You Won't Believe This!
June 25, 2003

Okay, so I’m sitting at the computer one night this past week getting caught up on some correspondence, when the phone rings. I look at my watch and it’s quarter to eleven. I answer the phone and it’s some captain from Camp Doha who says, “Sir, I’ve been directed to inform you that your brother is at the Hilton Hotel in Kuwait City and expects to see you tomorrow.” I said, “My brother, John?” “Yes sir,” was his answer.

Well, at that point I’m not sure what to think. I mean it’s not like my brother and I haven’t done some strange things over the years. We've each traveled around the world quite a bit. And we’ve met up a number of times in different places. Like in 1986 when my ship sailed into Yokosuka, Japan, while at the same time John was in Tokyo as an advance man for President Reagan and the Economic Summit. He came down to pick me up in a chauffeured limousine, and I got to spend five days in the Miyata Hotel in Tokyo, sharing a room with John, with the president in the room above us. And yes, I got to meet President Reagan.

Then in 2000 I was on my way back from a month of reserve military duty in Bahrain, in the Persian Gulf, when I met him and his best friend at Heathrow Airport, London where we caught a flight to Aberdeen, Scotland, for a few days of golf — the land where this ancient game began over 600 years ago. [See Roots' photo album.] There are more such encounters we’ve enjoyed, but time and space will not allow me to elaborate further.

So the next day I’m attempting to contact him. The hotel people assure me he is their guest. The question is, “Where is he?” And further, “Why is he here?” Shortly before noon I still haven’t heard from him, so I get my driver and we head for Kuwait City and the hotel. Eventually we find it but he’s still not there. I meet an American who tells me John is in his group. I said, “What group would that be?” He said, “The USO.”

The lights come on, and there is beginning to be an understanding. You see, John is on the Board of the USO. The president and CEO of the Board, Ed Powell, is a good friend of John’s. Come to find out, Ed knew I was in Kuwait so he suggested that John go on the tour! John didn’t breath a word of this to me, but word got out he was attempting to hook up with me. What was meant to be a surprise appearance became a near military crisis. “We’ve got to get these brothers together!” Thus, I was informed he was here before John could walk into my tent.

We finally connected that evening for dinner. We didn’t have too much time because the celebrities of the USO were preparing to do an evening concert for about 8,000 soldiers, sailors and marines at Camp Doha. The concert began at 9 p.m. that night and didn’t end until 1 a.m. It was great to watch these entertainers give their all entertaining the troops. Their expenses are covered by the USO organization, but they come voluntarily. It really makes you proud.

I got to meet a number of these entertainers, in particular, Wayne Newton. I approached him in the hotel lobby and thanked him for coming, reminding him that he and his troupe had come aboard my ship, the USS White Plains, in 1987 while we were in the Indian Ocean. Wayne said, “The White Plains! I’ll never forget it. We had rough seas one night and I was tossed right out of my rack.” I told him he would never have to worry about the White Plains again because only last year the South Korean Navy used it for target practice. It now has a new home at the bottom of the Pacific.

John and I spent as much time as possible together, despite his responsibilities with the USO. He traveled with part of the team to Baghdad, a first in the history of this recently liberated nation. The rest of the team flew out to the USS Nimitz in the Persian Gulf.

The morning the USO folks were leaving the hotel, I approached several of the entertainers in the lobby. I said something like this, “As a navy chaplain, I just want to thank you for coming and entertaining our men and women in uniform. It means so much to all of us. God bless you.” And then I would give them an American Flag dog tag that has an inscription of Joshua 1:9 on one side, and the Sinners Prayer on the other. I handed out a lot of them but here are some of the more notables. I gave one to Wayne Newton, who is the consummate gentleman. I also gave one to Deuce Staley, NFL running back for the Philadelphia Eagles, who shook my hand with great warmth and thanked me and all of our military folks for the job that was done here. Then I gave one to each of the five Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, who in response gave me a hug. I also gave one to Lee Ann Tweeden, a former Playboy playmate and now a Fox News sportscaster. She got teary-eyed, and then gave me a hug.

I never thought I would have such an opportunity, not only to see my brother, but also to share a witness for Christ with such well-known celebrities.

Oh, the hugging part? Eat your heart out! I said you wouldn’t believe it!