Country music singer Aaron Tippin puts his microphone up close while Lufkin, Texas native Spc. Ross Gray, a generator mechanic with the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, plays his new acoustic guitar at the Camp Liberty Post Exchange in western Baghdad, Nov. 24. Gray won the autographed guitar in a drawing during Tippin’s concert for the troops. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. April Campbell, 27th Public Affairs Detachment)
By Pfc. April Campbell
27th Public Affairs Detachment
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – Seeing an entertainer from home while serving in a war zone helps to boost the morale of many Soldiers.
Country music singer Aaron Tippin gave troops that opportunity with his performance on a stage set up outside the Post Exchange at this western Baghdad base camp, Nov. 24. This is Tippin’s second visit to troops in Iraq since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003.
Entertaining troops is nothing new to Tippin, who first performed for service members in Saudi Arabia with Bob Hope in 1990. Tippin said his patriotism is inspired by both his father and the Vietnam veterans.
“Those guys came home to such a sad welcome, to something they really didn’t deserve just for doing their duty,” said Tippin. “I will not let any Soldiers, anybody, come home to a sad welcome like those (veterans) experienced.
Not only does he enjoy coming to perform for the troops, but he also takes his first-hand experience here and talks about it at home during his shows, he said.
“I tell (the audience) what I saw,” Tippin said. “I tell them just how much (the service members) are doing over here and how much good (the service members) are doing.”
Soldiers seemed to recognize and respond to Tippin’s appreciation for their service.
Elkton, Md., native Spc. William Fletcher, a military police officer with the 153rd Military Police Company of the Delaware Army National Guard, said Tippin is one of the musicians that made him like country music.
“I think the song ‘You’ve Got to Stand for Something’ was really good,” Fletcher said. “(Tippin) got the crowd into it. That was about the loudest point in the whole show.”
Others, like Baltimore native Sgt. 1st Class Michael Cunningham, operations sergeant and Morale, Welfare and Recreation representative with the 58th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Maryland Army National Guard, also noted Tippin’s appreciation of the troops.
“(Tippin) seemed like he was really sincere and he really cared,” Cunningham said.
Before Tippin finished singing for the evening, he presented one Soldier – Lufkin, Texas native Spc. Ross Gray, a generator mechanic with the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment – with an autographed guitar.
After the last song, Tippin took the time to talk with service members and autograph pictures for them. While it took nearly two hours, Tippin signed a picture for everyone who waited in line.
Country music singer Aaron Tippin belts out a song for Soldiers during his concert at the Post Exchange on Camp Liberty in western Baghdad, Nov. 24. Tippin, a veteran performer for the troops, made his second visit to entertain troops during Operation Iraqi Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. April Campbell, 27th Public Affairs Detachment)
Soldiers cheer and sing along during country music singer Aaron Tippin’s concert at the Camp Liberty Post Exchange in western Baghdad, Nov. 24. After the concert Tippin autographed photographs for the service members. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. April Campbell, 27th Public Affairs Detachment)
Country music singer Aaron Tippin entertains a crowd of troops at the Camp Liberty Post Exchange in western Baghdad, Nov. 24. The concert was part of Tippin’s second visit to perform for service members in Iraq since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. April Campbell, 27th Public Affairs Detachment)
