Hey Cutters...
What you
are about to read in this email was the experience of a lifetime for me...
and it's longest email I've ever sent you guys so you may want to read
it in stages... but if you want to know what this trip was rea
lly like you want
to read it all and then go to www.diamonddallaspage.com and see all the
pictures ... I want to thank my web master Rich for loading so many pictures
of my trip to Iraq.
As you can imagine over the last four months I have gone through a roller
coaster of emotions and changes in my life ... at times I had no idea where
I was going or what I was doing ... this trip put every thing into perspective
for me. I could never put into words what really happened to me while I was
over in Iraq... but here are a few sound bites that I wrote down as I went
along ... they are things that I didn't want to forget so most of them I
wrote down as they happened.
You can think what you want about the war in Iraq ... but when you do ...
to really understand what's happening over there you need to think about
this same type of war happening in our own back yards ... in your own back
yard while you're having a BBQ. Or at you child's school ... or at the church
you choose to worship at ... and then think again about the war in Iraq (because
I don't give a $hit what they say it still a war ... I'm here) and if you
were here and saw what I saw ... given a choice again of fighting in your
own back yard or fighting it over in Iraq ... you're going to choose Iraq
every time... that's why our troops are there and once again if you saw what
I saw you would have a better understanding.
Over the last 13 days I've seen a lot and I've talked to thousands and thousands
of our soldiers on close to 15 some odd bases or FOB (Forward Operating Base)
as they are called ... and I want to tell you that these young and older
men and women are the most polite, sincere, thankful individuals I believe
I've ever come across. If y
ou were here you
would see that they truly make you ... proud to be an American.
As you can imagine the TV and the news papers only give you what they believe
is going to get ratings and sell papers... and this is a WAR and some $hit
is just f*cked up that happens but for the most
part everyone one of these guys I talked to are doing what they believe in
... what they believe is the right thing and you know what ... I'm not a
republican or a democrat but I am a supporter of our troops and that's why
I went to Iraq and I'm damn glad I did.
Yes there is a war going on ... and if I took the time to think about the
odds of me really getting killed by the mortars, the rockets, the IED's, the poison spiders, the malaria or having to deal
with the heat (some times its between 120 and 150 degrees... and I'm not
kidding), the army food (it's BRUTAL) or the over all conditions of a country
like Iraq that I call a hell hole.... well if I concentrated on all that
I probably wouldn't have come because that would be the negative 10%...
and I don't choose to Live Life in the negative 10% ... me I choose to Live
Life in the positive... and if I can help just one of our soldiers stay in
the positive enough so they get home alive ... well baby that's just damn
good karma.
MORALE ... the morale of our troops ... that's why Rob Dibble, Brian Lee
(the man who ran our tour and would be our BIG TOE ... our SGT Hulka)
and myself headed into a war zone ... to increase the MORALE ... it's the
same as Living Life at 90%... you know my concept that Life being 10% of
what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it... to somehow help some
of our troops to be able to find that spot... to find that mindset that puts
you in the positive no matter how bad it gets... to help someone remember
that there maybe someone who has it way better than they do... but there
is always some one who has it much worst ... the person who finds the way
to Live Life at 90% under conditions like
these... has the world by the balls... The key is keeping your state of mind
in the positive ... its all about positive Morale.
Sept
6th ... Day One: I got to the airport to check in when I got a call from
Rob
Dibble (RD). The same RD you can hear on ESPN Radio. His primary role is
on "The Dan Patrick Show," which is heard Monday-Friday 12 noon-3
pm on ESPN Radio. RD also appears on Baseball Tonight on ESPN TV-and co-hosts "The
Baseball Show" radio broadcast every Saturday during the baseball
season on ESPN Radio. A seven-year Major League Baseball veteran, RD served
as a righ
t-handed pitcher,
RD retired from baseball in 1995. He had a 27-25 record with 89 saves and
a 2.98 ERA-in seven major league seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago
White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers. He struck out 645 batters in 477 career
innings. RD combined with Norm Charlton and Randy Myers to form the "Nasty
Boys" bullpen, one of the most fearsome bullpen combos assembled in
baseball history. So you see why they put us together for this trip to
Iraq. The Nasty Boys (who would fit right in with wrestlers "Nasty
Boys" Sags and Nobs) flawless pitching helped Cincinnati win the 1990 World
Series in which he tossed 4-2/3 scoreless innings in three appearances
against the Oakland A's. In the playoffs RD was named co-MVP of the National
League Championship Series for hurling five scoreless innings against the
Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out 10 and picking up a save.
So I'm
at my gate ready to board bullshitting with RD on my cell and he says:
Dallas I know you do a lot of international tra
veling but I don't
... and I've got to tell you ... these people stink... He was just leaving
Wash DC... I laughed my ass off and said bro you haven't smelt anything
yet wait till we pull into that hell hole. Then I heard the flight attendant
say were going to need 15 minutes because of technical problems on my plane
... I knew I was in trouble and sure as hell the
fight got cancelled. So I returned home.
Sept 7th ... Day Two: Well today the plane took off on time at 2:55 pm. It
was an easy Flight into Frankfurt then into Kuwait... about 23 hours later.
Upon arrival I met my buddy who ran the last Pacific Rim tour I did about
a year ago when I went to see the Navy troops... Brian Lee is his name...
he greeted me with LeeAnn Spidell and
MSG Dan Sturgell. Dan would be our guide and security and new best
buddy while in Iraq.
We got
to the base at Kuwait around 9:45pm and immediately went to my room on
the base where I met RD and his guide for that day Al(Lonzo Scott). RD was exactly like I expected him to be. A
wild Mo Fo ... who I feel like I known all my
life... immediately. We bullshitted for a bit and went straight to the
mess hall to get something to eat and do an autograph session, which we
wouldn't leave until around 2:15 in the am.
Sept 8th ... The troops were great and so appreciative that we were there...
that would be the theme through the rest of this trip. The reality was the
troops made us feel like we 
really made a difference
by coming so I think we were the ones that were really appreciative. I was
pretty burnt by this time as you can imagine. We all went back our rooms
... Remember this is the Army so there were no king size bed... what we got
were 2 bunk beds on each side of the room. I finally
crashed out around 3 am and was woken up at 6 am to catch a 7 am flight into
Baghdad.
Sept 9th ... At breakfast we signed for the troops again and then ran off
to the airport which of course the flight was late and we didn't leave till
around 1 pm. This is the army and like Hollywood and the wrestling world
there is a lot of HURRY UP ... and Wait. Oh yeah the temperature was over
120 degrees . Finally were off and right now I'm in C-130(military
aircraft) with about 40 other soldiers. I'm sitting next to Kevin Farquharson who
has been in the Army for a little over 15 years and is just coming back from
his vacation at home in Maine to finish up his one year tour. When the Army
soldiers come here ... each and everyone of them comes for at least a year.
I found out that most of the Air Force troops finish there tours up in about
3-4 month. I want to send out a shout to Kevin's kids,,, Derek,
Courtney, Melvin... Kevin said his kids would never believe him if he told
them ... so I'll do it for him.
As I look around
the C-130 which is nothing like flying Business class on Delta that I'm used
to flying. I see that a lot of the boys are fast asleep. I can't sleep in
business class and these boys are out like a light in a cargo plane... I
guess when have to get up and be ready to go in an instant you better be
able fall asleep the same way.
As we
are about to land in Baghdad the plane does a sudden drop to the right
and then the left... a roll of some kind. It was one of those drops that is so
dramatic you know something wasn't right. Later after we landed I would
find out that ... that's how the planes enter and leave Baghdad airport
because from time to time the planes are having rockets shot it... guess
what ... were not in Kanas anymore... That would
be the wake up of what things were to come. BTW have I mentioned it's like
120 degrees in the shade 
to... and you have
to walk around in 20 lb. full armored vest and a 8 lb. helmet... in other
words it's f*cking hot as hell... maybe hotter.
After
we landed we went to Camp Victory ... which is set on the Palace grounds
that once belonged to that rat bastard Saddam Hussein (now ... since we
all pretty much hate this piece of shit ... I will now only refer to him
by his initials... the initials for his real name ... SH short for $HITHEAD)
where would we would make our home for the next 5 days. These were actually
the old hunting grounds for SH - when the 1st US troops came through here
during the war in '03, they found lions and tigers running around loose.
We saw coyotes and foxes and heard that SH had an alligator pit on the
grounds as one of his sick torture methods. What a crib this scumbag once
had. We stayed at his grand hotel located on the Palace grounds. 
Pictures of the palace
and the grounds are on my site www.diamonddallaspage.com
. A couple of days before we got here 2 mortar cells (bombs) landed
on the bases grounds. One of them landed in a bed... the bedroom of one
of our soldiers ... he just happened to brushing his teeth at the time
and blew his $hit to the high heavens ... I told you weren't in Kansas
anymore and thank god his mama taught him to brush his teeth after every
meal... you have to have some humor about this $hit and you'll see why
as I go on.
That evening
we got the tour of the Palace grounds ... we also got to meet Genera
l Troy who is now
occupying SH crib. Of course everywhere RD and I went we signed autographs
and took pictures. It's funny RD and I are exactly
the same as me ... we're both Mickey Mouse with Tattoos... later I would
name RD donald duck or # 2 ... I have two huge tattoos and RD has
25 of them. Our guide for the day was the 6' 9'' 268 lbs. Lt Willie B.
By the end of the day I was so exhausted I had to crash and regroup.
Sept 10th ... The next morning I slept in a little late (up at 7:30 am ...
this is the Army) Dan was back to pick us up with his brother-in -law Merle
(the pearl)(SGM Merle He
nry) to take us around
to some of the other FOB's (bases or camps) within
Camp Victory. Our first stop was the tank division. I got to meet Mean Gene(SGM
Gene Kelly) the man in charge... we also got to get in one of those bad ass
tanks and see what they are all about... but they couldn't take us for a
ride... they were getting ready for a mission. Next we were off to see some
of the FOBs that are seeing the most action. The
first base we were supposed to visit was canceled because it taking to much
enemy fire. We then left for FOB Ironhorse. We
flew on a Black Hawk helicopter, which fly in pairs so they can protect each
other if one goes down. These kids have seen a lot of action... you could
see it in there eyes how happy they were to see us. I'll tell you really
have no idea what these guys are going through until you've been here. The
papers only tell you the $hit they want to tell you... I saw a lot of good
that they are doing and putting there lives at risk every day. The terrorists
are now hiring mercenaries to kill our troops... they are offering $2,500
a de
ad American... what
the f*ck! That's one of the reasons your hearing about so many of our Marines
who have died in the past weeks... they will also pay kids and I mean kids
$10 to come up to soldiers and wave and then toss a live grenade and run...
if they kill an American they get like $500 dollars... now that's really
f*cked. Captain Ted Kaiser was our tour guide at Ironhorse, a great guy ... later we got to meet the man ...
Col. Abrams... great grandson of the late General Abrams ... the M1 Abrams
is the main tank named after his granddaddy ... he was a class act and has
all the energy of the ever ready rabbit. As usual the troops were extremely
grateful for us taking our time to show up in there back yard. CPT Kaiser
and LT Phil Sacks took great care of us while visiting Ironhorse.
On the
way home (9:30) that night they left the side doors open as we flew over
the city of Baghdad... which was impressive as hell. I'm getting ready
to crash now (it's 11:45) because we have to be up at 7 am to head to another
base. I'm tried as I've ever been right now and I just got here... these
guys do this shit everyday...
Sept 11th ... I'm just sitting here in SH Palace and I'm thinking how crazy
is it that I am in Iraq three years to the day after the Twin Towers were
destroyed ... I'll never forget Kimberly running into our bedroom in Atlanta
crying as if the world was coming to the end. Who will ever forget where
they were on that day. I know I won't. I think that's one of the reason I
wanted to come and see these soldiers when so many of my friends asked me
not to go. Not to say a lot of my friends weren't supportive of our troops
because they are, it just some didn't understand why now or they were just to scared for me I guess.
I remember
9/11 ... my brother-in-law Paulie was in Tower
# 2 when it got hit and I was scared as hell for him and my family. I remember
Kim and I actually getting ready to drive to Jersey to help my family out
when some how through the hands of God I got through to Paulie on
his cell phone and he was safe... many people weren't so lucky.
I believe as time has gone by some of the people in our country have slowly
forgotten what 9/11 means ... I have not and either has my buddy Rob Dibble
or Brian Lee... So that's why were here ... to show our support for our troops
and we've have been having the times of our lives... we have truly been Living
Life at 90%.
Our first stop that day was FOB Ferrin Huggins
- this is another one of those FOB's that no celebrities
ever come to visit ... it small and there in the heart of the action. We
immediately met COL Stephen Lanza who was on his
way out on a mission. He couldn't have been more appreciative that RD and
I were there to visit his boys. He walked us over to some Humvees where
his personal security team was stationed. We took some great shots and signed
autographs for the group. After an autograph session at the MWR(Morale Welfare & Recreation) center on base, we went
to the mess hall for lunch. During lunch - we heard 4 loud explosions on
base. Four rockets had just hit the base. After about twenty seconds of silence,
everyone in the mess hall just went back to eating and talking - this is
a normal occurrence for the troops on these bases, these attacks happen every
day. After lunch we went to Camp Cooke located in Taji,
North of Baghdad. We were assigned a security team of three female soldiers
to get us to and from each visit on base. SPC Germany, SGT Brown & SGT
Hardin were always there when RD and I would yell "security"! We
met General Chastain at the mess hall that evening. CPT Paul Martinez also
took care of while at Camp Cooke.
My
favorite part of
these trips besides meeting the troops has been getting to ride to see all
these troops in Black Hawk helicopters. You can't just drive around if you're
and American because the 5% of the a$$holes who hate us ... so you fly... well we flew anyway.
Sept 12th ... was the day the $hit really hit the fan... at around 5 am Dibble
woke me up out of dead sleep and said to me did you hear that ... he was
walking around the room like a mad man smoking a cigarette... I glanced over
and said... no hear what ... he said ... the f*cking bombs
... how did you just now not hear those 7 mortars (bombs) ... and I said...
ear plugs ... and I pulled one out ... and I heard a BOOM ... I said OK I
heard that one and I put my ear plug back in and went back to sleep. There
were about 8 mortars in all that morning.
Our first visit on Sunday was FOB Headhunter. If you've be watching CNN I'm
sure you heard about the Bradley that got bombed as it was doing a scouting
mission looking for the bad guys. Well it got hit hard but all of our boys
were OK ... I know this because as RD and I were signing autographs for the
troops when those same boys from that Bradley came walking by ... they were
stationed at this base when they saw RD and me and there faces lit up like christmas trees... That's right they were from the FOB that
we were visiti
ng on that very day...
what's the odds of that. There is a picture of them on my site. One was a
little scratched up on his face and needed some stitches, one hurt his shoulder
and the other two were fine - I could tell because we talked to them for
quite awhile. They were going to take a little time down and get ready to
back to work... it's what they do ... their soldiers. At FOB Headhunter, CSM(Command Sgt. Major) Felt was our enthusiastic guide. He
said "hooah", a military term that some
of the soldiers explained means anything and everything but doesn't mean
the word"no". After spending some time with CSM Felt,
RD and I started saying"hooah" for the
rest of the trip. CSM Felt took us up into a guard tower where we got a view
of the Haifa Street Area of Baghdad - this is one of the most dangerous sections
of the city and a reason why FOB Headhunter sees so much action. At lunch,
we met Col. MacDonald who expressed his thanks for RD and I coming
all the way to Iraq to visit the troops.
Later that day - Team Hulka as we were now calling
ourselves ... Brian L
ee became our Big
Toe after the movie "Stripes".... we went to the International
zone (The Green Zone). The International Zone (formerly known as the Green
Zone) is the heavily guarded area of closed-off streets in central Baghdad
where US occupation authorities live and work. We visited a few FOBs including
FOB Trojan Horse. These FOBs were
very Romanesque from the outside and very white
trash from the inside. While doing a meet and greet for hours on end... the
line was endless.
Later that night we went to eat at one of the mess halls. When we walked
into the mess hall they were playing Smackdown on
the TV ... you should have seen the looks on the guys faces ... I told them
I just walked through the TV which got a huge laugh.
Our day normally starts at 6:30 am. I get up do some yoga take a shower,
eat and head to the Black Hawks. We would get home around 9:30 that night.
Sept 13th...On Monday were set to visit two different bases when were told
that we would be unable to fly to those locations because of enemy activity
in those regions. So we spent another day at Camp Victory... after each meal
we just did more meet and greets at the mess halls ... that's really the
best time to meet the troops because there are so many of them in one spot.
We constantly
got questioned what brought us to Iraq or what are we doing here? Our answers
got more 
colorful as the days
continued but are favorite were... we came here for the strip clubs...
or they told us we were going to Disneyland ... did I mention this is a
dry country ... no booze period not even a beer ... so much for the strip
clubs. After signing autographs at one of the mess hall at lunch - we headed
over to the Al Faw Palace across from where we
were staying. LT. Rob Hamilton provided us with an awesome tour of SH's palace.
We went into a former government meeting room where SH had meetings with
his top people and I sat in SH's chair and did
my best SH impression. I had RD, Brian, MSG Sturgell and
LT Hamilton all laughing their ass off at my SH impression. I of course
have no I idea what SH sounds like which makes it even funnier... I would
do my classic SH impression the rest of the trip.
Sept 14th ... Today we got up at 6 am to catch a flight to Balad to
go to FOB Anaconda which is about 45 minutes north of Baghdad but our Black
Hawks were delayed because Balad was still in a
lock down. So we went back to SH hotel where I did something I been wanting to do since I got there at the SH hotel Palace but
I just didn't have the time. I wanted to film some footage to put in the
can of me doing yoga on the Palace grounds for my YRG workout (Yoga for Regular
Guys). I am presently writing a book and preparing to do and informercial with
my partners the Yogadoc and producer Jay Cohen
for YGR. Since we had a
couple of free hours on our hands I thought what a great back drop the Palace
grounds would make, on SH private lake with all the mini Palaces in the back
ground... I thought how many other people would have this opportunity to
do this ... so I took advantage of the situation and it looks unbelievable.
At 3 that afternoon we took off for Balad . The FOB Anaconda is SH former air force base which is now
ours and it's huge. One thing you need to understand is that this FOB is
not just for the United States it is also occupied by the English, Aussies
and Koreans... It's like a huge melting pot here.
When we got to Balad we checked in to our rooms
and went right to eat and meet and greet. This FOB has been on total lock
down since 9/11 because the attack that happened on the base on that day.
An IED (improvised explosive devise) exploded and a young man lost his life,
later a mortar exploded and a young man lost his arm and both legs. Later
that day at Balad Air Force base RD and I would meet that young man who
stopped the bleeding so that he lived. All of this happened while these soldiers
were on the same bases that we were on a day earlier.
What you never really hear about is that the bases are being attacked all
the time. The locals that attack our troops are offered money to kill Americans
and some of them need money so bad that they risk there lives... Like I said
earlier a lot of mercenaries have been hired by the one percent of local
terrorist who have hated our guts for years. But if you talk to the soldiers which I have, they will tell you that 95% of the Iraqis are
good people they want us to leave ... but
not yet ... not till they get there shit together which is going to be awhile.
Most all of the soldiers I talked to all believe in what they are doing and
most of them are re-enlisting and the ones that aren't re-enlisting are coming
back to work in the private sector back here in Iraq. I don't care what your
political views are on this war... to me it's all about supporting our troops...
they have no control over being here ... they have job to do and like the
American soldiers that they are... they do it.
After we did out meet and greet at dinner we went right to another for the
Air Force where we met a couple of Captains who asked us if we had some time
while we were here we should head over to the hospital. Of course we went
right over there after we finished. This was a real sobering experience to
all of us. It was set up like a MASH unit only really high tech compared
to MASH you saw on the TV show. While there we meet a couple of Marines -
one who had been shot one in the neck by a sniper. The bullet hit his spine
and when he wakes up that soldier will have no feeling from his neck down.
We also met the other Marine who was with him who got shot in the face. This
was one of the toughest son of bitches I ever met. He couldn't talk and his face was
all stitched up with one eye close. He looked at us with his one eye open
and gave us the Hawaiian hang loose sign with his good hand - To let us know
he was going to be alright.
We also met a couple of guys who used to be in one of our services who have
come back to work security for our convoys that move our troops from one
spot to another. These guys were on there way to the airport to go home on
leave when they were attacked. 3 of their buddies died, the 2 we met where
much luckier. I actually met a guy named Mike in that hospital who met me
in the Atlanta airport...
small world. As
we moved throughout the hospital we met the crew that's putting our boys
and the enemy (who we also saw from a distance) back together again. Our
tour ended meeting Dr. Mark Richardson. He heard we were there and he wanted
to thank us personally for taking the time for being there. He went on to
say we had some huge balls being there. Up until that point I'd heard the
explosions and all the stories of what has happened recently over in this
hell hole but it really didn't hit me till he said it and we were sitting
in a hospital. Like I said this was the most sobering part of this trip.
We signed pictures for everyone but Mark sticks out - he had me put nine
of his children's names on one autograph card ... Yes I said 9 ... he also
told me he had one more on the way... So I signed all the names and finished
it off with and a player to be named later.
We got back to our rooms that night and passed out around 12 am I woke up
around 5 am and wrote this. I guess I wanted to get it off my mind so I could
be full of smiles for the day I was about to begin. 
Sept 15th...
We spent the whole day at Anaconda... this FOB is so big we could have
spent a week here... One of our stops that day was to see the Air Force.
We had a great reception from all the mechanics about 60 in all. One of
things you'll see from time to time is me and a soldier in a push up position.
Here's one of those stories. An Air Force kid named Staff Sgt Jerome Knight
came up to get an autograph with bright red tool box. He was being a really
playful guy busting chops and having fun with the whole situation throwing
out the challenges ... you get the picture... when I popped to my feet
and said ... you want some... everyone popped... he didn't know what to
do so before he said anything I said ... I don't mean wrestle ... I said
do you do push ups ... you should have seen his face ... of course he took
the challenge with all his buddies egging him on... he popped right to
a push up and position and was ready to go ... t
hen I explain the
rules... you see these are 30 second push ups... which means you take 10
seconds to go down ... then you hold for 10 seconds 3 inches off the ground...
then you push up slow for 10 seconds... if you don't think this is hard
as hell ... try it... You have to remember I talk shit to these guys the
whole time asking them questions ... like how old are you ... when they
start to shake which they all do... I say ... OH BTW I'm 48 ... and they
start to shake more ... eventually they all drop but SSG Knights was the
toughest of the 6 soldiers that I faced he lasted 4 and a half push ups
before biting the dust. Actually m
y main man Capt.
Ron got 5 and a half but he was a captain. After leaving that Hangar, we
got to visit with the guys who run the Predator Operation. LT Tooman gave
us a tour of the Predator, which is an amazing unmanned aircraft - which
costs 3 million to build. They showed us video footage of the Predator
Aircraft taking care of business all of over Iraq.
On this FOB we would also hook up with one our knew bros
Jason who hooked us up BIG TIME.
Sept 16...
That morning at 8am we were just about to leave Anaconda on a Black Hawk
when we heard a few explosions (mortars)... one of pilots said that our
clue boys to/ get the hell our of here. Code Red was on... we were leaving
at our own risk... lift off and were out of here. I'm sitting in the jump
seat where I always sit. What's cool is I get to wear the headset so I
got to hear everything... Since I knew this was going to be long flight
I just happen have my lap top on my lap and
I'm typing this as this is all happening... I just heard one of the pilots
say "So what's the plan here" and the other pilot said "where gonna haul ass that's the plan ... another pilot said ...
just stay low" .... and we
wer
e off... about 150
feet off the ground and were flying... this is cool as hell.
As we fly across the open fields we do a test fire ... you don't want to
f*ck with these guys... everything is in working order.
As we fly I hear over the headset one of the pilots say ... we just past
a truck with a machine gun on the top of it ... the other says ... if he
points at us smoke him ... but since he didn't, protocol dictates that you
mark it and move on .... I'm sure those guys in that truck just felt like
a guy who's had one to much to drink and the state trooper just passed him
by...
The next three FOB's we were about to visit never
get anyone to come out and see them... one reason is there way up north and
for a another there not that big and these guys see some of the real fighting.
These FOB's would also make FOB Anaconda look like the Ritz and
the FOB Victory's Palace look like ... well a Palace. The bottom line is
this is hard-core Army.
Our first stop today FOB Normandy. When we first got there CPT Reynolds brought
us into the briefing room and gave us the run down for the day... he explained
how this was the best effort to work the Iraq National Guard(ING). These
guys who are really roughing it but they had great sprits while we were there.
When we finished the autograph session at the MWR center, LTC Newell stopped
by to meet us and presented us with Certificates of Appreciation and 2nd
Battalion, 2nd Infantry Command Coins. LTC Newell expressed how much it meant
to the troops that Dibble and I took the time to visit the troops of FOB
Normandy.
Next stop was FOB Gabe where we were picked up by Jake and taken to see the
sites and then dropped off at the meet and greet. Sgt. Kenneth took over
from there and took us right out into the field to see his guys who could
get in for the meet and greet. We went to look out towers which would be
considered right on the front lines. This group was alive as group we have
seen on this trip.
The next the stop War Horse which was in total disarray... The Capt. Bernoli had given our rooms that were set up for us away
to a General ... the guys were great
but that Capt had heat with us ... he'd given our rooms away and at this
point here were none available ... so we went right to work happy faces in
on all but we were pretty pissed at that Captain. We finally got to our rooms
around 8 pm and thats were we saw our green cots...
army cots and nothing else... we'd gone from the Palace to Private Pyle's
barracks ... I looked at Capt. Ron and said bro... I'll make this work tonight
but I'm going to sleep like $hit (by this time we were all about as brunt
as we've ever been ... and that's saying something considering all the travel
I've ever done)... we all went back to the MWR ( that's where the troops
all go to get away ... email, video games, movies, just to get away from
the day to day)... we hit pretty all of these MWR's at
every base but this time it was out necessity ... at this point RD and I
were pretty much MICKEY MOUSED AND DONALD DUCKED OUT... but you know we cowboy'd and
had a great time ... when it was time to go back our room and our nice cot
... my man Chad came up to me and said they had found us a couple of beds
which dam near made me jump for joy and it would have if I had the energy...
while we were at the MWR I ran into two guys from my home county on the Jersey
shore - CW3 Al Irby from Neptune and SGT Joseph Pushkal for
Toms River.
Sept 17th ... we were up at 7 am and off by 8:30 am on our Black Hawks to
FOB MACKENZIE ... MACKENZIE is one of those places no one and I mean no one
ever wants go to because it small town and way in the middle of nowhere...
but these guys were the best. As soon as we got there they brought us into
there meeting with all the top brass so we could see what's been happening
over the last 24 hours in Iraq. It was a very impressive power point presentation
that they do each day. At the end of they had a little tribute to RD and
I which came out of no where... we laughed our ass's off...
afterwards we went around to each area of the FOB to see the troops ourselves.
These guys were a lot of fun who got a break for a moment from being in this
hell hole for the moment they call home. At the end of our stay that day
they ask us if we would like a ride on a Bradley and a tank ... You can imagine
our answer... YES ... ABSOLUTELY ... I first went on the Bradley which was
blast ... next was the M1 tank... as I headed to climb up on the M1 tank
they asked me DDP do you want to drive it ... I pause and slowly turned my
head over left shoulder and said ... what do you think... and then someone
yell DDP do think you can drive this M1 Abrams Tank ... I looked him right
in the eye and I said YES ... WHY YES I CAN... so I climbed (stuffed) into
the driver seat in the front of the tank... the hole to drive the M1 is made
for someone much smaller than me but you know I made it work... as I was
forced myself in... and off we went... I had my
headset on so I could here all my instructions from my co pilot ---- as I
took off the 
landing strip and
built up to 60 miles and hour... then they said DDP you ready to take this
baby off road ... I said HELL YEAH! and off we went ... The guys up on top
of the tank were recording everything and there color commentating was priceless
... at one point I went through a ditch and got AIR ... I knew when it happen
because I heard the guys say ... Holy shit this Mother f*cker is
crazy ... it was a blast ... This was 10 times better than anything you could
ever find in Disney World but I'm telling you no got more out of it than
our boys... the were beaming from ear to ear... I think they had more fun
than I did... I had to run though because our birds were on the ground and
you can't leave those Black Hawks on the ground to long ... I took pictures
for everyone and like the lone ranger I was off ... RD and our Big Toe were
already waiting for me at the bird... I want to thank everyone who looked
out and protected "Team Hulka" on our
journey into a war zone but I especially want to thank the troops at FOB MacKenzie for
letting me drive the Baddest vehicle on the planet...
you guys never sent me the pictures ... and I want a copy of that video!
I was so happy to heading back to my boy Jason at FOB Anaconda because even
know I love hanging at MacKenzie ... I don't know
if I was tough enough to make it through dinner and a sleep over ... the
food sucked in Iraq but Mackenzie had Baloney and MRE's (I
can't remember what that stands for nor do I want to but let me tell ...
they are meal in air tight compressed bags that you add water to ... it's
brutal ... any time you think your meal sucks ... I'll guarantee it's better
than what a soldier in the armed forces is eating) and the sleeping conditions...
well I don't even want to go there... like I said I was so happy to going
back to see my buddy Jason at camp Anaconda ... they get hit with mortars
all the time but it's the Ritz compared to MacKenzie...
I also want to thank our troops for staying in positive attitude and for
doing what they do on our behalf... it means everything to me... of course
thanks to Capt. Ron getting us back to the Ritz.
When got to
Anaconda we showered
and I went for one of my few workouts ... on my way back from the gym we
found out that country music singing star Chely Wright
was doing a concert for the troops ... Jason hooked us up immediately...
when we got there Allan asked me if I would do her introduction... I could
tell he was a little nervous ... Allan introduced me and the place went crazy
... I came out did a little DDP stick... which was so much fun and then laid
it down for Chely... and she was great... I loved
the stories she would tell in between the songs... if you ever get the chance
to see her don't miss her... She has a lot of guts not only coming to Iraq
but she also heads out in a convoy to see what we are doing with the schools
that we are building in Iraq... she said she would visit Iraq ... only if
they would take her out to see the schools... she's something else. BTW she's
not just doing one date in Iraq like every other artist Chely and
her band are doing 10 straight dates... oh did I tell you that she's smokin hott... check her out!
Sept 18 ... Our tour is finally over and today we are starting our long ass
trip back home through Kuwait ... I was going to sleep in late that morning
... 8am ... but I woke up at 5 am ... figures right... so I started writing
this paper back novel... Capt. Ron and Jason had us on time for our 11 am
fight an hour before... which of course didn't leave till 3 pm... what else
is knew.. I got to fly in the jump seat of a C-130 - the crew was great and
even let me fly the plane... yeah right ... only kidding ... we got in to
Kuwait and LeeAnn was there to pick us up and take
us to our room where we slept for 3 hours and we were back to the airport...
In the lounge we ran into all of RD's buddy's from ESPN ... Kenny Mayne, Steve Levy and Stuart Scott - all the SportsCenter lead anchors, where we shared stories ... I
was so proud of those guys from ESPN for coming over here and doing the show...
even though they didn't know it that Kuwait was a whole other world than
Iraq... they came and did a kick ass job... pumped up our troops and as Jay
would later say ... put a face on what is actually happening over here.
When we got to Frankfurt we all somehow ending up at the same little bar
in this huge airport drinking German b
eer at 8 in the morning...
There is no beer I will drink in the morning except German beer ... there
is nothing like it... Steve, Jay, Scott, RD, our Big Toe and I shared old
school wrestling stories until we all had to leave to fly on different flights
... it was the perfect ending to an incredible trip ... a trip I am planning
to do again... I'm already talking to Brian about returning to do a solo
tour where I do a speaking engagement, on what else... Living Life at 90% do a question and answer period and then all of course of
my best Mickey Mouse.
Right now I'm on my last leg home from Frankfurt to LA and I'm just finishing
up the last of my journal which I enjoy sharing with all of you... I'll be
home for a few days and then I'm off to Zurich to face Jeff Jarrett for the
NWA World Title... I'll be in Zurich from the 27th till the 3rd... Wish me
luck... can anyone say Jet Lag.
Magic Moments on this trip ...
The expression on the soldiers faces who had no idea we were going to be
in Iraq and when they realized that they weren't hallucinating
Some of the real last names of the guys that we signed autographs for on
this trip ... Titsworths, Asshcock,
Diamond...
Dribble pacing the room with a cigarette in is hands when I woke out of a
head sleep because the mortars were blowing up not far from the room we were
staying in...
Wookie noises that I make in the morning earning
me the nickname Chewbacca from Team
Hulka
The sincerity in the face of the Full Bird Col. at Anaconda when he thanked
us for visiting the troops
The concern in Captain Mark Richardson ... head medical officer at Balad
Doing the Christmas greeting for the soldiers in my best Santa voice... if
you've called my house at Christmas time you know what I'm talking about
... those damn horny reindeer are at it again
Driving that tank... the play by play of the soldiers who filming the ride
from the top of the tank as I drove it ... sound bites like ... he's a crazy...
he's got us in the air...
Introducing Chely Wright to Armed
Forces before she sang.
Getting pictures with not one but two Generals, two Generals, two Generals doing the Diamond Cutter with me. General Chambers
is on the left, I'm in the middle and General Hillman is on the right.
Our
team being named "Team Hulka" Rob
Dibble, Brian Lee (better known as our big toe) and if I could be so
bold to say
WE made a difference in the morale of the US Army in Iraq
Doing the YRG workout at SH Palace... I meant our Palace
Dibble moments
RD not working out but once before I got there and then having the balls
to tell me he was going to run the 26 mile NYC marathon in November in under
10 hours and if he doesn't he's going to tattoo DDP Bang on the other side
of his ass and he means it... and if he does do it in under 10 I'll tattoo
RKD on my ass ... instead of working out he smoked one cigarette after another
... This won't be the first time ... he' s lost a bet like this.
Big Toe and RD making me laugh so hard at times I actually cried
...
Sitting in SH head master chair and coming up the SH voice ... having no idea what the hell he sounds like and everyone laughing there ass off...
SH
naming Dibble #2
Smokey you were so right ... never have I had so much fun with someone I
never met than I had with Rob Dibble... I've used the expression where twin
brothers from different mothers a countless amount of times but when I
say it about Dibble ... I mean it
SPECIAL THANKS TO ... DAN, MERLE, TERRY, JASON, EUGENE, AL, MATT, KENNETH,
JAKE, --- CAPT. RON,
WORLD FREEDOM TOUR was created by Pro Sports MVP to honor the military for
their recent accomplishments, dedication and perseverance. Celebrities who
have participated on these overseas military tours include: Diamond Dallas
Page(Wrestler & Actor), Debbe Dunning(Tool
Time Girl - Home Improvement),
Gena Lee Nolin(Baywatch), Evan Marriott(Joe Millionaire),
Bobby
Allison(NASCAR), Lisa Guerrero(Monday Night Football) and Tanya Ballinger &
Kitana Baker(The Millier Lite Catfighting Girls).
For ESPN's spots on our tour check out these links
From ESPN Radio's website.
http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/show?showId=1058217
http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/story?storyId=1882948
http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/story?storyId=1881464
http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/story?storyId=1880795
http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/story?storyId=1878872
http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/story?storyId=1878118
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