he had a chigger bite on his foot so he had purchased the flip flops and fallen in love with him.  I kept telling him how “sissy” he looks, but it just doesn’t phase him.  When he started out of his room in them today, I told him to change.  That went over really well.  But, he did it.  Then in the meeting at the Commander’s Office, he told them what I made him do.  And – get this – one of guys on the Commander’s staff said, “She’s right sir.  It’s in our Rules and Regulations”.  I made him get the rule book and read it to Aaron.  HA!  Several people in line wanted to know if I was Thea, Aaron’s wife (they ask me the same thing when I travel with Charlie Daniels!).  I told them “No, I just have Aaron and all the guys in the band trained to say ‘Yes Dear’”.  J
I fought to make our call time later today, to no avail.  They insist on making us arrive two hours prior to when the C-130 is “supposed” to be there.  It NEVER is.  So I got up at 5 am (too bad that wasn’t my call time yesterday!) and gave everyone a wake-up call at 6 am.  We arrived at the terminal to learn that our “bird” was, of course, not there.  We went over to a hotel on the base to have breakfast and then back to the terminal to wait and wait and wait.  In all honesty, they could take our bags and leave us at the hotel to sleep then call us when the bird lands.  We could be there in 30 minutes and it takes the flight crew at least an hour to unload their cargo and load our pallets onto the bird.  Instead we left the hotel at 6:30 am and our flight didn’t depart until 11:15 am.  I met some of the Washington Redskins cheerleaders and some of the comedians while we were waiting. It is all good and these delays are normal and expected.   No one whines.  We just find a floor to lay on and sleep!
Our flight crew was super, as usual.  They were from Amarillo, Texas.  Aaron and I sat on the flight deck during take-off and he stayed up there the entire flight.  I got our guys rotated up there during the flight and then I sat there for landing.  ALWAYS want to be on deck for landing because it is a combat landing and makes me nauseous if I am in the “belly” of  the plane!! 
I remembered Q-West from our brief stopover here last year.  Although I thought Q-West was where we performed, we actually only stopped long enough to switch to blackhawks and fly to Camp Courage.  For once, and I’m sure it won’t happen again, Aaron was right.  He did say that he is having the DATE tattooed on his arm so he can look at it and say "This is the first time Judy was wrong".  Very cute.   I did meet the lady who makes things happen at Q-West and she is from Montgomery, Alabama – my home town!!  She was there when we stopped through in 2005.
Everyone is super nice here and very appreciative of our visit. Josh Gracin came here in July for me but I wasn’t with him.  We had lunch at a really great DFAC and then the guys went to set up the stage.  Aaron, Bill and I got to go “play” in a tank.   Aaron was in the turrent and got to fire the 50-Cal.  It also has a grenade launcher in it.  After he did his “boy thing”, we went up to a remote guard tower to say hello to two soldiers on duty.  Then I got to ride in the turrent and play with the gun.  My little soldier in the bottom told me to swing it around 360 degrees, so I did.  Only he forgot to tell Aaron and the driver that it was coming around.  So, I whacked them both in the back of the head with the thing.  Thankfully they had on helmets.  I can just see the headlines now.  Whew.  They really shouldn’t let me play with the big guns.
Last stop on our tour was to visit the “eye in the sky”.  They have a huge blimp that is their surveillance equipment.  It was amazing how far they could see and how much detail was available.  At one point Aaron asked if he was looking at two rocks.  Then a few minutes later, one of the rocks started moving and we realized it was a truck.  They had just not zoomed in on it.
Sound check was painless except that they took all my “show bags” to lodging.  I sent them to pick them up with specific instructions to only bring me the three with BLUE tape on them.  When they returned, they only had one bag.  So, again, I sent them back with the request to bring the other 2 with BLUE tape.   I left to go to lodging before they got back and realized that they had taken everything – my personal bags with RED tape.   So, instead of getting to take a one hour nap like Bill and Aaron, I had to go back over to the show site and get my bags.  There had better be some coffee backstage tonight!!!!
The most special thing that happened to me all day was when a soldier came up to me when Aaron was signing autographs.  He asked me how many children I have.  When I told him two, he pulled out two green dogtags that say, “With Love From Dad, U.S. Army, Iraq 2007”.  I was so touched.  As many of you know, I wear numerous dog tags given to me by soldiers, airmen, marines, and sailors from Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.  I thanked him for the dog tags for my kids but told him one was going around my neck immediately and would be worn every day.  Too cool.
Hard to believe so much can happen in so little time.  We went over for the show which was outside on a new stage.  The great MWR Director that we had met when we briefly stopped through here got a surprise tonight.  She is moving up to Balad and they named the new stage  at Q-West in her honor.  They said this is the biggest crowd they have ever had at a concert here.  They don’t get a lot of entertainment up here which makes it even more special.  Josh Gracin did come here for me in July and they are still talking about his visit. 
I got busted yesterday for walking to the latrine alone.  It is only a couple of buildings over and I didn’t think anything about it.  We are not allowed to go ANYWHERE without an escort.  The Security Detail is right outside our trailers and are just standing there waiting for us any time we need them.   Oh, we are in individual trailers here with bunks that have nice mattresses and sheets.  The latrines and showers are a bit of a walk but not bad at all.  There is a severe water shortage at this camp and they are only allowed to take showers every 3 days.  Remember that next time you are complaining about electrical outages or water rationing. 
Aaron’s show was awesome, as usual.  He has such a high energy performance and the fans know all the words to his songs.  He signed autographs for a very long line and I did my thing – handed each person a photo and gave out hundreds of hugs.  That’s the fun part of the evening for me.  Getting to talk to everyone, finding out where they are from and teasing them about hugging me.  I think Bill Cowan is really enjoying himself, too. It has definitely been a learning experience for him in the "world of entertainment".  We love talking to him and getting him to share his stories with us.  One brilliant man!
After the autograph session, we went to the Mayor’s Cell and used the computers and telephones.  I wasn’t overwhelmed with emails but the computer was so slow I really couldn’t answer many.  I did have an email saying Aaron’s guitar is in Kuwait and someone has to go get it released from Customs.  It did NOT come in our flight and since we didn’t fill out a claim form, they won’t release it without a lot of paperwork. 
We all went to midnight chow and I had an omelet.  They wouldn’t make an egg white omelet but it was still good.  Then, back to the room and they opened the showers for us.  Tomorrow morning it will be too hard to get in a shower because everyone will be in line.  So I showered at 1 am…with an escort standing outside the door, of course.  J
When we flew into Kuwait, we met our MRW rep for this Camp – Jeremy.  He has been great and has the longest eyelashes I have ever seen on a guy. 
Got in bed by 2 am and have to get up at 6:00.  Not bad!  Could sleep longer but Aaron and I are going to the gym.  Only problem is, the walls are paper thin and the guy next door to me had his tv turned up LOUD listening to Spanish music or something.  I finally banged on the wall and asked him to turn it off.  Wonder how many times I’ll have to be escorted to the latrine during the night.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21^ST:
Well, I made it all night without going to the latrine!  But, I was up and down several times adjusting the heat.  It is either blazing hot or OFF.  Again, no complaints.   Just describing my night.
Aaron and I went to the fabulous gym for a great workout.  Met Ronnie, the guy from KBR who is responsible for the gym.  He has been there for two years and has done an amazing job. That’s one of the “perks” of doing a military tour – fantastic work out facilities.  He even let us borrow his coffee maker to boil water for Aaron’s decaf coffee. 
Went back to the CHU’s (some military acronym for our trailers!) and got dressed for the flight.  We were all ready much too early so we decided to make a stop at the base exchange.  Just as we got off the bus to go inside, one of our escorts said, “The plane is inbound.  We have to go to the airfield now”.  We all just looked at each other and said “Sure it is”.  Back on the bus and over to the airstrip.  No plane.  Half an hour later, no plane.  I asked if we could go to the Exchange and just have someone call us when it landed.  We did.  The plane finally took off at noon.  J  We had a really nice flight crew again this time with a female co-pilot.  Aaron sat up top but it was pretty crowded, so I sat below until time for landing.   Then I went up top so I wouldn’t have to be in the belly during combat landing.  I guess there was some weather coming in or a mortar hit because they had closed one of the runways.  We landed safely at Balad AB in Anaconda -- one of my favorite bases in this area. 
I knew that Donnie – my buddy with KBR – would be there to meet us but was definitely surprised when my friend who is a Brigadier General in the Air Force and his XO showed up, too.  I met him when he was in Kunsan, Korea and was the Wolf at the Wolf Pack.  I had Chely Wright there performing which would have been about 6 or 7 years ago, I think!  I’ve seen him once since then at an autograph signing for her in DC.  But, we have stayed in touch – me, more than him since he’s not real big on answering emails.  J   Met his XO -- Willie -- who is a sweetheart and I can tell he takes wonderful care of Burt.  They took Aaron, Bill and I to lodging to get everyone checked in and then we went to the DFAC for a quick lunch.  My other buddy Ryan (that I met at Camp Summerall in 2004 and have stayed in touch with) met us there.  Last time I saw him, his foot was in a cast.  He looks cute as ever and is happy to be going home at the end of December. 
After lunch we went to tour the F-16’s and sign some autographs. A young female fighter pilot (26 years old), gave us a briefing and I learned that she was the same one who escorted us when I was in Korea with Diamond Rio!   Turns out she is one of the top fighter pilots.   The General had to leave for a meeting but promised to come to the performance.  We went to the hospital to visit and they told us about a young 10 year old boy who was there.  His face was pretty “blown up” – not by the U.S. troops – and one of his eyes was sown shut.  His entire family was killed in the blast so he has no one left.  How do you explain that to a child?  I met his interpreter and asked if I could go talk to him.   Aaron was reluctant to disrupt him but once I started talking to him, he came over too.  I had the interpreter tell him who Aaron was and that Aaron had two little boys like him.  The kid lit up like a Christmas tree.  Aaron would talk to him in English and I swear he understood.  If Aaron said something funny, he would smile.  He was sitting on the floor when we arrived but he got up (shakily) and I helped him walk over to Aaron.  He wanted Aaron to bend down and hug him and when Aaron did, the child kissed him.  I came apart.  Another “special” day for me.  Aaron signed a photo to him and I asked his name.  His name is SADDAM.  I told Aaron I bet he never thought he would be in Iraq signing a photo to an Iraqi named Saddam.  I asked what would happen to him when he was released from the hospital and they said he will probably be sent to an orphanage.  I wish there was something I could do to help him.
After the hospital visit, we were handed off to the Army.  Visited the Commander and the JOC’s.  Aaron also toured some of the new toys.

He signed a lot of autographs but we ran out of time and had to go to sound check.  When the flights are late, it throws everything off. But, it is expected and no one gets stressed out about it.  I did my part and handed out lots of hugs and even a few kisses.  They all think I smell good.  J
After sound check, we went to the MWR facilities and tried to hook our laptops up to the internet.  It didn’t work.  Finally gave up and used the computers to check a few emails before we ran out of time again.  Aaron attended a special Thanksgiving service and sang one song acoustically.  Then we brought him back to the trailer for an hour’s nap.  He was dragging pretty bad by that time.  We are in what they call “wet trailers” here…where I always stay.  One bedroom on each side of a shared bathroom.  But the bathroom is inside and there is a shower, so I’m a happy camper.  Now if I just had internet.
My General and my friend Ryan are both supposed to be at the show tonight and I’m happy about that. 
What a lot has happened since I wrote that last sentence.  The show was held in a theatre – same one we always use – and it was packed.  People started showing up at 6:45 for an 8:30 performance because the fire marshall only allows 750 people to attend.  The last outdoor show I was allowed to have here was with Charlie Daniels.  It is now considered too risky – you know they nicknamed this base Mortaritaville because they take mortar hits every couple of hours it seems.  Fortunately, Al Qaeda is a lousy aim.  The took a hit just before we landed today and that is why one of the runways was closed.
For the first time, I didn’t go out front for the performance.  I sat backstage and chatted with my General for almost the entire show.  I felt guilty not letting him sit out front and watch but it was his decision.  We had a lot of catching up to do.  Ryan showed up just as the show ended and I left his with Bill Cowan and the General to chat while I got the autograph line started.  Tonight we had a special pre-Thanksgiving sale on the autograph sheets.  Everyone in line had to give me a hug if they wanted one.  It was lots of fun and since Aaron signed 699 sheets, I gave out OVER 699 hugs for you folks back home.  If the person in line wanted 3 or 4 photos, I made them give me that many hugs.  See, I told you I’d give out hugs on your behalf.  I told the troops that the hugs were from the people back at home who love and support them but aren’t as lucky as we are to be able to deliver them in person. 
After the show, we went to midnight chow and Ryan went with us. He  is such a sweetheart and I’m delighted that he will be coming home in a few weeks. I'll get to see a lot more of him in DC.  He gave me and Bill Cowan THE most special coin I have ever or will ever receive.    I have made the most amazing friends down this crazy path my life has taken me.  I wouldn’t trade it with anyone. 
We got the great news that we had to DEPART our lodging at 5:30 am.  That meant I got in bed at 1:30 and got up at 4:30.  No gym for us tomorrow morning.  I did make a $50 bet with Donnie that the flight would NOT leave on time.  If it does, it will be the best $50 I’ve ever spent.  Took my shower tonight, sort of.  After midnight doesn’t exactly qualify as “tonight” sometimes.   Since this is where most of the aircraft in Iraq are based, there are flights taking off and landing all the time.  I woke up to the sound of F-16’s taking off at about 2:10 am and thought I had been asleep for hours.  Then a few minutes later, I heard a mortar hit.  There is no mistaking the sound once you’ve actually heard one up close and personal.  Then I heard the jets deploying immediately afterwards.  Hope they got the bastard! 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22^ND:
No problem getting everyone up and gave all my boys Happy Thanksgiving Day hugs.  We left lodging on time and our flight was waiting for us.  I paid Donnie his $50 with a smile on my face.   Our flight crew was from Arkansas and was the friendliest one we have had all tour.  Love those Southern boys.  They told us that the mortar took a chunk out of one of the runways, took our one radar system and blew up a port-a-potty (okay they said “shitter” J ).  Fortunately, no one was in it at the time.  LOL
Landed on time at Speicer and went immediately to breakfast at the DFAC which they were holding open for us.  First time we’ve had “breakfast” in the morning in Iraq.  We met a few troops and I saw another dear friend of mine from many, many tours ago – Rick.  He remembered me and it was wonderful to chat with him.  He reminded me of our escort in 2004 – Chase Martin – who I have not heard from in a long time.  He was great.  I have been to Speicer several times and Aaron and I spent Thanksgiving there in 2005.
Our Blackhawks were waiting for us and again, we had a great flight crew.  It was about an hour and fifteen minute trip to FOB Warhorse.  FYI – FOB means Forward Operating Base – middle of nowhere and very much in need of entertainment.  We had a great soldier there escorting us who was a wealth of information.  I wish I could remember all the things he told us about the FOB.  I do remember that they have lost over 120 men and women in 14 months but like Ramadi last February, they have “cleaned” up the place.  The attacks have stopped and the locals have learned to live together.  We are making much faster progress than I ever dreamed possible.  We hear all this wonderful news and it makes us so angry that NONE of it ever gets on the U.S. News and out to our people.  Bill Cowan is going to try and change that. 
We had Thanksgiving dinner with the folks at Warhorse and it was a very impressive spread.  I forced Aaron to go off his diet for Thanksgiving and even talked him into a piece of sweet potato pie (since they didn’t have pumpkin pie – very Un-American to not have that for Thanksgiving, huh?  J).  We walked through some of the buildings and he signed autographs for a while.  Then we went over to an outdoor area and he and Dave performed several songs acoustically.  He signed autographs for everyone in line and I again charged one hug per person.  There was a Pizza Hut by the area where he sang and I asked some of the guys in line why they were eating pizza instead of the great Thanksgiving Dinner at the DFAC.  They said that the line was too long!  Right before Aaron performed, there was a fly buzzing around me and it suddenly fell out of the air and landed on it’s back – dead.  Cause for concern!  Then a fly started buzzing around Aaron’s head during the show.  He kept swatting at it and asking why it was buzzing him.  I told Bill if Aaron would take a shower, the flies wouldn’t swarm around him.  LOL!   
Our helicopter pilots were waiting for us and it only took 35 minutes to fly back.  Aaron knows everything about aviation and he said that the pilot had it “wide open”.  There was only one time when they decided to drop us out of the sky and strangely enough, it didn’t bother me.  The little  female Army escort on my right was another matter altogether.  I’m glad they didn’t decide to give us a “real ride”. 
When we landed, the pilots had agreed to give the band members a fun ride.  Some of them had never ridden in choppers and it was a real thrill for them.  No one has ever gone out of their way to do this for us before.  We had several hours of down time (which is why I’m getting to type this report J)  and Aaron was able to take a nap.  I can tell from his voice that he is beginning to strain his vocals. 
They picked us up for the show and the gym was packed.  Several people were not allowed to come in because it was so full.  Another really great show for some extremely appreciative troops.   I was able to find a little female soldier that is the daughter of some friends in Korea.  I had promised them a few weeks ago that I would find her, introduce her to Aaron and give her a hug.  We also sat her in the front row and took her back to meet him and get a photo and autograph.  That was one happy young lady. 
I again gave everyone in line a Thanksgiving Day hug and told them it was from the folks back home in the U.S. who love and support them.  I am sure they think I am one crazy lady!!!
Aaron had decided before he went on stage that he was NOT going to eat after the show because he ate so much lunch.  We were going to work out at the gym instead. Then after the show, he wanted to go to midnight chow AND work out after that. First we went to use telephones and computers.  It was taking forever to get a line out but I finally got to talk to all three of my kids – my two children and John – my baby that I manage.  I was looking up phone numbers on my cell phone when I realized that I had cell phone service.  It was pretty crappy and expensive, but at least it worked for a few minutes.  While I was waiting to use the computer, this guy comes running up to me and asked if I remembered him.  I remembered his face and then I looked at his name tape and saw – MayO.  No one could forget a name that was written like that – with the big “O” at the end.  I met and worked with him when I took Chely to Germany to entertain the troops returning from Ramadi earlier this year.  It was so wonderful to see him and catch up on on the news.  We finally made it to the gym only to be told it was closed so they could remove the power cord from Aaron’s performance.  We were able to sweet talk our way in and worked out for about an hour.   It was 1 am by the time we arrived at the gym and almost 2:30 am by the time we got back to lodging.  It was a very, very HAPPY THANKSGIVING for all of us. 
More later.
Jude