This was very different than the other places where the Army had built something where there was nothing. FOB Normandy is in a placed that I think was called the Allam province. A year ago, this was a very hostile place and a LOT of people were killed here. It is now very quiet. The base is built around structures that were already there. They kind of converted a town square into an army base. There were many more trees and lots of different colors. It was weird to say so but it was "nice". As soon as we arrived, Kenny Thomas ran over and hugged a soldier. They slapped each other on the back and hugged for a long time. They were both crying. Kenny wiped the tears out of his eyes and told me that he and the guy had served together. And here he just ran into him. It was very emotional for him. Seeing this gave me a new perspective on Kenny. I had been complaining to Dino that Kenny was bumming out ever show we did by singing sad songs like "Another folded flag" and giving long speeches about how the Military is a family business and it's about the guy to your right and the guy to your left. I had felt that we were there to entertain and give these guys some levity. They didn't come to our show to be reminded that they were soldiers. Every minute of their lives reminded them of that. They came to USO to escape. But the more time I spent over there and the more I saw Kenni with these soldiers, the more I thought "What the hell do I know about what these guys need? This guy was awarded the Bronze star for Valour. He probably has a bit of an idea of what a soldier wants to hear." We were driven into the base, which surrounds what looked like a town plaza. We were immediately taken to the DEFAC for a Meal. As we ate, The Major who ran this FOB, who seemed very educated and thoughtful, spoke to us about the area and the relationship the base has with the locals. Like every speech we got, he wanted to emphasize the progress being made to bring normalcy to people's lives in the area. We've been told more than once that one reason we are here, besides to improve morale, is that they want us to bring the story of what is happening here back home with us. I was VERY hungry and ate a half chicken with lots of sides. Very good. I want to mention here because I don't think I have, that the food in the army is really really goddamn good. They feed you good and they feed you WELL. It's crazy. AFter the meal and the briefing, we went outside to do the show on an outoor stage that faces a big circle of gravel that is ringed with tents and temporary buildings. It's one of my favorite places I ever performed. We also had, thank god, a microphone and PA system. Not much of one, but there it was. here is another Dino-shot flipcam video of us walking out to the stage. YOu will see that soldiers were hanging out on the perimeter of the plaza, just standing around with their rifles slung... I got on stage and gathered the troops for the show. This was something I was getting used to, starting shows at the FOBs. Guys are just standing around and you have to gather them, focus them, and start the show out of nothing. Here's a video of what that was like... Once they got gathered, I started my set. I opened with my standard USO open "How are you fuckers doing?" It's kind of a lipness (sp?) test to see what kind of show the troops want. They went nuts. So I went back to my fun and dirty set. It went great. AT one point, I saw a young guy in a sandy uniform, M4 rifly around his chest, shaking his head and laughing. He turned to the guy next to him and said "Jesus, I love this guy!" It was a great little moment. When I finished, I brought Kenny on stage. I heard one of Kenny's bandmates say to him "Hey, man. How about we start with "Mexico" this time?" Kenny said "Yeah, okay." Kind of relucantly. This exchange made me laugh because "Mexico" was a cheerful upbeat song and it told me that Kenny's band was also aware that his shows were getting to be a downer. Now they were saying "hey man, Bronze star aside, give these damn kids a show." AFter the show we stood around and signed pictures. Two guys came up to me and told me they are part of a "medavac" squadron based there. Two helicopters that serve the wounded for a large area of Northern Iraq. They said "We have a little tent right over there full of guys just going crazy by ourselves. If you want to come over tonight, we'll cook out some meat on the fire and you can make us laugh." I couldn't think of anything I would rather do. Of course I couldn't. One of them said to me "Hey man. Really just thanks for coming here." Then he ripped his unit patch, a cloud with a lightening bolt, off of his own shoulder and smacked onto my chest, where it stuck to the velcro that was there. Let me just mention that the unit patch a guy wears on his right shoulder is significant because you only wear a patch on that side if you are a veteran. When a soldier's right shoulder is bare, this means it's his first tour. If he has a unit patch there, he's at least on his second tour. Giving me that patch to wear was meaningful to that guy. Again, we boarded the Blackhawks and took off. next was a very very depressing little FOB. I don't remember what it was called. As we got off the "birds" I saw some Iraqi's watching us land from a distant building. I waved to them and they all waved back. I think they were laughing at me. This FOB was in a much more active area and no care at all was put into how they live. Just dimly lit boxy building and people looked more serious and bummed out. The "Mayor" of this base was a really tough wirey guy from New Jersey who talked like an old cab driver. he led us to a smelly room that felt like a small prison cafeteria. The back of the room was lined with refridgerators, about ten of them. The whole time we were there, soldiers kept wandering through the room, going to the refridgerators and getting a drink or an ice cream bar. They had really really good "Magnum" Ice cream bars. They must have gotten a bunch of them at once and you could tell that these guy's whole days sort of revolved around making trips back there to get one. As we got ready for the show, we heard a loud, distant explosion. A really weird "thud". Everyone laughed as soon as it happened. I had no idea what it meant. Was that enemy fire? I asked the guy next to me "How far away was that?" he said "About a click." I said "Please define click" That made him really laugh for some reason. He said "It means kilometer, sir." We gathered everyone together and did the show. They had a really really good time. After the show we walked back to the blackhawks. I walked with the Jersey-born commander. He told me "I've been in the army for twenty three years. I been in Saudi Arabia, was in dessert storm, all of this shit. And USO never caught up with me before. Never had any. I"ve always just thought that the whole world doesnt' give a goddamn shit about the army. Took me twenty three years to see you guys." As we past a concrete watch tower, I asked him about it. It was just three concrete cylanders with a little guardhouse on top, with camo netting over the top. He yelled to the kid in there to wave at me. A head stuck out smiling and he waved. He told me it gets really really cold up there and that each guy has to be up there for twelve hours in one shift. He said they just didn't have a lot of guys at this base and they had a lot to do. He partly said this as an apology because throughout our show he kept having to shift guys in and out as we performed. As we talked, I kept hearing distant explosions. he said it was called "CDE" Coordinated Detination of explosives". Everything here is acronyms. Basically, they find IEDs (Improvised explosive device" ) all over that area. they gather them together, which can't be fun and explode them all day long in a big field. He said they'd found one a few days before right where he and I were standing. Gulp. Our Blackhawks started up. He let me take his picture and shook my hand and said thank you for the show. As we climbed into the chopper, I asked one of the gunners if I could sit in the front section with him, instead of the passenger bay in the back. He shrugged and said sure. I climbed into what was barely a seat, right behind him and the pilot seats. To my right was this gunner... and this one to my left... We took off again as he and the rest of the guys waved. I immediately regretted my seat choice. I was sitting between two gaping openings in the helicopter and it was COLD AS SHIT! But it was fun, or rather interesting, to watch him survey the land below through the site of the huge machine gun.