Read the full story here:
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/spor..._layfield.html
As many of you know the tribute to the troops show will air tonight on the USA network at 9 pm
http://www.wwe.com/content/media/vid...r15-21/6104596
They also had another scare. The smakdown superstars almost where in a plane crash. As the plane was landing another plane pulled on the runway. They barely got their plane back up and cleared the other plane. It was said that all the wrestlers were pale and very shaken up from it.
But This is usually a good show and its for a good cause.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/spor..._layfield.html
Have you ever had any trepidation about traveling to places such as Iraq and Afghanistan during a war? Have you had any scary moments?
Yeah, we?ve had a couple. We had one this year. We were landing in Tarmiya, and we didn?t know it was a hot zone we were landing in. We thought we were landing in a secured base and we weren?t. We were landing in an unsecured area and actually had to get through town to get to where the small secured area was. When we landed, there were Iraqis everywhere ? on rooftops all around us. And there were dead dogs everywhere. When they get too close to the base they have to be shot because most of them are rabid, and they?re more akin to hyenas in Australia than they are to dogs here in the states. It just looked like something out of Apocalypse Now. As we looked at this, we?re realizing that we?re landing in a hot zone. And we get off the chopper and they?re telling us to ?get in single file, move along, hurry, keep your head down,? and bombs are going off everywhere. They?re our bombs ? smoke bombs. They?re shielding us just in case there?s a sniper in the area that wants to shoot us. As we?re running through all this, we?ve got to run through a barbed wire maze to get into the little secured area that they have inside of a building. Ron Simmons turns around to me in that James Earl Jones voice and says, ?You know, I?d have mailed them an autograph.? That alleviated the moment. When you?re like that you pretty much understand that you don?t have control of your own situation.
Are there servicemen that you?ve met on these tours and kept in touch with?
Yeah, in fact I got an e-mail yesterday from a soldier. Quite a few still keep in contact with me. He told me that his wife is expecting their second baby. He?s headed back to Iraq. And I?ve actually seen some soldiers and, unfortunately, ran into them later at Walter Reed there in D.C. and found out that they had lost a leg or lost an arm. That?s really saddening any time, but when you?ve met them it really makes it personal to you.
For those of us who will never be in the Middle East with the troops, what insight can you give us about them that we won?t get from the news?
The main thing is the morale of these guys. It is just phenomenal. I?ve been over there when they?ve gotten their leaves extended; I was there right as they captured [Saddam] Hussein. I was there when they actually killed Uday and Qusay [Hussein]. So I?ve been there during a variety of emotions for these troops. These guys get shot up; they want to go right back to battle. These guys are soldiers. It?s got nothing to do with politics. It?s got nothing to do with any of their agendas. They are doing what they are told and they believe in what they are doing as soldiers. It?s just a phenomenally honorable existence that these guys have.
Yeah, we?ve had a couple. We had one this year. We were landing in Tarmiya, and we didn?t know it was a hot zone we were landing in. We thought we were landing in a secured base and we weren?t. We were landing in an unsecured area and actually had to get through town to get to where the small secured area was. When we landed, there were Iraqis everywhere ? on rooftops all around us. And there were dead dogs everywhere. When they get too close to the base they have to be shot because most of them are rabid, and they?re more akin to hyenas in Australia than they are to dogs here in the states. It just looked like something out of Apocalypse Now. As we looked at this, we?re realizing that we?re landing in a hot zone. And we get off the chopper and they?re telling us to ?get in single file, move along, hurry, keep your head down,? and bombs are going off everywhere. They?re our bombs ? smoke bombs. They?re shielding us just in case there?s a sniper in the area that wants to shoot us. As we?re running through all this, we?ve got to run through a barbed wire maze to get into the little secured area that they have inside of a building. Ron Simmons turns around to me in that James Earl Jones voice and says, ?You know, I?d have mailed them an autograph.? That alleviated the moment. When you?re like that you pretty much understand that you don?t have control of your own situation.
Are there servicemen that you?ve met on these tours and kept in touch with?
Yeah, in fact I got an e-mail yesterday from a soldier. Quite a few still keep in contact with me. He told me that his wife is expecting their second baby. He?s headed back to Iraq. And I?ve actually seen some soldiers and, unfortunately, ran into them later at Walter Reed there in D.C. and found out that they had lost a leg or lost an arm. That?s really saddening any time, but when you?ve met them it really makes it personal to you.
For those of us who will never be in the Middle East with the troops, what insight can you give us about them that we won?t get from the news?
The main thing is the morale of these guys. It is just phenomenal. I?ve been over there when they?ve gotten their leaves extended; I was there right as they captured [Saddam] Hussein. I was there when they actually killed Uday and Qusay [Hussein]. So I?ve been there during a variety of emotions for these troops. These guys get shot up; they want to go right back to battle. These guys are soldiers. It?s got nothing to do with politics. It?s got nothing to do with any of their agendas. They are doing what they are told and they believe in what they are doing as soldiers. It?s just a phenomenally honorable existence that these guys have.
As many of you know the tribute to the troops show will air tonight on the USA network at 9 pm
http://www.wwe.com/content/media/vid...r15-21/6104596
They also had another scare. The smakdown superstars almost where in a plane crash. As the plane was landing another plane pulled on the runway. They barely got their plane back up and cleared the other plane. It was said that all the wrestlers were pale and very shaken up from it.
But This is usually a good show and its for a good cause.
