Comedians bring laughter to troops in Middle East

The Lone Wolf Entertainment Comedy Tour visited Victory Base Complex courtesy of Morale, Welfare and Recreation during the month of June. The Victory Times sat down with comedians Jerry Wayne Longmire, Kris Shaw and Tom Tran to find out a little about their experiences on tour in Iraq.

What brought you guys to Iraq'

Tran: "Credit card debt and lots of it. Oh and Father's Day is coming up and I really need to be out of the country when that happens."

Longmire: "I come from a military family and I'm kind of a disappointment, so I'm trying to make up for it."

Shaw: "You're a disappointment no matter what."

Longmire: "Seriously though, I've been trying to get on this tour for about two years. It's our way of doing what we can to make things better for you guys here."

Shaw: "I want to give back. I'm a giver. I want to entertain and do my part for the country, but I'm not a fighter."

Longmire: "It's amazing. Everyone back home loves you guys so much and we just want you to know."

Tran: "That cute little E-7 down there brought me here. Actually, I was here in '03 (as a Soldier) and I was an NCO and I like taking care of Soldiers. NCOs are NCOs and they want to take care of their Soldiers.

Tom, what differences do you notice from when you were here as a troop'

Tran: "Better accommodations. I lived on a cot with mosquito netting. I feel like an old, salty vet. They didn't give us bullets when I was here, we had to make them out of camel turds. We had to walk 20 miles in sand, up hill both ways, barefoot. But joes are still joes and they still have a good attitude about being here. Soldiers have to be doing an awesome job out here to be able to have the better living environment."

What are your shows like out here'

Longmire: "It's pretty amazing. You guys show a lot of love."

Shaw: "More love than he gets from his wife."

Tran: "I started doing something new out here for the Soldiers. I've been taking about five minutes and telling stories from my time in the Army. I normally don't do that with a civilian crowd because they don't understand."

What are your impressions of the troops serving out here right now'

Longmire: "To have a sense of humor while you're going through all this is amazing. I'll come back as many times as I can until this is all over, or until everyone gets tired of my jokes."

Shaw: "I'm glad we have people who want to come over and fight for our country."

Tran: "I realize how much Soldiers appreciate us visiting them when they come up and thank us after shows. It means a lot."