TechnoChitlins

Improvise, Baby!

Hugh Hewitt published a letter from a Marine yesterday concerning a visit to his camp by Toby Keith and Ted Nugent- bq. Keith looked over his shoulder and gave a thumbs-up to the rest of the posse, along with the international hand-and-arm signal for "follow me"... clearly he was a driving force in the entire operation. The entourage moved off the bird and over to our escort party. The Nuge was a little further back in the crowd; we shook hands and both he and Toby immediately began engaging the Marines in photo-ops, handshakes, and we're-so-damn-proud-of-yous to the Marines standing by for security. Nobody was here to see this. There was no red carpet, no news reporters, and the Public Affairs Office hadn't started snapping their photos yet. These guys weren't looking for a photo op; they were out here standing around in shorts and t-shirts and jeans high-fiving Marines on a dusty LZ for only one reason: they cared. And it showed. Once things settled down and we were ready to drive from the LZ to the concert area, Nugent took a seat in a Humvee and I sat down next to him. We chatted briefly about a few things, but I had a bigger concern: after inquiring about the state of his hunger, it turned out The Nuge hadn't had any chow for several hours. I knew refreshments were set up at the backstage area, but I also realized these guys would be mobbed. The thing of it is... they expected it. And they really didn't care. They wouldn't sleep until 0300 at the earliest, and they knew they'd be back onstage at 0800 the next day. So, I did what any Marine of any rank would have done in the same situation: I ripped open a couple of MREs, rifled through them, and grabbed the items that were easiest to eat in a hurry. bq. The Nuge was impressed: "Yeah man! Improvise, adapt, and overcome, baby!!" ...and I am impressed by the two musicians who traveled without an entourage just to buck up our soldiers, and not just for self-aggrandizement. Read entire here and you'll feel good about these two men. Posted by Jim Webb at June 8, 2004 12:10 PM | TrackBack