And that’s a wrap on our first international tour for Armed Forces Entertainment! It was 10 days, with stops in 6 countries, and 4 great shows for hundreds of US military personnel, and from the responses we’ve gotten, everyone had a great time! We are truly honored to have been given the opportunity to do this. Many thanks to Max and George from AFE for asking us to do the tour; Jim, Alexis, Mike, Rod and all the troops at Thule, Comalapa, Soto Cano, and Curaçao for letting us perform for you! And thank you to PJ for joining us on the tour; as always Jose for being there from the start, and Kyle for capturing the tour on film.
My final thoughts on the tour: In El Salvador one of the Sailors said to me, “We laughed so hard because we related to you better than any other comics we’ve seen.” In Honduras one of the Soldiers said, “I’m excited to see veterans being successful outside of the military.” And in Greenland, one of the Airmen said, “Hey man, thanks for remembering that we’re up here. Thanks for not forgetting about us.” And those three things are the reasons I created The GIs of Comedy… to bring the troops some entertainment that they can really relate to, because we’ve been their boots. To show them that they can be successful if and when they leave the military. And most importantly that they are NOT forgotten just because they’re stationed in a place that isn’t on the news all the time. Their jobs are just as important as the war-fighters.
This tour has never been about the money (of which there is little) or the fame (of which there is none), it’s about those three reasons above. That’s why the group has changed so much since it started. Those three missions come first. And we’ll keep doing it that way as long as the troops want us to, and AFE, MWR, or USO ask us to.
Thanks gain everyone, and we’ll see you back in the States! Airborne!