Photo By Capt. Michael Greenberger | Actor Charlie Finn, from the movie "Dukes of Hazzard," signs an autograph and offers...... read more read more
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AFGHANISTAN - "That was awesome!" was all Spc. Kyle Childers, Task Force Cyclone webmaster, could muster after performing a musical number for celebrities.
Following his performance of "My Little Buttercup," from the movie "The Three Amigos," Childers raised his arms in victory to the sound of applause.
Also travelling with Watros was Brianne Davis from the movie "Jarhead," Charlie Finn, from the movie "Dukes of Hazzard," and Terry Serpico, from the TV show "Army Wives." Many of the celebrities were stunned by the Afghan countryside.
"One of the bases we visited was in a valley between some mountains," said Davis. "It was the most beautiful scenery I'd ever seen ... it almost takes your breath away."
Davis and company visited several locations within Afghanistan, including Forward Operating Bases Fenty in Nangarhar province; Kalagush in Nuristan province; and Mehtar Lam in Lagham province.
"I like going to the smaller bases," Davis went on. "You get to spend more time with the guys and get to know them and hang out with them."
Nearly all the stars echoed the same sentiments — a fondness for the troops out in the field.
"When we first met the guys out there they had just come off missions all night and you could see the weariness in their eyes," said Serpico. "But, after we'd been there for a little while, you could really see them start to relax and see their personalities emerge."
On his first trip to South West Asia, Serpico was more than happy to sign some autographs and take pictures with everyone that showed up to greet the celebrities. A self-proclaimed "military brat," Serpico plays Maj. Frank Sherwood on "Army Wives."
"My father served 26 years in the Army and I'm very proud to be the son of a Soldier," Serpico said. "The part I play on Army Wives is very much a tribute to my father and out of due respect to the military. To be able to portray an Army officer is just such a source of great pride to me."
Although the stars try to visit as many places as they can, numerous challenges exist in getting the talent out to the troops. It takes a lot of work and attention to make these tours happen.
"Air support is our main challenge due to mission in-country," said Senior Airman Justin Bello, entertainment technician with U.S. Forces Afghanistan. "Typically it takes a month to plan an hour's worth of work. I'm with the tour the whole time. I'm up before they are and go to sleep after them, and anything they need in between I'm there for them. It's tiring, but the most rewarding part is getting out to the FOBs and boosting the morale of the guys out there," said the Pinedille, Pa., native.
The stars were unanimous - raising morale is what it's all about.
"The real small FOBs don't get many visitors," said Watros. "I was so happy that we got out there because you can just see how it brings up the morale. We got to spend the night at one [FOB] and have dinner and just hang out and talk and sometimes that's all they want. They just want to know that people are thinking about them and they're not forgotten."
On his first trip overseas, Finn was grateful for the opportunity to visit with service members who are deployed.
"The FOBs are where I got to really experience firsthand what the military is doing and I got to see an aspect of what's going on here that we don't get to see back in the states," Finn said. "Some of it gets filtered through our news and I got to see the humanitarian side of what the military is doing and meet guys that have actually helped people out ... it was a very humbling experience."
After nearly two hours of signing autographs, taking pictures and generally hanging out with everyone that came out, the four stars hopped aboard a pair of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles outside the MWR Clamshell tent, ending their last day of the tour.
"I was very excited to meet Terry and other visiting celebrities," said Army 2nd Lt. Olha Vandergriff, an operations officer with the 45th Joint Logistics command and Savannah, Ga., native. "I think Terry is doing a great thing by coming over here and talking with soldiers. It's the little things in life that sometimes impacts people the greatest. Meeting Terry definitely made my day! I hope he enjoyed visiting the Soldiers as well."
| Date Taken: | 09.30.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 09.30.2009 11:39 |
| Story ID: | 39484 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 708 |
| Downloads: | 646 |
This work, Celebrity visit boosts morale for troops overseas, by CPT Michael Greenberger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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