Didn't miss this

Although I missed President Bush's visit to our base this week, I made sure not to miss the USO show with these featured entertainers:

Kid Rock with Lac Brown - Rock star, singer/guitar player
Lewis Black - Comedian who regularly appears on "The Daily Show"
Kellie Pickler - American Idol Contestant and Country Music Star
Tichina Arnold - "Pam" from the hit Comedy show "Martin"
Kathleen Madigan - Comedian who appears on Comedy Central
John Bowman - Comedian who appears on Comedy Central
When: Wednesday, 17 December 2008, the show began at 0900L

The show was surprisingly enjoyable! I say surprisingly because except for Kid Rock and Kellie Pickler, I had not heard of any of the people listed above. But kudos to them all, they came and accomplished what they set out to do - entertain the troops. The show was a quick hour and was a mixture of live music and comedy. They are talented performers and made us laugh. The running joke was about how they had never performed at 0900 before; for some of them that was around their bedtime. I was impressed by Kid Rock because he lived up to his "bad boy" image, needless to say, his show was a far cry from the USO Bob Hope Show era.

My hats off to these entertainers for taking the time to come to Iraq and Afghanistan during this holiday season to entertain us, and do it well. I know I will remember their commitment to our troops (for some, it was their 2nd, 3rd or 4th USO tour)! A last pitch again for the USO - it is the end of the year and if you are considering a donation to a worthy organization for tax purposes, consider donating to the USO - I am seeing firsthand what they do for us who are deployed; as well as what they do for our troops stateside. I've even included links to their site if you are so inclined to make that Dec. 31 deadline. They are a very deserving organization!