The second country my cartoonist pals and I visited while on our USO-NCS tour was Djibouti. Located on the Horn of Africa, Djibouti is bordered on land by Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, and by sea the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. And just for kicks, it is a stone’s throw distance across the water to Yemen. Good times.
Let me tell you now, Djibouti had by far the toughest living conditions I have ever experienced. While I never heard what was the exact temperature, it felt hotter there than in Kuwait, likely due to the intense humidity that was always present. It was as if you showered in the morning, toweled off, and were instantly wet again. I actually developed some sores along my wrist where my watch was. One of the guys even changed his shirt three times one day in an attempt to stave off the inevitable stink. And because of the humidity, there was a very real danger of contracting malaria from one of the resident mosquitos, so we were all on malaria meds for this portion of our trip.
Camp Lemonnier was ready for us! Chip Bok, Sam Viviano, Michael Ramirez, Ed Steckley, Chad Frye, Paul Combs, Bruce Higdon, Rick Kirkman, & Eddie Pittman.
We were assigned to Camp Lemonnier, a military base established by the French in the 1950s, and now occupied primarily by the United States Navy. In fact, this base is the ONLY U.S. military base in all of Africa. It is a tough part of the world in which to serve. Due to the danger in the area, everyone was restricted to base, so our arrival was welcomed as a nice distraction from their routine. After spending three days there, my heart goes out to the men and women who are there between nine months to a year.
Our accommodations were these shipping containers there on the right just beyond Thunderdome (rimshot). They were split into two small rooms on either side with a bathroom in the middle.In fact, many structures on the base were shipping containers. There is a rash of new building going on there right now after President Obama signed a new agreement with Djibouti earlier this year that extends our country’s presence there for the next 20-30 years.These are some barracks we visited on base. Notice the “no saluting” sign. Just in case the enemy had eyes looking over the wall, this rule was in effect to prevent any officers from being targeted when out in the open.This gentleman named Jordan, is interested in becoming an actor. We smiled, nodded, and then handed him cartoon drawings.Chip Bok having found the rare bit of shade on base.Looks a little different than what is in my garage.In the mess hall of each base we saw a table set for the missing man – the soldier who died, the one taken prisoner, or the one missing in action. The lemon represents the bitterness of battle, the salt is for all the tears shed for them, the rose is for the blood shed, the upside down glass to show that the fallen cannot partake, and the lit candle to show the hope for their return home.Paul Combs and I glistening in the heat with the workout gym tent in the background.Meeting with base Commander Matt O’Keefe and some of his men.A few times they split us up into groups of two around the base in coffee shops and recreation areas to draw for whomever came in. Eddie Pittman and I were assigned together, and Commander O’Keefe came in to get drawings of his boys with the platypus from Phineas and Ferb which Eddie worked on. Eddie also got to draw for a general that day!The Red Cross lady came to me with an old WWI Red Cross poster painted by Howard Chandler Christy and asked me if I could draw that, but put her face on it. I obliged.This was the local recreation hall where we had a couple of night sessions together as a group. See that Pizza Hut over in the corner? Even on a rustic base in Africa, that project has had problems getting the okay to open due to food service regulations. So there it sat teasing us.During the first night session, the first guy to sit for me was a huge Disney fan, even with a small Mickey on his shirt. So naturally, I had to make him part of the gang!
On night two, the gentleman below sat for me. He was memorable for several reasons. 1. He thanked me profusely for coming to see them in Africa. 2. I had been there longer than he had been! He just arrived that day for his nine month stint, I had been there since the day before. 3. His name is also Chad. And the strangest of all is #4. While drawing for him, the topic of West Point came up in conversation, and Chad said he graduated in 1994. I looked up and said to him, “I attended your graduation.” He looked dumbfounded, so I explained that my cousin was from the class of ’94, and was currently teaching at West Point. I went to my cousin’s graduation, so therefore I also saw Chad graduate!
Chad Jagmin’s drawing was for his daughter Jami who was about to turn 3 and is a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse nut.
Tomorrow I will wrap up my thoughts about Djibouti.
