I am watching on TMC-W a wickedly cool movie. Jeffrey Ross got invited to go with Drew Carey on USO tour of Iraq. Bewarned the movie is a wee bit salty, but watch it if you get the chance.
I like that Jeffrey Ross first talks about Bob Hope. How Bob with his whole heart hated war but always went out to entertain the soldiers. Then Jeffrey decided to ask Larry Gelbert of MASH fame some advice about touring a war zone as an entertainer since Larry tagged along with Bob Hope on some tours. When he mentioned he was going to someplace where people are getting shot, Larry quipped "What East LA?" Then later talking about all the HUMVEEs Larry quipped again it would be just like Hollywood.
They get to Kuwait City, Kuwait and Jeffrey is an insomniac so goes wandering in the night. He talked about recognizing some familiar faces, picture of Col. Sanders at KFC. Next he is at the beach saying "This is the Persian Gulf. A Jew in Kuwait smoking a Cuban cigar."
One of the people they run across as one of their military escorts is a guy named Jim Neighbors, the Gomer Pyle Jim Neighbors grandson who had already survived one IED. They get housed at the Al-Rashid and during one of their shows the hotel gets hit by mortar rounds, one striking just above the room Drew is in.
The comic routines are just hilaroius as Jeffrey records not only his, but the others. Even the jokes that bomb, rim-shot, are still amusing since we see these comics keep the soldiers laughing.
Jeffrey is video-taping everything it seems even the IV stuck in his arm after he passed out while doing his routine on a flat-bed trailer. As his convoy scoots by the Ba'ath headquearters, it has been subtitled as the Bed, Ba'ath, and Beyond. They toured several of Saddam's palaces including once finished in 2000. Jeffery had a great idea to rescue Iraq from insolvency and insurgency, open the palaces up as casinos.
His comments on the victory arch that has the crossed sabres in Baghdad is pretty much on target. "These were built by Saddam to celebrate his eight year stalemate with Iran."
"Hey is that the soccer stadium where they tortured all those people?" "No that is the torture stadium where they played soccer."
"Andre, how is the MRE?" "Its pretty good." "You eating the bag Andre."
Of course one image that sticks in my mind, besides all the soldiers laughing it up, is Jeffrey videotaping an M-1A1 running over one of the buried MiG-25R recon Foxbats.
If you get a chance to see this home movie, do so. Jeffrey Ross says at the end how this one tour has changed him.
No comments:
Post a Comment