|
The article is available online at:
Tippin returns from USO
Tour Aaron Tippin, his band and managers
returned home last week from entertaining American Troops overseas. Their USO Tour
itinerary included stops in Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Qatar. Tippin, still recovering from the
lack of sleep while on the trip, enjoyed lunch with his family at Aaron Tippin Outdoors on
Monday and spoke with The Times in an exclusive interview regarding his experiences.
"It took us 28 hours and 56 minutes in flying time, from when the plane took off
until it landed in Nashville,," Tippin said of the travel time involved in the trip. "The time spent with the troops
was very rewarding, and the shows went off great," he said. The troops, who were
actually Coalition Forces including Tennessee Air Guard refuelers and KC 135's, were
excited to have a visit from Tippin. "If you just show up, you are an okay guy. It
always surprises them that someone would come that far to see them." He related one glitch that happened
during a show. "I put together a bike for Toys for Tots during my shows while I'm
singing 'Working Man's Ph.D.' This bike was damaged during shipping, and it wasn't checked
before the show. So here I am trying to put it together on stage, and the forks are bent.
I finally figured it out, but it was pretty touch and go for a while." "We spent one whole day signing
autographs and hanging out with the troops down at the recreation center. We visited with
all the guys and gals on the flight line the next day and then went to the Armory and
visited with them," he said. While there, Tippin also presented
the troops with banners signed by DeKalb Countians showing area support for the efforts
and sacrifices made for our country, especially during the holiday season. He also had Thanksgiving dinner with
General Tommy Franks. Tippin sang 'Stars and Stripes' at an awards presentation, and the
General gave Tippin a knife with his insignia on it, which he was very proud of. "I'm
going to have the knife framed and hang it here in the store," said Tippin. Tippin told The Times of the
atmosphere of being in countries so far from home. "It was very much a third world
country. You felt like you'd been captured and was going to be interrogated at any
moment." Tippin reflected on his most
memorable happening during the trip. "The thing I'm never going to forget is probably
when we left Qatar and got detained on our way home. The military base is on one side of
the airfield, and the commercial terminal is on the other, so we left the military area
and went to the other area without checking into customs. We got our luggage loaded on the
plane, got our tickets and were about to go through their customs. By this time, most of
the military personnel had left us, except for one guy from Military Entertainment
Affairs. He was a captain and was leading us through. He was under the impression that his
orders would get us through customs. But he was wrong. "They held us for 24 hours.
They wouldn't let us leave the country. We couldn't go back to the base because it was
closed until the morning, and this was in the middle of the night. So in all actuality, we
were illegal aliens, because we didn't have a stamp. It was obvious that we were
Westerners, and if they had wanted to, they could have arrested us. They told us we had to
go to a hotel until everything got straightened out. It was pretty spooky. They kept
trying to detain us longer because they said they couldn't get the paperwork finished in
time for the flight. I finally told them they could either let us go on that flight, or
I'd talk to some of my 'friends' that I had made, including General Franks, and get it
done. We did end up getting on that flight." The group was scheduled to arrive home
over 24 hours earlier giving Tippin a day to recover from the trip before beginning
interviews. Instead, they got home with only six hours to spare. Tippin enjoyed the experience but
expressed how grateful he is to be back in DeKalb County and how he looks forward to
spending the holidays with his family. Dixieweb - The Middle Tennessee Times 615-597-2100
Fax
615-597-4119
| ||||||||
Pictured -
9,680 Miles to Smithville! - While in Afghanistan, Larry Nalley and Aaron Tippin
displayed a sign showing how many miles they traveled to entertain American Troops. (Photo
provided)
Dec 10, 2002