Pfc. April Campbell; 27th Public Affairs Detachment
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - Soldiers had a chance to hear music from home during a performance by a Fort Hood-area singer and song writer at the Pegasus Dining Facility here, Nov. 12.
The performance rounded up a seven-day trip during which Salado, Texas native, Freddie Fuller, the "Singing Cowboy," visited and performed for Soldiers at different camps throughout the Multi-National Division - Baghdad area of operations.
Fuller played his guitar and sang several songs, including folk songs and others he had written. The setting was relatively small and personal, not unlike the image of a cowboy singing around a camp fire.
"I wanted to go for a more intimate venue," Fuller said. "I just wanted to share some pickin', and some stories, and some songs with them. Hopefully, they will be touched by it, and they will feel like it's a part of home. So far, I have experienced that. The Soldiers at camps all have been embracing that concept."
Performing for service members is nothing new to Fuller
"I've been, interfaced with the military for most of my life, in some form or fashion," said Fuller, "playing for them, entertaining them."
Having a son-in-law who is on his second tour in Iraq has made entertaining the troops a more personal experience, he said.
"It's brought a level of intensity," Fuller said, "that you couldn't experience if you didn't have that. If you didn't have a direct family member involved."
When asked if he was comfortable with performing at some of the outlying camps where Soldiers are not typically able to come and see the entertainers who visit Soldiers in Iraq, Fuller said it was exactly what he wanted to do.
A drawing was held at the end of the concert, and Potlatch, Idaho native, Lt. Col. Greg Thompson, an operations officer with MND-B and the 1st Cavalry Division, won an acoustic guitar signed by Fuller.
Thompson said winning the guitar is another good memory he will take home with him. With the 1st Cav. Div. getting ready to redeploy back to Fort Hood soon, listening to songs from a nearby Texas musician seems to bring up thoughts of heading home.
"It's good to be close to the end of the tour as everybody is starting to look forward to going home," Thompson added. "This (concert) just brings it that much closer and makes it that much more real to us."
After the concert, Fuller gave Soldiers copies of his CD with a song he wrote a about a deployment day ceremony he attended.
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