Diamond Dallas Page "State Of The Union": Recent Visit To US Troops In Iraq, Enemy Gunfire, More
The following is from his website ddpbang.com. Visit his website to read the entire report and view dozens of photos from his visit to the troops in Iraq.
Hey Cutters...
What you are about to read in this email was the experience of a lifetime for me... and it's longest email I've ever sent you guys so you may want to read it in stages... but if you want to know what this trip was really like you want to read it all and then go to www.diamonddallaspage.com and see all the pictures ... I want to thank my web master Rich for loading so many pictures of my trip to Iraq.
As you can imagine over the last four months I have gone through a roller coaster of emotions and changes in my life ... at times I had no idea where I was going or what I was doing ... this trip put every thing into perspective for me. I could never put into words what really happened to me while I was over in Iraq... but here are a few sound bites that I wrote down as I went along ... they are things that I didn't want to forget so most of them I wrote down as they happened.
You can think what you want about the war in Iraq ... but when you do ... to really understand what's happening over there you need to think about this same type of war happening in our own back yards ... in your own back yard while you're having a BBQ. Or at you child's school ... or at the church you choose to worship at ... and then think again about the war in Iraq (because I don't give a $hit what they say it still a war ... I'm here) and if you were here and saw what I saw ... given a choice again of fighting in your own back yard or fighting it over in Iraq ... you're going to choose Iraq every time... that's why our troops are there and once again if you saw what I saw you would have a better understanding.
Over the last 13 days I've seen a lot and I've talked to thousands and thousands of our soldiers on close to 15 some odd bases or FOB (Forward Operating Base) as they are called ... and I want to tell you that these young and older men and women are the most polite, sincere, thankful individuals I believe I've ever come across. If you were here you would see that they truly make you ... proud to be an American.
As you can imagine the TV and the news papers only give you what they believe is going to get ratings and sell papers... and this is a WAR and some $hit is just f*cked up that happens but for the most part everyone one of these guys I talked to are doing what they believe in ... what they believe is the right thing and you know what ... I'm not a republican or a democrat but I am a supporter of our troops and that's why I went to Iraq and I'm damn glad I did.
Yes there is a war going on ... and if I took the time to think about the odds of me really getting killed by the mortars, the rockets, the IED's, the poison spiders, the malaria or having to deal with the heat (some times its between 120 and 150 degrees... and I'm not kidding), the army food (it's BRUTAL) or the over all conditions of a country like Iraq that I call a hell hole.... well if I concentrated on all that I probably wouldn't have come because that would be the negative 10%...
and I don't choose to Live Life in the negative 10% ... me I choose to Live Life in the positive... and if I can help just one of our soldiers stay in the positive enough so they get home alive ... well baby that's just damn good karma.
MORALE ... the morale of our troops ... that's why Rob Dibble, Brian Lee (the man who ran our tour and would be our BIG TOE ... our SGT Hulka) and myself headed into a war zone ... to increase the MORALE ... it's the same as Living Life at 90%... you know my concept that Life being 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it... to somehow help some of our troops to be able to find that spot... to find that mindset that puts you in the positive no matter how bad it gets... to help someone remember that there maybe someone who has it way better than they do... but there is always some one who has it much worst ... the person who finds the way to Live Life at 90% under conditions like these... has the world by the balls... The key is keeping your state of mind in the positive ... its all about positive Morale.
Sept 6th ... Day One: I got to the airport to check in when I got a call from Rob Dibble (RD). The same RD you can hear on ESPN Radio. His primary role is on "The Dan Patrick Show," which is heard Monday-Friday 12 noon-3 pm on ESPN Radio. RD also appears on Baseball Tonight on ESPN TV-and co-hosts "The Baseball Show" radio broadcast every Saturday during the baseball season on ESPN Radio. A seven-year Major League Baseball veteran, RD served as a right-handed pitcher, RD retired from baseball in 1995. He had a 27-25 record with 89 saves and a 2.98 ERA-in seven major league seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers. He struck out 645 batters in 477 career innings. RD combined with Norm Charlton and Randy Myers to form the "Nasty Boys" bullpen, one of the most fearsome bullpen combos assembled in baseball history. So you see why they put us together for this trip to Iraq. The Nasty Boys (who would fit right in with wrestlers "Nasty Boys" Sags and Nobs) flawless pitching helped Cincinnati win the 1990 World Series in which he tossed 4-2/3 scoreless innings in three appearances against the Oakland A's. In the playoffs RD was named co-MVP of the National League Championship Series for hurling five scoreless innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out 10 and picking up a save.
So I'm at my gate ready to board bullshitting with RD on my cell and he says: Dallas I know you do a lot of international traveling but I don't ... and I've got to tell you ... these people stink... He was just leaving Wash DC... I laughed my ass off and said bro you haven't smelt anything yet wait till we pull into that hell hole. Then I heard the flight attendant say were going to need 15 minutes because of technical problems on my plane ... I knew I was in trouble and sure as hell the fight got cancelled. So I returned home.
Sept 7th ... Day Two: Well today the plane took off on time at 2:55 pm. It was an easy Flight into Frankfurt then into Kuwait... about 23 hours later. Upon arrival I met my buddy who ran the last Pacific Rim tour I did about a year ago when I went to see the Navy troops... Brian Lee is his name... he greeted me with LeeAnn Spidell and MSG Dan Sturgell. Dan would be our guide and security and new best buddy while in Iraq.
We got to the base at Kuwait around 9:45pm and immediately went to my room on the base where I met RD and his guide for that day Al(Lonzo Scott). RD was exactly like I expected him to be. A wild Mo Fo ... who I feel like I known all my life... immediately. We bullshitted for a bit and went straight to the mess hall to get something to eat and do an autograph session, which we wouldn't leave until around 2:15 in the am.
Sept 8th ... The troops were great and so appreciative that we were there... that would be the theme through the rest of this trip. The reality was the troops made us feel like we really made a difference by coming so I think we were the ones that were really appreciative. I was pretty burnt by this time as you can imagine. We all went back our rooms ... Remember this is the Army so there were no king size bed... what we got were 2 bunk beds on each side of the room. I finally
crashed out around 3 am and was woken up at 6 am to catch a 7 am flight into Baghdad.
Sept 9th ... At breakfast we signed for the troops again and then ran off to the airport which of course the flight was late and we didn't leave till around 1 pm. This is the army and like Hollywood and the wrestling world there is a lot of HURRY UP ... and Wait. Oh yeah the temperature was over 120 degrees . Finally were off and right now I'm in C-130(military aircraft) with about 40 other soldiers. I'm sitting next to Kevin Farquharson who has been in the Army for a little over 15 years and is just coming back from his vacation at home in Maine to finish up his one year tour. When the Army soldiers come here ... each and everyone of them comes for at least a year. I found out that most of the Air Force troops finish there tours up in about 3-4 month. I want to send out a shout to Kevin's kids,,, Derek, Courtney, Melvin... Kevin said his kids would never believe him if he told them ... so I'll do it for him.
As I look around the C-130 which is nothing like flying Business class on Delta that I'm used to flying. I see that a lot of the boys are fast asleep. I can't sleep in business class and these boys are out like a light in a cargo plane... I guess when have to get up and be ready to go in an instant you better be able fall asleep the same way.
As we are about to land in Baghdad the plane does a sudden drop to the right and then the left... a roll of some kind. It was one of those drops that is so dramatic you know something wasn't right. Later after we landed I would find out that ... that's how the planes enter and leave Baghdad airport because from time to time the planes are having rockets shot it... guess what ... were not in Kanas anymore... That would be the wake up of what things were to come. BTW have I mentioned it's like 120 degrees in the shade to... and you have to walk around in 20 lb. full armored vest and a 8 lb. helmet... in other words it's f*cking hot as hell... maybe hotter.
After we landed we went to Camp Victory ... which is set on the Palace grounds that once belonged to that rat bastard Saddam Hussein (now ... since we all pretty much hate this piece of shit ... I will now only refer to him by his initials... the initials for his real name ... SH short for $HITHEAD) where would we would make our home for the next 5 days. These were actually the old hunting grounds for SH - when the 1st US troops came through here during the war in '03, they found lions and tigers running around loose. We saw coyotes and foxes and heard that SH had an alligator pit on the grounds as one of his sick torture methods. What a crib this scumbag once had. We stayed at his grand hotel located on the Palace grounds. Pictures of the palace and the grounds are on my site www.diamonddallaspage.com . A couple of days before we got here 2 mortar cells (bombs) landed on the bases grounds. One of them landed in a bed... the bedroom of one of our soldiers ... he just happened to brushing his teeth at the time and blew his $hit to the high heavens ... I told you weren't in Kansas anymore and thank god his mama taught him to brush his teeth after every meal... you have to have some humor about this $hit and you'll see why as I go on.
That evening we got the tour of the Palace grounds ... we also got to meet General Troy who is now occupying SH crib. Of course everywhere RD and I went we signed autographs and took pictures. It's funny RD and I are exactly the same as me ... we're both Mickey Mouse with Tattoos... later I would name RD donald duck or # 2 ... I have two huge tattoos and RD has 25 of them. Our guide for the day was the 6' 9'' 268 lbs. Lt Willie B. By the end of the day I was so exhausted I had to crash and regroup.
Sept 10th ... The next morning I slept in a little late (up at 7:30 am ... this is the Army) Dan was back to pick us up with his brother-in -law Merle (the pearl)(SGM Merle Henry) to take us around to some of the other FOB's (bases or camps) within Camp Victory. Our first stop was the tank division. I got to meet Mean Gene(SGM Gene Kelly) the man in charge... we also got to get in one of those bad ass tanks and see what they are all about... but they couldn't take us for a ride... they were getting ready for a mission. Next we were off to see some of the FOBs that are seeing the most action. The first base we were supposed to visit was canceled because it taking to much enemy fire. We then left for FOB Ironhorse. We flew on a Black Hawk helicopter, which fly in pairs so they can protect each other if one goes down. These kids have seen a lot of action... you could see it in there eyes how happy they were to see us. I'll tell you really have no idea what these guys are going through until you've been here. The papers only tell you the $hit they want to tell you... I saw a lot of good that they are doing and putting there lives at risk every day. The terrorists are now hiring mercenaries to kill our troops... they are offering $2,500 a dead American... what the f*ck! That's one of the reasons your hearing about so many of our Marines who have died in the past weeks... they will also pay kids and I mean kids $10 to come up to soldiers and wave and then toss a live grenade and run... if they kill an American they get like $500 dollars... now that's really f*cked. Captain Ted Kaiser was our tour guide at Ironhorse, a great guy ... later we got to meet the man ... Col. Abrams... great grandson of the late General Abrams ... the M1 Abrams is the main tank named after his granddaddy ... he was a class act and has all the energy of the ever ready rabbit. As usual the troops were extremely grateful for us taking our time to show up in there back yard. CPT Kaiser and LT Phil Sacks took great care of us while visiting Ironhorse.
On the way home (9:30) that night they left the side doors open as we flew over the city of Baghdad... which was impressive as hell. I'm getting ready to crash now (it's 11:45) because we have to be up at 7 am to head to another base. I'm tried as I've ever been right now and I just got here... these guys do this shit everyday...
Sept 11th ... I'm just sitting here in SH Palace and I'm thinking how crazy is it that I am in Iraq three years to the day after the Twin Towers were destroyed ... I'll never forget Kimberly running into our bedroom in Atlanta crying as if the world was coming to the end. Who will ever forget where they were on that day. I know I won't. I think that's one of the reason I wanted to come and see these soldiers when so many of my friends asked me not to go. Not to say a lot of my friends weren't supportive of our troops because they are, it just some didn't understand why now or they were just to scared for me I guess.
I remember 9/11 ... my brother-in-law Paulie was in Tower # 2 when it got hit and I was scared as hell for him and my family. I remember Kim and I actually getting ready to drive to Jersey to help my family out when some how through the hands of God I got through to Paulie on his cell phone and he was safe... many people weren't so lucky.
I believe as time has gone by some of the people in our country have slowly forgotten what 9/11 means ... I have not and either has my buddy Rob Dibble or Brian Lee... So that's why were here ... to show our support for our troops and we've have been having the times of our lives... we have truly been Living Life at 90%.
Our first stop that day was FOB Ferrin Huggins - this is another one of those FOB's that no celebrities ever come to visit ... it small and there in the heart of the action. We immediately met COL Stephen Lanza who was on his way out on a mission. He couldn't have been more appreciative that RD and I were there to visit his boys. He walked us over to some Humvees where his personal security team was stationed. We took some great shots and signed autographs for the group.
After an autograph session at the MWR(Morale Welfare & Recreation) center on base, we went to the mess hall for lunch. During lunch - we heard 4 loud explosions on base. Four rockets had just hit the base. After about twenty seconds of silence, everyone in the mess hall just went back to eating and talking - this is a normal occurrence for the troops on these bases, these attacks happen every day. After lunch we went to Camp Cooke located in Taji, North of Baghdad. We were assigned a security team of three female soldiers to get us to and from each visit on base. SPC Germany, SGT Brown & SGT Hardin were always there when RD and I would yell "security"! We met General Chastain at the mess hall that evening. CPT Paul Martinez also took care of while at Camp Cooke.
My favorite part of these trips besides meeting the troops has been getting to ride to see all these troops in Black Hawk helicopters. You can't just drive around if you're and American because the 5% of the a$$holes who hate us ... so you fly... well we flew anyway.
Sept 12th ... was the day the $hit really hit the fan... at around 5 am Dibble woke me up out of dead sleep and said to me did you hear that ... he was walking around the room like a mad man smoking a cigarette... I glanced over and said... no hear what ... he said ... the f*cking bombs ... how did you just now not hear those 7 mortars (bombs) ... and I said... ear plugs ... and I pulled one out ... and I heard a BOOM ... I said OK I heard that one and I put my ear plug back in and went back to sleep. There were about 8 mortars in all that morning.
Our first visit on Sunday was FOB Headhunter. If you've be watching CNN I'm sure you heard about the Bradley that got bombed as it was doing a scouting mission looking for the bad guys. Well it got hit hard but all of our boys were OK ... I know this because as RD and I were signing autographs for the troops when those same boys from that Bradley came walking by ... they were stationed at this base when they saw RD and me and there faces lit up like christmas trees... That's right they were from the FOB that we were visiting on that very day... what's the odds of that. There is a picture of them on my site. One was a little scratched up on his face and needed some stitches, one hurt his shoulder and the other two were fine - I could tell because we talked to them for quite awhile. They were going to take a little time down and get ready to back to work... it's what they do ... their soldiers. At FOB Headhunter, CSM(Command Sgt. Major) Felt was our enthusiastic guide. He said "hooah", a military term that some of the soldiers explained means anything and everything but doesn't mean the word"no". After spending some time with CSM Felt, RD and I started saying"hooah" for the rest of the trip. CSM Felt took us up into a guard tower where we got a view of the Haifa Street Area of Baghdad - this is one of the most dangerous sections of the city and a reason why FOB Headhunter sees so much action. At lunch, we met Col. MacDonald who expressed his thanks for RD and I coming all the way to Iraq to visit the troops.
Later that day - Team Hulka as we were now calling ourselves ... Brian Lee became our Big Toe after the movie "Stripes".... we went to the International zone (The Green Zone). The International Zone (formerly known as the Green Zone) is the heavily guarded area of closed-off streets in central Baghdad where US occupation authorities live and work. We visited a few FOBs including FOB Trojan Horse. These FOBs were very Romanesque from the outside and very white trash from the inside. While doing a meet and greet for hours on end... the line was endless.
Later that night we went to eat at one of the mess halls. When we walked into the mess hall they were playing Smackdown on the TV ... you should have seen the looks on the guys faces ... I told them I just walked through the TV which got a huge laugh.
Our day normally starts at 6:30 am. I get up do some yoga take a shower, eat and head to the Black Hawks. We would get home around 9:30 that night.
Sept 13th...On Monday were set to visit two different bases when were told that we would be unable to fly to those locations because of enemy activity in those regions. So we spent another day at Camp Victory... after each meal we just did more meet and greets at the mess halls ... that's really the best time to meet the troops because there are so many of them in one spot.
We constantly got questioned what brought us to Iraq or what are we doing here? Our answers got more colorful as the days continued but are favorite were... we came here for the strip clubs... or they told us we were going to Disneyland ... did I mention this is a dry country ... no booze period not even a beer ... so much for the strip clubs. After signing autographs at one of the mess hall at lunch - we headed over to the Al Faw Palace across from where we were staying. LT. Rob Hamilton provided us with an awesome tour of SH's palace. We went into a former government meeting room where SH had meetings with his top people and I sat in SH's chair and did my best SH impression. I had RD, Brian, MSG Sturgell and LT Hamilton all laughing their ass off at my SH impression. I of course have no I idea what SH sounds like which makes it even funnier... I would do my classic SH impression the rest of the trip.
Sept 14th ... Today we got up at 6 am to catch a flight to Balad to go to FOB Anaconda which is about 45 minutes north of Baghdad but our Black Hawks were delayed because Balad was still in a lock down. So we went back to SH hotel where I did something I been wanting to do since I got there at the SH hotel Palace but I just didn't have the time. I wanted to film some footage to put in the can of me doing yoga on the Palace grounds for my YRG workout (Yoga for Regular Guys). I am presently writing a book and preparing to do and informercial with my partners the Yogadoc and producer Jay Cohen for YGR. Since we had a couple of free hours on our hands I thought what a great back drop the Palace grounds would make, on SH private lake with all the mini Palaces in the back ground... I thought how many other people would have this opportunity to do this ... so I took advantage of the situation and it looks unbelievable.
At 3 that afternoon we took off for Balad . The FOB Anaconda is SH former air force base which is now ours and it's huge. One thing you need to understand is that this FOB is not just for the United States it is also occupied by the English, Aussies and Koreans... It's like a huge melting pot here.
When we got to Balad we checked in to our rooms and went right to eat and meet and greet. This FOB has been on total lock down since 9/11 because the attack that happened on the base on that day. An IED (improvised explosive devise) exploded and a young man lost his life, later a mortar exploded and a young man lost his arm and both legs. Later that day at Balad Air Force base RD and I would meet that young man who stopped the bleeding so that he lived. All of this happened while these soldiers were on the same bases that we were on a day earlier.
What you never really hear about is that the bases are being attacked all the time. The locals that attack our troops are offered money to kill Americans and some of them need money so bad that they risk there lives...
Like I said earlier a lot of mercenaries have been hired by the one percent of local terrorist who have hated our guts for years. But if you talk to the soldiers which I have, they will tell you that 95% of the Iraqis are good people they want us to leave ... but
not yet ... not till they get there shit together which is going to be awhile. Most all of the soldiers I talked to all believe in what they are doing and most of them are re-enlisting and the ones that aren't re-enlisting are coming back to work in the private sector back here in Iraq. I don't care what your political views are on this war... to me it's all about supporting our troops... they have no control over being here ... they have job to do and like the American soldiers that they are... they do it.
After we did out meet and greet at dinner we went right to another for the Air Force where we met a couple of Captains who asked us if we had some time while we were here we should head over to the hospital. Of course we went right over there after we finished. This was a real sobering experience to all of us. It was set up like a MASH unit only really high tech compared to MASH you saw on the TV show. While there we meet a couple of Marines - one who had been shot one in the neck by a sniper. The bullet hit his spine and when he wakes up that soldier will have no feeling from his neck down. We also met the other Marine who was with him who got shot in the face. This was one of the toughest son of bitches I ever met. He couldn't talk and his face was all stitched up with one eye close. He looked at us with his one eye open and gave us the Hawaiian hang loose sign with his good hand - To let us know he was going to be alright.
We also met a couple of guys who used to be in one of our services who have come back to work security for our convoys that move our troops from one spot to another. These guys were on there way to the airport to go home on leave when they were attacked. 3 of their buddies died, the 2 we met where much luckier. I actually met a guy named Mike in that hospital who met me in the Atlanta airport... small world. As we moved throughout the hospital we met the crew that's putting our boys and the enemy (who we also saw from a distance) back together again. Our tour ended meeting Dr. Mark Richardson. He heard we were there and he wanted to thank us personally for taking the time for being there. He went on to say we had some huge balls being there.
Up until that point I'd heard the explosions and all the stories of what has happened recently over in this hell hole but it really didn't hit me till he said it and we were sitting in a hospital. Like I said this was the most sobering part of this trip. We signed pictures for everyone but Mark sticks out - he had me put nine of his children's names on one autograph card ... Yes I said 9 ... he also told me he had one more on the way... So I signed all the names and finished it off with and a player to be named later.
We got back to our rooms that night and passed out around 12 am I woke up around 5 am and wrote this. I guess I wanted to get it off my mind so I could be full of smiles for the day I was about to begin.
Sept 15th... We spent the whole day at Anaconda... this FOB is so big we could have spent a week here... One of our stops that day was to see the Air Force.
We had a great reception from all the mechanics about 60 in all. One of things you'll see from time to time is me and a soldier in a push up position. Here's one of those stories. An Air Force kid named Staff Sgt Jerome Knight came up to get an autograph with bright red tool box. He was being a really playful guy busting chops and having fun with the whole situation throwing out the challenges ... you get the picture... when I popped to my feet and said ... you want some... everyone popped... he didn't know what to do so before he said anything I said ... I don't mean wrestle ... I said do you do push ups ... you should have seen his face ... of course he took the challenge with all his buddies egging him on... he popped right to a push up and position and was ready to go ... then I explain the rules... you see these are 30 second push ups... which means you take 10 seconds to go down ... then you hold for 10 seconds 3 inches off the ground... then you push up slow for 10 seconds... if you don't think this is hard as hell ... try it... You have to remember I talk shit to these guys the whole time asking them questions ... like how old are you ... when they start to shake which they all do... I say ... OH BTW I'm 48 ... and they start to shake more ... eventually they all drop but SSG Knights was the toughest of the 6 soldiers that I faced he lasted 4 and a half push ups before biting the dust. Actually my main man Capt. Ron got 5 and a half but he was a captain. After leaving that Hangar, we got to visit with the guys who run the Predator Operation. LT Tooman gave us a tour of the Predator, which is an amazing unmanned aircraft - which costs 3 million to build. They showed us video footage of the Predator Aircraft taking care of business all of over Iraq.
On this FOB we would also hook up with one our knew bros Jason who hooked us up BIG TIME.
Sept 16... That morning at 8am we were just about to leave Anaconda on a Black Hawk when we heard a few explosions (mortars)... one of pilots said that our clue boys to/ get the hell our of here. Code Red was on... we were leaving at our own risk... lift off and were out of here. I'm sitting in the jump seat where I always sit. What's cool is I get to wear the headset so I got to hear everything... Since I knew this was going to be long flight I just happen have my lap top on my lap and
I'm typing this as this is all happening... I just heard one of the pilots say "So what's the plan here" and the other pilot said "where gonna haul ass that's the plan ... another pilot said ... just stay low" .... and we were off... about 150 feet off the ground and were flying... this is cool as hell.
As we fly across the open fields we do a test fire ... you don't want to f*ck with these guys... everything is in working order.
As we fly I hear over the headset one of the pilots say ... we just past a truck with a machine gun on the top of it ... the other says ... if he points at us smoke him ... but since he didn't, protocol dictates that you mark it and move on .... I'm sure those guys in that truck just felt like a guy who's had one to much to drink and the state trooper just passed him by...
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