Hey Redskins Fans!
Jade here, and I am so honored to be a member of the First Ladies' 60th Military Appreciation Tour to the Mediterranean. As a four-year veteran, I have been extremely blessed with the opportunity to travel on four military appreciation tours to Bahrain, Italy, Spain, Kosovo, Curaçao, and Puerto Rico. As a First Lady, we have been afforded the opportunity to visit our servicemen and women and their families who are protecting us overseas. As much as I love cheering for the best team in the NFL on the sidelines, nothing compares to the feeling of bringing a little piece of home to our military.
After a busy week of rehearsals for the football season, calendar release show and Fan Appreciation Day in Richmond, we took an overnight flight to Lisbon, Portugal where we started our 60th tour. We were able to see a little bit of Lisbon before heading on a flight to Terceira Isla to visit Lajes Air Force Base.
Azores is an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean about 2.5 hours from Lisbon. Once we landed we hit the ground running. We met three members of the Air Force who took us straight to base to prepare for our show and meet & greet. We performed for a room full of soldiers who cheered so loud, I felt like I was back at FedExField. After our finale, we were presented with challenge coins from Sgt. Major Redmond. It was exciting as a military tour veteran to explain to our Rookies the meaning behind the challenge coin and we have a keepsake from this base to treasure.
After our performance, we spent the afternoon meeting the men, women and children of the Lajes Air Force base. My favorite moment was speaking with a gentleman from Northern Virginia who told me he is a lifelong Redskins fan and has been away from home for 8 years. He was very moved by my favorite routine we call "Proud" which is a tribute to our military that we have performed all over the world on military tours since 1999.
We ended the night exploring the city with members of the Air Force and learning all about the city's culture as well as some of their favorite local spots. Festas da Praia, a week-long festival was going on so we lucked out and witnessed an amazing parade and an opportunity to see the Portugese culture.
We are excited to head to our next location which is in Turkey. Check back to see what we're up to next!
Cheers!
Jade <3
