45 miles from the Iraq border

January 27, 2007

We're staying at a really nice hotel in downtown Kuwait City. Here's a view from my room looking out at the Freedom Tower:



and from Cort's room across the hall overlooking the Persian Gulf:



Bob and I plan to walk down to the waterfront tomorrow morning.



We left the hotel this morning at 11am for Camp Virginia, an hour's drive from Kuwait City. On the way out we passed a new soccer stadium under construction. It is slated to hold 280,000 people!



We quickly entered into the vast Kuwaiti desert:



We didn't see any camels or oil fields on our short drive. :-(

However, as we approached the camp we found ourselves side by side with the famous road north to Iraq that had been bombed to smithereens during Desert Storm. This bombing prevented the Iraqi Army occupying Kuwait from grouping together or escaping. There was a famous battle here in which we pretty much decimated Sadam Hussein's forces and drove them out of Kuwait. Here are two pics of the remains of Iraqi tanks and artillery from that battle:





Right after seeing the "Iraqi junk yard" we crossed over that northbound road and it was at that point we were 45 miles from the Iraqi border - the closest we'll be to it. After several security check stations, we entered Camp Virginia. Here is a sign over the stage area:



Camp Virginia is a US Army camp that mostly serves as a "decompression" base for soldiers who have been in battle in Iraq or Afghanistan and are finally going home. Once again another new situation for us - and a nice one as well. These are the ones who lived to go home and we were sure glad to play for some soldiers that had a happy ending to this war.

Amazingly, one soldier met us right when we came in. He is from North Carolina (don't know why he was wearing a Michigan sweatshirt) and had heard Thom play at the Balsam Mountain Inn:



After a meet and greet with the commanding officer of the base, we had some time to kill there. There was a sale going on there in an open market on the base. Right in front of another American icon:



I was particulary drawn to one booth. I think Gracie would look pretty cool in one of these, don't you?



Alcohol and/or the use of it is illegal in Kuwait. So for the first time there was no alcohol served at this gig tonite. It didn't seem to stop the enthusiasm of the soldiers at all. The show started at 1900 hrs (7pm) and its a good thing, because when the sun went down that desert got cold! When I played, I almost lost grip on my guitar pick. The band, of course, did great despite the temps and got a standing ovation and lots of autographs and "thank yous" followed.

Here's a shot of the band playing tonite:



We met several soldiers with unique stories. One, Eric, was from an Inuit fishing village of 400 in Alaska. He talked about walrus and seal hunting there. There were also some other Inuit's from the area, but from a different village and they didn't get along at all on base - some old tribal rivalries.

Another was a soldier named Malone. I'm hoping Thom got a picture of them together as I wasn't able to.

And finally a soldier from Pennsylvania who has served 3 deployments in Afghanistan. He talked about his buddies still there, some of the battle action he had seen and some of the injuries his buddies had suffered. The really bad news was that he just got orders that instead of going home he has to go back there. I gave him a Red Neck Yacht Club t-shirt on the condition that he returns safe and sound once he finally gets his orders to go home. He smiled and said, "I can do that".

Tomorrow we leave for another show at another base near here in Kuwait. Looks like we won't get a chance to see any of Kuwait City as we'll be base bound all day and leaving for Saudi Arabia the next.

Thanks for checking in. Hope to see more comments soon!

Jerry