By this time, halfway through the flight, I'm tired again and actually manage to get some sleep. Torrie Wilson, by the way, slept the entire time we sat on the runway the previous day. When we deplaned the first time, she actually thought we were in Germany. When I wake up this time, we really ARE in Germany and hurry off the plane. We all get treated to some catering at the nearby officers club, and we're split up into groups.

We then head out to do what we came to do: visit troops who are missing family and friends, and try to brighten some days.  My group is headed up by WWE veteran Hardcore Holly, Shelton Benjamin, the Maria, myself (dur!), Nitro and Melina, and last and least, Carlito. 

The first group we visited had no idea we were going to show up, so that was very cool. They were about to do a shift change, so we surprised them as they headed off to work. If I'm not mistaken, this particular group of soldiers patrolled the entire base and were stationed at various checkpoints to check ID's and such. They were to demonstrate how to apprehend somebody if the situation called for it, (this is where you can follow along with the pictures on the WWE website!) so of course I was the "perp" for that.  Not the first time I've been in handcuffs.

We then rushed off to an on-base fire station. Since we only had about four hours, we had to hurry to hit as many places as we could. This is where a lot of WWE Superstars personalities came out. Everybody was happy to see us, and Hardcore Holly just wanted to drive the fire engine. Maria and Melina wanted to bake cookies for everybody (okay, not entirely true, and absolutely uncalled for). All Johnny Nitro wanted to do was slide down the pole, and I kept looking for the Dalmation to run around with.

A few of us got to operate the fire hose on the top of the truck, and Maria and I got dressed up in some of the everyday equipment they use (once again, follow along with pictures! Whoo!). The top of the fire station was the control tower for the entire air field, and they took us up there to explain what it is they do. Soon after, we had to head back to the Officers' Club to meet up with the other groups, so we could jump back on the plane and make the flight to Iraq.

It was very cool meeting all the men and women stationed in Germany. Some of them had already been in Iraq, and a lot of them would be going soon. We signed tons of autographs and nearly wore our eyes out taking so many pictures, but it was all so worth it. It was also just a fraction of what I was about to experience in Iraq. Everybody reboarded the trustly C-17, took our assigned seats and strapped in for the ride to Iraq. 

They briefed us on the five or six-hour flight, and told us we would be refueling in mid air two hours in. The last hour we would be going totally dark, (shutting ALL the lights off) just so we wouldn't get shot at as we crossed the Iraqi border. That's the time you put everything in perspective and realize that there are people over there that go through this everyday….all it did was motivate me more to make sure I did everything I could to see all the troops I could in the amount of time I was there.

Day 1a

Getting to sleep around 7:30 am and waking up in the late afternoon, we still weren't sure when we would get to take off. All I could think about all day were the troops that were waiting for us. It was disappointing to me that we were going to miss an entire day visiting the men and women in Iraq. I had enough time to make my way to a local Applebee's for breakfast, (I don't care that it was 6 p.m., the first meal of the day is always breakfast), and as soon as I got back to the hotel it was already time to get back on the buses to try it all over again…

Day 1…

Okay, I'm ready. Well, I was ready. I really was totally ready. We were all set and ready to make the trip overseas to Iraq. Talent, production and crew all put in a full days work then packed ourselves into buses headed for the Charleston, S.C. Air Force Base. It was getting late as we got off the buses and handed over our bags to the Air Force crew so they could strap everything down to pallets for the flight.

Gathering in what looked like a baggage claim of a normal airport, we received a briefing on the coming trip, and each one of use were given a sleeping bag and a WWE carry on bag full of "goodies."  Such "goodies" may or may not have included: chapstick, Gold Bond Medicated Powder (GBM lives!), body soap, gloves, a winter hat, towel, and honestly a bunch of other stuff I didn't use. 

Heading into the plane I got situated and took a seat. With everybody running around picking seats, stuffing luggage everywhere and trying to grab snacks and drinks, I wound up sitting next to WWE Diva Maria. I immediately tried to find another seat, but I was out of luck, everything was taken. "This is going to be the longest flight of my life," I was thinking to myself. Then it happened. Nothing. That's right, nothing. Nothing happened. For six hours.

Unbeknownst to us hapless passengers, there was a "small mechanical problem" with the giant C-17 cargo plane, and we weren't taking off. The crew of the plane did everything they could to fix the problem, and finally told us we had to deplane and try again the next day.

Already exhausted from the extremely (ECW!) uneventful six hours in a non-moving plane, (trust me, nothing at all happened) we were all shuttled to a nearby hotel and called it a night.

Preparing

You may not know this, but I'm a fairly outspoken person. That being said, I want everybody to know that myself and WWE as a whole traveling to Iraq has no reflection or bearing on anyone's opinion on what's right or wrong. It has nothing to do with political views or personal agendas. It's about the troops. 

Men and Women. Mothers and Fathers. Brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and friends. I think everybody reading this knows of at least one person that's serving their country overseas. This trip is for all of those people and all of their sacrifices. We take pride in knowing the troops are excited to see us. I will be going for the first time, and I can say it will all be worth it if I make just one soldier smile. We are honored in knowing that as a team, we will more than likely make much more than just one smile.

All I know of the trips WWE makes to visit troops overseas is from the video package that plays before every TV show we do. What I see are people just like me and you, smiling, laughing and showing appreciation to the Superstars of WWE for taking the time to show exactly how much WE appreciate THEM. 

I see soldiers almost in awe of legends like Ric Flair, looking to him as a hero. To the troops overseas: I'm looking forward to meeting you all. I'm humbled to think that maybe there are a few of you that will look at ME as if I was your hero… when in reality, in all of our minds here at WWE, it's YOU who are the heroes. I'll be in Iraq all week and I'll keep a running blog of my stories and experiences. See you soon.

XpunkX