Hi Redskins Fans!
I am so humbled and honored to be selected with seven of my teammates to be on this military appreciation tour with Adopt-A-Soldier Platoon. The experience so far has been nothing short of amazing.
Right now we are about half way through the tour and on our second "cluster" of base visits. We flew via helicopter from Bagram to Camp Phoenix in Kabul and toured their facilities including Camp Vose, which is their Special Operations Task Force. We also got to visit the QRF (Quick Reaction Force), where we took pictures and received a tutorial on their MRAP Fighting Vehicle and MATV. After our busy day, we had a little bit of down time to visit the Green Bean (their version of a Starbucks) and shop at the PX. After a little caffeine, we were ready to perform our fourth tour show.
No words can fully describe how truly amazing and touching this particular performance was. The gymnasium we danced in was packed with the most energetic and appreciative military group, making our performance pieces so much fun. While performing our final number, "Proud", singing "I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free…" really touched our hearts and made all the girls teary-eyed. Exhausted but content, we went to bed and got ready for our next day at Camp Morehead.
Camp Morehead is a small Special Ops base where Special Forces Rangers, Green Berets, and Seals are located. Right when we landed we quickly ate lunch and performed at the DFAC. Later, their Master Sergeant spoke to us and mentioned that one of their own had died on a mission just 7 days prior. He said that this brave solider gave his life for our country and anyone of the guys standing beside us would gladly give up their lives for us as well. This statement was so powerful and really made me feel so blessed to have such dedicated and honorable men protecting our freedom. It felt like all of our efforts to raise the troops' morale were not nearly enough.
Sadly it was our time to leave Camp Morehead and head back to Camp Phoenix for our last night in Kabul. We were brought to a conference room with the Task Force Commander Tarpon and Task Force Volunteer and were awarded with a plaque for our service here. Since we wanted to mingle with as many soldiers as possible, we ended the day at the Green Bean for a fun night of karaoke, dancing, and limbo.
These past couple days have been life changing and I can't wait to continue on with the rest of the tour. We hope all of you at home are keeping these brave men and women in your prayers for a safe return home. Hail to the Redskins!
Yours,
Truly
