Ok, I will try and summarize the entire week, if that’s possible, at a bit later time. What I want to do is to start Operation Santa. I am posting APO addresses you can send Christmas presents to our troops at. I will also send recommendations for what I know they talked about, are interested in, or definitely can use. Just know that Camp Bucca is a HUGE facility with thousands of soldiers as well as thousands of Iraqi citizens, and ANYTHING sent there will be used.

Before we get to the soldiers I have been made aware of a fantastic program run by Gary Sinese that facilitates sending HUGE quantities of material for Iraqi children. Please check out this website

Al Asad is a HUGE air base, tons of soldiers that are not going to be home for Christmas. TONS and I MEAN TONS of Sox fans, die hard ones!

1LT Solaita was one of the folks that escorted us around in country for the week. A finer man you won’t meet, pretty much a larger version of Major Donahue:) Solly is a guy that likely won’t and never would ask for anything. Oh, and unbeknownst to me the whole week, the guy’s a Giants fan, so GIants stuff might be in order. Also know that anything you might want to send for children in Iraq Solly could help get out there.

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Just incredible. Another day spent at bases around Iraq talking to men and women of the US Armed Forces. The day started early…

Sunrise at Saddams Palace in Baghdad

We were up and moving at dawn. Nine different hops today to eight bases with a stop off to meet the brilliant men overseeing this world changing event.

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Been a few days and being out of touch is somewhat weird, but understandable.

It’s been an incredible experience to date, I have a ton of pictures but can only post my IPhone stuff for now.

I want to first off thank Tracey Thede. Tracey was Ty and I’s USO Rep on Days 1 and 2 of our trip and she’s just a fantastic and genuine person. Unfortunately due to ankle surgery she wasn’t able to accompany us into Iraq so we are sad to say she’s gone home. We’re going to abuse her next time we see her though …

Next up is Sully. Sully is basically our protection in theater. To picture Sully just imagine a 250-pound Samoan, with about 5 percent body fat and armed. Ya, that’s Sully. Not only that but he’s the kindest man you’d ever want to meet, knows pretty much every person we’ve seen the past three days and if he doesn’t know them, they know him. If you need something, Sully gets it for you, no matter what. Oh, and he can pretty much snap you in half if need be. Not a bad thing to have him hanging around over here. Sully is doing the 18th Airborne proud for sure.

Day 2 was up and running REAL early. The boys below were tasked with getting us into Iraq and our first stop.

Sox Nation alive and well at Camp Beauhring!

Ty was nervous, I wasn’t (lie, bold face lie).

So we take the Blackhawks into Iraq and our entire second day was to be spent at Camp Bucca. Camp Bucca is a detainee center located inside Iraq. My first thought was “Hogan’s Heroes”. Maybe we’d crest over a hill and see this little camp and it would be cool. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is some video showing just some of the great people and soldiers I have met on my current USO Tour of the Middle East. Much more to come, but just wanted to pass along a small sample.

Posing with more than four dozen soldiers currently headed home after serving a year in Iraq.                 USO Photo by DAVE GATLEY

I’m taken on a high-speed tour of the harbor in the Persian Gulf port area while manning a 50 cal. machine gun on the foredeck. Honored and humbled by my USO tour overseas. USO Photo by DAVE GATLEY

Ty and I were talking at dinner tonight and we were both trying to come up with one word to describe the day. My first one was surreal, his was humbled, then I threw out admiration, he came back with respect.

It truly was all that. We had a chance to see all the things you don’t read about and the men and women we met today said as much.

The most important piece of this post though will come near the end. Since Ty isn’t here yet I don’t have the write ups, but we met and spoke with soldiers who we asked for names and a message home. At the end of this post I will post their name, rank and message home. But I’m waiting for Ty to arrive and he could have passed out already.

The morning started with two wake up calls, both of which I was already up for. Tough night of sleep but the morning went great. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel (The staff has been phenomenal and the service exceptional) and it featured the best buffet I’ve ever seen. Every piece of food was cooked as if it was the only thing being served. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally here. Ten hour and 50-minute flight, pretty uneventful until someone rolled up a window at what I thought was like 2 a.m. and it was noon, bright sunshine outside. Body clock on overdrive right now. Full day planned for tomorrow beginning at an oh-something hour …

Slept zero minutes on the flight over. Watched about 4 1/2 seasons of ‘The Office’, first episode of Heroes (which I’ve never seen), talked to Tracey our USO contact on the flight for awhile.

Pretty amazing to step off the plane into a place like this. It’s a different world.

Ty and I were talking yesterday about saying goodbye to the family, and we both remarked that it was ‘different’. We’re on a USO tour, they’ll do whatever they can to keep everyone safe but it’s a totally different feeling getting on a plane to head to a part of the world where war is openly recognized and acknowledged.

I said goodbye to my dad a bunch of times but was so young I never knew what it meant. Weird. Neither of us are serving, obviously, but there is still a very different feeling when saying good bye for a trip like this.

The one thing that did resonate with me is the men and women who do this as a way of life, pretty awesome and incredible that they serve OUR country and the United States.

Not sure how long I am going to make it tonight. Up VERY early tomorrow for meet and greets, excited as hell.

Two and a half hours late but safe, so it’s all good.

Ty was at the gate and it was nice to see an old friend. We got settled in for the lay over, which is now only about an hour and a half. We stopped off at a fast-food, taco place, if there is such a thing other than Taco Bell. I’m all about making his 11 1/2 hours as uncomfortable as possible and it appears this is one legitimate way to do it.

Ty’s acquainting himself with the video camera, his only job this entire trip. I brought a camera, with no instructions, should be interesting.

First cool event … We ran into a small ‘squad’ of Soldiers, looked to be some officers, maybe all officers. I very shyly approached them to say thank you, and to pass out the first lot of 38 Studio patches. We said hello and the gentleman I met first I don’t think knew who I was (which I am expecting a lot of this trip), but as always they were incredibly kind and very respectful. We exchanged hellos and I told them Ty and I were headed over. Mentioned my dad served in the 101st and they remarked that the “One-O-One” was serving in Afghanistan. Something I’ve (for some reason, not sure) stayed on top of.

They thanked us — which was nice but incredibly uncomfortable since it’s us that needs to be thanking them — and I gave them patches, they checked out my ‘07 World Series ring and we wished them the best.

We are sitting in the club here and there are two guys that I am POSITIVE are either Rangers or Delta Force guys that checked out Ty’s camo backpack. We could tell they were definitely military due to the haircuts and 2 percent body fat. I told Ty they were checking his bag out and he said they might come back, break his neck and take it, to which I replied, “No need to break your neck, they can have it”. I am also wearing my fourth ID hat. I hope they don’t think I am trying to pass myself off as military, that would suck …

I have a special affinity for Rangers and Delta Force guys since my cousin served in both. He was in the first Gulf War, and a bunch of other conflicts. His unit was the Delta Force unit portrayed in the movie ‘Black Hawk Down’.

Somewhat ‘Funny” story there — My cousin was really sort of my big brother growing up, since I didn’t have one. He entered the Army Rangers out of high school and was a highly decorated service man when his military career ended. I searched high and low for him during the 1993 season, badly wanting him to attend the playoffs. After the season when I finally reached him he apologized and said he was ‘busy’. Not long after that he told me ‘There’s a movie coming out soon, and when it does I hope you’ll understand why I couldn’t be there”. That movie was ‘Black Hawk Down’.

Amazing stuff from an amazing guy. Oh, and Ty has the camera working, so the video blog has begun …