KUWAIT - "I've been a fan of Charlie Daniels since the late seventies." said Staff Sgt. Ronald Farrow from the 129th Transportation Company. "I was fortunate to be here because most of the time I'm out on the road and don't get to see any of the shows."
Charlie Daniels, country and southern rock musician, decided to return to Kuwait for a third time to visit service members and give an evening performance at the Zone 6 Morale, Welfare and Recreation Stage, April 15.
Earlier in the day, Daniels arrived at the Expeditionary Medical Facility — Kuwait in a GMC Yukon XL and stepped out immediately greeting and shaking the hand of every person around him including the cameramen and third country nationals. He was welcomed into the facility by the flashes of cameras and extended hands of service members and medical staff. Daniels was then given a tour of the facility and walked through corridor after corridor of each of the different sections of the medical facility. He walked up to greet every person in every room and took as many photos as necessary for every group.
"I am just in awe. I am just happy that he would come out here and take his time to not only entertain the troops but to come around and really see what's going on." said Gloria Hastings, medical referral coordinator. "That means a whole lot!"
Later that evening, Daniels sat for a brief interview before the concert and talked about why he was here. "We're here simply for the entertainment and whatever else we can do for the troops." said Daniels. "I'm so appreciative of what [service members] do."
After the interview, Daniels and his band made their way to the Zone 6 MWR Stage to give an hour and a half performance. During the concert, Daniels played an instrumental song that he said they rename at every show, and named this song "PX at Arifjan" as he looked over at the post exchange across from the stage. Daniels gave a performance that even had the security mildly dancing in place. The concert closed with Daniel's song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Then Daniels announced that he would like to meet and give everyone their own pre-autographed picture of him and his band.
Along with Daniel's trips to Kuwait, he has also visited service members in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia, Guantanamo Bay, and throughout the United States.
"Wherever you are, we try to get to you," said Daniels. "We're very, very appreciative of what you're doing over here, and we very deeply admire you for doing it. And we are very endebted to all the people who've ever worn the uniform. So I just say God bless you. We love you."