Posted on 01/21/2008 3:48:40 PM PST by Texas Eagle
"The closer we get to Baghdad, the more I suspect that the smartest Americans are in Iraq, and they get progressively dumber the closer you get to Washington."Photo courtesy of Michael Clifton/USO tour
Feherty's Tour of Duty
He came. He saw. He inhaled half the desert. David Feherty spent six days in Iraq & Kuwait on a USO tour. His mission: Make our brave troops laugh. This is his personal journal — both hilarious and heartbreaking — from the front lines
By David Feherty
Contributing Writer, GOLF Magazine
What the hell am I doing going to a war zone? That's what I thought as I boarded a flight from Dallas to Kuwait City, and then to Iraq, where I would join Butch Harmon, Tom Lehman, Tom Watson, Howard Twitty and Joe Inman on Operation Links, a USO-sponsored visit to boost the morale of American servicemen and women.
I grew up in Ulster, in Northern Ireland, in the 1960s and '70s, and the thought of being in a war zone never bothered me. So why did I feel uneasy this November morning? Perhaps because I was a child then, and now I had children.
February 2008 On my flight out of Dallas, I examined the USO's press packet, filled with useful information about Arab culture, such as: Don't lean away if a man tries to embrace you, even if he's just farted — Arabs have little concept of "personal space." Me, I have a Heisman stiff-arm zone around me into which only freshly showered family members, friends, and beagles are allowed, so if I was to avoid an international incident, adjustments were in order. Before I knew it, we were wheels down.
Read more at http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1699828,00.html
(Excerpt) Read more at golf.com ...
Love Feherty doing golf commentary and now love him even more. And he's not even an American citizen - I believe he has kept his Irish citizenship.
>>>Love Feherty doing golf commentary and now love him even more. And he’s not even an American citizen - I believe he has kept his Irish citizenship.<<<
You may be right. He’s my favorite Irishman when it comes to golf...probably the thickest Irish accent I;ve heard, even though he’s been in the US for a very long time.
God bless him. I still remember the funny stories he tells about John Daly and Tiger Woods that nobody’s even heard of.
What a great article.
“The closer we get to Baghdad, the more I suspect that the smartest Americans are in Iraq, and they get progressively dumber the closer you get to Washington.”
Amen. Here's my favorite part...
Then we met the legendary "SeaBees," Navy engineers who can build anything, anywhere — roads, bridges, fortifications, driving ranges — ahead of schedule and under budget (and can blow the crap out of anyone who tries to stop them.) We hit balls, shook hands, signed autographs, and heard from the grunts. "Tell everyone at home we want to finish this," one of them said to me. "Give us the chance, and we will." I thought to myself, At home, why is all the news bad?
He’s visiting the Dems sand trap. Aren’t we glad we’ve overcome it, and headed for the pin!
Because the enemy amongst us wants it to be.
BTTT. Great article.
bttt
ping
"The closer we get to Baghdad, the more I suspect that the smartest Americans are in Iraq, and they get progressively dumber the closer you get to Washington."
Heh... nice way with words there.
I saw that and smiled, but as an Aussie, how can I agree, without hurting someone’s feelings...?
:’) You might tee someone off — for example, a green politician. They wood club you. ;’)
I wish I knew who was in that casket — one of the 3,887 Americans killed in Iraq as of December — so I could write to the family to tell them what an honor it was to be on the same airplane as their son or daughter, and to thank them. I owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women of the U.S. armed forces, not just because of what they are doing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, but because of what they left behind.
The insurgents they face have left one barren, theocratic hellhole to go fight in Iraq. Big deal. Americans leave behind America, the best place in the world to live. The message that Tom Watson, Tom Lehman, Butch Harmon, Howard Twitty, Joe Inman and I bring home is right from the lips of people who, thousands of miles from their families, lay their lives on the line every day to protect our way of life, and to improve it for the inhabitants of wherever they fight. The worst thing we could do is make them come home before they have had the chance to finish their job. I am proud to write their message.
Amen, bro.
Somebody ping Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.
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