Ron Barr and Sports Byline USA LIVE from Iraq

It’s time to saddle up and head home. Having been to Iraq and Afghanistan before I’m prepared for something I had been warned about after my first trip, separation anxiety. Even though it has only been a relatively short period of time that we’ve spent with the soldiers, leaving them is difficult. It’s hard to explain, but trust me when I say the shared moments, particularly in this case because of the rocket attack and loss of life, the stories shared, laughter, watching our brightest and bravest go out on patrol wondering if all of them would come back, and witnessing first hand a commitment to their jobs that makes you proud, makes it hard to say goodbye and head home. As Randy said after his trip with me to Afghanistan to meet the troops, “It was a life changing experience.” And, a special moment for me came when we were touring Saddam Hussein’s Victory Over America palace. Spencer Tillman put his arm around my shoulder and said, “Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I’ll never forget it.” Neither will I. Continue Story...

The trip back to Kuwait comes after a three-day sandstorm that grounded all helicopter flying and didn’t allow us to get to the International Zone where I wanted to say hi to the staff of the Baghdad American Forces radio station. SBUSA has been a part of AFN for 19 years and they were looking forward to seeing me as much as I was to seeing them. I guess it’s the Robin Williams, Good Morning Vietnam in me. Just as disappointing was not being able to spend time with the heroic medical personnel at the IZ hospital. They save lives and patch up the wounded men and women and get them moving on to Landstuhl, Germany where they do further life saving work. I promise, the next time guys we’ll do it.

The return trip to Kuwait was uneventful. Again, I was given cockpit privileges and the view from 20,000 feet of Iraq and Kuwait leaves you speechless at how baron it all is. One difference between our trip out of Iraq compared to our trip into it is we have 60 soldiers with us who are going home for 15 days of leave. They look happy, but I sense it’s a tempered happiness since they know they’ll be returning after a short period of time home.
We land at the Kuwait military airfield in another sandstorm. On our bus trip from the flight line to operations we see what we all agree is the most bizarre and puzzling mental picture we’ll take with us from the trip. For no explained reason, we see four men shoveling and moving sand around in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the sandstorm. Picture blowing sand in the middle of nothing and these four men shoveling it. It will remain one of life’s great mysteries. The second mental picture we all had was when we were going to the DFAC (mess hall) for lunch while we were waiting to be picked up and taken into Kuwait City in order to catch our flight later that night. As we walked through the sandstorm, we looked over a series of barrack like buildings. About a half-mile away, partially obscured by the blowing sand, we saw a symbol of America sticking in the air above all else. It was the McDonalds’ arches. We knew we were back in friendly territory.

Sitting beside me on the 14-hour flight from Kuwait to Washington, D.C. was Congresswoman Laura Richardson. On the way over I had a chance to talk with Senator Joe Biden. So, I got a chance to air some of my thoughts on Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m not sure whether they liked my bluntness or not.

Touchdown back in San Francisco came 24 hours after we left Kuwait. As I traveled across the Golden Gate Bridge, I thought about the men and women I had been with a half a world away. I’m appreciative of their commitment and willingness to leave home, family and friends, and to risk their lives each day. The politics of this war aside, in the final analysis this trip was about people. And, the servicemen and women I met on this trip, and my previous trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, I admire and respect. We should be proud and support them. And please, never forget them and support them when they come home and for years to come. To not do so would be worse then the reason they’re in Iraq and Afghanistan.