Keith performs for Screaming Eagles at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq

Photo By Master Sgt. Ryan Matson | Country music star Toby Keith performs to hundreds of fans from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) "Screaming Eagles" May 27 at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, as part of a USO tour.  

05.29.2006

Courtesy Story

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As he sings in one of his many hits, he may not be as good as he once was, but for the hundreds of fans from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) who gathered to cheer Toby Keith May 27 at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, Toby Keith seemed like he was just fine.

Keith performed about an hour-long free show for Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) May 27, performing such hits as "I Love This Bar," "Who's Your Daddy," "The Taliban Song," "Shoulda Been a Cowboy," "Beer For My Horses," and a new song from his latest CD called "Runnin" Block." He played a couple of his patriotic songs, too " "American Soldier" and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue." The last number Keith performed was Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic "Sweet Home Alabama," which he sang with the 101st Airborne Division Band, who performed before Keith took the stage. Keith said it was his 64th USO show for troops stationed overseas.

Keith, who was wearing a USO tour T-shirt, sunglasses and baggy jeans, performed an acoustic set with fellow recording artist Scotty Emerick. It was Keith's second performance of the day. He also made stops in Kirkuk and Mosul, Iraq.

At the end of the show Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner, Commanding General, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), greeted Keith. Soldiers from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, presented Keith with some tokens of appreciation from the division, and Keith signed a piece of the floor from the original Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, which is less than an hour drive from Fort Campbell, Kent., the division's home station.

"From the beginning, no one has supported us more than the artists of country music," Turner said. "And of those artists, no one has been more supportive of our troops than Toby Keith."

• Date Taken: 05.29.2006
• Date Posted: 05.29.2006 10:39
• Story ID: 6556