I had a unique opportunity last month to go on a trip to visit some of our United States troops in the Middle East in conjunction with the USO organization and the National Cartoonists Society (NCS). Together with 8 of my friends and colleagues, we traveled to military bases in Kuwait, Djibouti, and Turkey to draw for our soldiers and thank them for putting their lives on the line every day in some pretty unforgiving conditions not only for us, but for the people native to those regions.
Over the next few posts, I plan to share with you some pictures and tales acquired from the ten life changing days spent in August 2015 with our troops. Sweaty cartoonists will be a recurring theme.
Traveling from all over the country, all nine of us met at the airport in Washington D.C. and proceeded to travel together to our first stop in Kuwait. While there were smiles here in D.C., the smiles started to droop after the journey to Kuwait ultimately lasted a long 30 hours.Our first group photo taken in the lobby of our Kuwaiti hotel in front of some pics of their employees of the month. From L to R: Chad Frye (animation artist & former Disney guy), Eddie Pittman (former Disney Feature animator & Phineas & Ferb artist), Paul Combs (Drawn By Fire comic & editorial cartoonist for Fire Engineering Magazine), Sam Viviano (MAD Magazine art director), Bruce Higdon (Punderstatements comic strip), Rick Kirkman (Baby Blues comic strip), Ed Steckley (advertising illustrator & MAD contributor), Michael Ramirez (two time Pulitzer winning editorial cartoonist for Investors Business Daily), and Chip Bok (syndicated editorial cartoonist).
Once in Kuwait, for our own safety our movements were restricted to transportation to and from our hotel and three military bases we were there to visit. We had a security detail with us at all times which kind of made you feel safe, but also it made you feel like you were always in danger.
We traveled in a van with curtains over the windows which were for our safety, but they also helped keep things cool inside. It was a wretched 125 degrees Fahrenheit there.Many bases had these posters made up to advertise our arrival.Our first stop was at Camp Patriot, a small base. We set up in their USO recreation hall which consisted of some games, a library, and computers for soldiers to use to contact home.Michael Ramirez drew MANY caricatures for the soldiers willing to be the subject of his expertise.We later went to Camp Arifjan where we immediately had lunch in the base mess hall. I learned that there were plenty of starch options in Army food, along with various forms of protein. The salad bars were the best source for fresh vegetables, and would rival the salad bar of any stateside restaurant.You can see these cement barricades all over the Kuwaiti bases with designs painted on them. The barricades were there to protect from a possible attack, the paintings were there to distract from the various shades of beige the land offered.Some of the barricades were quite large, and made you feel tough. That’s me being all tough while smiling large and wearing my Mickey Mouse watch.
Besides our scheduled drawing sessions and meals with the troops, we had opportunities to meet with soldiers just to talk to them and hear about what it is they do. This stop was to meet the local hazmat team.
The heat was extremely oppressive, and the land very dusty and dry. This was a typical sight wherever we walked. Another typical sight was of people drinking water.Rick Kirkman chatting with a soldier.Bruce Higdon, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel himself, thanking some of our nation’s finest for their service.Those hazmat folks have some pretty cool vehicles to use for their jobs. Just standing in front of them together made us all feel cool, despite the crazy heat.
More to come from Kuwait tomorrow in my next post!
