STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
By Diamond Dallas Page

Yo Cutters…

What’s up? Where do I start? I just got back in from the World Freedom Tour the other day, but before I get into that I gotta tell ya that writing these emails to the members of the UDC actually paid off in a big way. As it turns out, Richard Allen Sweet (E6) read this email last week and found out that I was coming to Yokosuka, Japan. They have been trying to get Sweets (or “Too Sweet” as he was called) to reenlist, but he had been on the fence about it. You see, Too Sweet has ten years in and was debating going back into the civilian world. That is, until he heard that Diamond Dallas Page was on his way to Yokosuka. After he found out, he went all the way to the top and said, “If you really want me to reenlist for another four, you have to get DDP to swear me in.” I’ll finish that story in a little bit.

So, day one and we’re off to Hawaii. I did the tour with Debbie Dunning, the former Tool Time Girl from the Home Improvement show. She was an absolute blast to hang out with. We started the tour in Hawaii (which didn’t suck especially since we were off on the first day). Our first stop was Waikiki. There must have been 300 surfers in the water. I didn’t have a board, but a local named Ashford was a surf instructor loaned me his surfboard (photos on site) and I hit the waves.

The next day we had a full day planned, but none of the ships came in so we were off again. They didn’t come in because… well, they just hadn’t gotten there yet. Pearl Harbor was actually a ghost town. So, I went to the other side of the island and surfed with my new bra, Johnny Boy. The next day some of the ships were in and it was a full day. We were up at 7 AM and went from submarines to ships to the entire base at Pearl. Master Chief Gale Bond (Who I called G-Bond) would be our liaison to the Navy for the rest of the tour. Our middleman was a guy named Brian “Miso“ Lee with ProSportMVP.com. These guys made our job so much easier as we bounced from one autograph/photo session to another. The next day was a 7 hour flight to Guam where a lot of the guys had just gotten back from Iraq. Master Sgt. Billy Corrin headed up this operation with G-Bond and we bounced all over the island. When people would recognize Debbie, they would say, “Oh my god, it’s the Tool Time Girl” and follow up with “Oh my god, it’s DDP. What are you guys doing here? Nobody every comes to Guam.” After three days in Guam, it was off to Yokosuka, Japan. Yes, that is Yokosuka…not Yokozuna. The highlight of the trip was seeing all the reactions on the guys and gals faces when they saw we cared enough to actually come. Like I said earlier, nothing was better than swearing in Too Sweet. When I heard he wanted me to swear him in, you know I had to hook up a UDC member. To swear someone in any branch of the armed forces is a huge honor and it was my privilege to do this for Too Sweet. We’ve got some really great shots on the site.

After 11 days, I was back home. Shifting through so many times will really wear you out. At least, I didn’t have to take any bumps. I had a great time throughout the whole trip and, at night, Debbie, Miso Lee, and I would head out to the bars and drink with our boys. This is a special time that I think was appreciated by all, getting to spend real face time. The next tour I go out on, I expect to be actually doing some inspirational speaking along with the meet and greet. During the photo sessions, most of the guys wanted their picture taken with the World Championship Belt. That makes sense to me because every one of these men and women are champs in my book.

As usual…Badda Bing…It’s been your pleasure…as well as mine…
Diamond Dallas Page