Patriotism,
Country Music, Humor Greet Troops in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving
U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan are the
embodiment of the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless
service, honor, integrity and personal courage, country singer Michael
Peterson told troops here today during a Thanksgiving concert.
Michael Peterson, a country music singer here
courtesy of the USO, speaks to servicemembers at Forward Operating Base
Gardez, Afghanistan, on Nov. 23. Peterson performed songs and gave
thanks for the sacrifice and inspiration of all those in the military.
Peterson,
here courtesy of the United Service Organizations, accompanied Army
Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, senior enlisted advisor for Gen.
Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as he visited
U.S. troops at three different bases in Afghanistan today. Army Command
Sgt. Maj. Daniel R. Wood, the top enlisted member in Combined Joint
Task Force Afghanistan, accompanied them on the trip. - Photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher DeWitt, USAF.
"General Pace wants me to tell all of you that
he's very proud of you and to stay focused," Gainey told a group of
servicemembers in Forward Operating Base Gardez, his first stop of the
day.
After eating a traditional Thanksgiving meal with
soldiers from the Connecticut National Guard, Gainey spent time
explaining his role as senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff and thanking the troops for serving far from home
on Thanksgiving. He also told the troops their mission is as important
as that of servicemembers in Iraq.
Peterson, a Grammy Award-nominated singer and
songwriter, then had the group alternating between stitches and tears
as he combined deep-rooted patriotism with sometimes-ribald humor in
his remarks and songs. He's sold more than a million records, but
doesn't travel with an entourage - just an acoustic guitar and a cowboy
hat.
Peterson's heartfelt respect and admiration for
servicemembers was evident in every remark. "I'm like a lot of others:
When our country was hit (in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks), I
knew I wanted to do something, but I didn't know what to do," he said
before launching into a patriotic song about the value of veterans and
the American Legion. He's donating half the profits from the song to
the Legion's Legacy Scholarship Fund, which takes care of college
scholarships for students whose parents have been killed in action.
"So I'm doing what I can with what I have and
where I'm at," he said. "That's why I'm out here, just trying to be one
team, one fight with you guys and trying to close the gap between the
military and the civilians."
He also thanked the troops for their service.
"More than anything, I say, 'Thank you' on this Thanksgiving Day,"
Peterson said. "My hat's off to you."
A table in the base's brand-new dining facility
sported paper leaves with handwritten messages about what the troops
were thankful for. Some were sweet: children, family, spouses, God,
etc. Others were more practical to deployed servicemembers:
rest-and-relaxation leave, Kevlar, Gortex, bacon. And still others
raised eyebrows: "Not being dead," read one, while others proclaimed
their authors' thanks for such things as Rick James, snow, Puerto Rico
and cheerleaders.
Peterson and Gainey next traveled via Black Hawk
helicopter to Forward Operating Base Ghazni, where they spoke to and
entertained about 20 soldiers during a brief stop. Peterson's patriotic
bent continued there. After singing a song titled, "I'm a soldier," he
told the troops that what they're doing matters.
"I believe if we don't stop them here, they'll
bring the fight to us. You are the ones that are changing the world,"
he said. "How do I know that? Because I stood yesterday with the Afghan
National Army at their training center, and I can't really put into
words what I saw and what I felt, except that I knew I was seeing
people that were getting a taste of something they had never known
their whole lives, and that's the taste of freedom."
The singer thanked the servicemembers for "a
commitment to patriotism that lives not just on your lips, but in your
hearts."
"I know some days it doesn't feel like it, some
days you're probably just flat wore out, tired and want to go home, and
maybe Thanksgiving's one of them," he said, "but you're making a
difference. I saw it yesterday."
Finally the group set down at Bagram Air Base,
headquarters of Combined Joint Task Force 76 and the main air hub for
coalition forces into and out of Afghanistan. Peterson, Gainey, Wood
and several other senior enlisted leaders donned aprons and dished up
chow for about an hour as they greeted troops and continued to thank
them for their service. Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. central
Command, and other senior officers served meals at a different dining
facility across the base.
Just before a performance by the Air Force "Tops
in Blue" touring group here, Peterson performed for half an hour before
about 400 servicemembers who obviously appreciated his humor and his
message.
After first suggesting that frequent deployments
were the key to marital bliss, Peterson shared his top two tips for
lengthy marriages. He said married men should forget all their
mistakes. "There's no reason for two people to remember the same bad
thing for the rest of their lives," he said.
His second tip: Never let your wife cut your hair
when she's mad at you. "Never a good idea," he said.
The roar of helicopters overhead sometimes cut
through the festivities, a reminder that military operations here don't
stop for holidays, no matter how significant.
Peterson also traded hats with a young soldier
who's a huge country music fan. Army Spc. Candace Smith walked away
with Peterson's cowboy hat, which he had hand carried from the states
in a protective plastic case, and he'll wear a 10th Mountain Division
baseball cap home tomorrow.
"He was great," Smith said. "I loved it!"
Then Peterson got serious, earning respect and
cheers from many in the standing-room-only crowd when he explained that
he left the music industry 10 years ago as he was on the cusp of being
a household name. After 700 concerts in fewer than three years, he was
on the verge of sacrificing his family for stardom when he decided to
leave it behind.
"It was a lousy career decision, but I've still
got my family," he said. "And you know what I figured out? If you're
lucky, you'll maybe get a second chance to do with your life what you
love to do whether you're famous or not, but you may not get a second
chance at your family. So I know I made one of the greatest decisions I
ever made."
But patriotism drove him back into music. "I knew
that I still loved to do music. What happened to me was a daughter who
became a battalion commander in a Junior ROTC group of about 350 high
school students, combined with 9-11, combined with seeing a cover of a
Sports Illustrated magazine with Pat Tillman on it and how deeply that
moved me and inspired me," Peterson said at Bagram.
His voice choked with emotion when he spoke of
Tillman, a National Football League star who left a $3 million contract
behind to enlist in the Army Rangers after Sept. 11. Tillman was killed
in a friendly-fire incident in Afghanistan.
He performed a brand-new song called, "I remember,
America," which carried a message for servicemembers everywhere. "I'll
never forget the day, Sept. 11, 2001, when those b******s tried to blow
our dreams away," Peterson sung. "And my prayer for you tonight is that
you get the job done and come home safe again."
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
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You know me right? I love
radio and I love
artists. Back in October of
2001, I got to meet an amazing man by the name of Michael Peterson.
Over the years, this guy has put out some amazing hits.
Drink,
Swear, Steal and Lie and No More Looking Over My
Shoulder
are just two of them!
