Local country music duo Vandel Snook brought a little piece of home to American troops overseas Discount School Supplies coupon
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Globemaster III flying to Balad, Iraq, prepared to land, the main lights went out in the cabin. The secondary lighting system cloaked the plane's interior in a hot red glow. The aircraft swooped back and forth, spiraling downward to avoid possible enemy fire as it landed safely.
The 75 kevlar-covered passengers aboard, including country musicians Matt Snook of Camden Point, Mo., and Phil Vandel of St. Joseph, were now in a war zone.
This is one of many memories the musical duo known as Vandel Snook has of a nine-day trip overseas for the troops. The group had already performed at benefits for wounded veterans home from Iraq and Afghanistan for America's Huey 091 Foundation. With the contacts they'd made through their work, they were asked to join an American Airlines-sponsored trip in cooperation with Operation Iraqi Children (OIC), which delivers much-needed clothing and school supplies to Iraqi youth. They were civilians armed with guitars instead of guns. Their mission was more about care and camaraderie than combat. Throughout the trip, they would fly dozens of hours on commercial and military vehicles and perform for thousands of troops in Germany, Bahrain, Kuwait and Baghdad, Iraq. They would play and sign countless autographs alongside celebrities like actor Stephen Baldwin, model Leeann Tweeden, singer Tony Orlando, former Miss Americas and the Branson musical ensemble Country Tonite.
But throughout the trip, certain moments both profound and perilous occurred that left a lasting impression on these musicians. These are a few of their stories.
The Dangers Of Giving
On the morning of April 12, Easter Sunday, U.S. troops transported Vandel Snook, OIC officials, flight attendants from American Airlines and a former Miss America to a school called Golden Hills just north of Balad, Iraq, to deliver school supplies, candy, clothing and Croc sandals. They all rode in three Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles meant to withstand IEDs, accompanied by five soldiers per vehicle.
They took a narrow dirt road lined with trees on a rain-soaked day, conditions that made Mr. Snook regret wearing his cowboy boots.
They were accompanied by additional Iraqi police two miles outside of the school. As they approached the school, young children were waiting excitedly outside for their arrival, but the MRAPs stopped short. They would have walk in the open.
"That's when you kind of realized that it was pretty real," Mr. Snook says. "I was like, 'We're going to have to get out. Here we go.'"
"You're just with a handful of armed soldiers," Mr. Vandel explains. "And if things turn bad there, there's not a lot of protection."
While the U.S. military constantly secured the perimeter, Vandel Snook entered the open-air school. It was small with a roof overhead, but the windows had no glass to offer complete protection from the elements or relief from the smell of burning trash. Even though the children were from another country and culture, Mr. Snook noticed common traits.
"Kids are just kids everywhere. They were absolutely eager and appreciative and almost giddy to think that they would get everything," he says. "I was looking into the eyes of kids that looked just like kids over here, and they looked at us like hope."
While Mr. Vandel was glad to help to deliver supplies, he noticed that while the kids spoke mostly Arabic, they knew English words like "mister" and "gimme, gimme." He knows he was doing something good for these children, but he wonders if giving is merely enough.
"Every time they see an American, they're going to expect they're getting something," Mr. Vandel says. "I'm all for helping people -- that's why I went over there -- but I also believe you've got to help people help themselves."
The Golden Hills trip was a success. Not one soldier or civilian casualty. But Mr. Vandel and Mr. Snook would learn later that the danger they felt was very real. Just an hour after they returned to base in Balad, a serviceman was injured on the very same road by an IED, rendered a quadruple amputee.
Songs By Request
On the day that started with the school visit, Vandel Snook spent its evening performing for nearly 400 troops at the Joint Base Balad, formerly known as Anaconda. But things didn't go according to plan.
American equipment doesn't always mix with European power sources, so the band was blessed with an inoperable P.A. system for a 45-minute set before Easter dinner.
It was a blessing because it forced the duo to go around the cafeteria and play for picnic tables, asking what the troops would want to hear. The first request: Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama." Others wanted to hear Alabama's "Dixieland Delight" or the Zac Brown Band's hit "Chicken Fried." Pretty much anything to give them a little taste of what they're so far away from.
"We just totally made it about them," Mr. Vandel says. "What they need from you is that little something from home."
A song that Vandel Snook brought as its calling card is "Welcome Home," which the duo has performed at countless military fundraisers, functions and concerts. It is what they would say to all the troops fortunate enough to return, and it took on a new meaning when it was performed for troops on active duty.
"What we found is that it was a hopeful thing," Mr. Vandel says. "It was a way to say 'We can't wait to say this when you come back.'"
A Father's Flag
Mr. Vandel was preparing for his departure on April 8, making sure his passport was handy and his taxes were filed. He didn't bring any sentimental items on the trip for fear of losing them. However, he did carry one prized red, white and blue possession given to him by his friend and retired Kansas City police officer Dan Winterringer of Kansas City, Kan.
"He asked if I would carry his flag with me on the trip, and that kind of became my personal goal ... to make sure I had that flag with me at all times," Mr. Vandel says.
The flag didn't just stay bundled up in his backpack. In Mr. Vandel's five gigabytes of digital photos, you'll notice it is present in many of them, taken with the other celebrities and performers and with troops they met along the way.
When Mr. Winterringer sent the flag over with Mr. Vandel, he couldn't help but think of his son, Brian, who was stationed in Germany. Neither Mr. Vandel or Mr. Snook even knew Brian's first name. But before Vandel Snook's last performance at the Lundstahl Regional Medical Center in Ramstein, Germany, the duo told the story of Mr. Winterringer's flag and learned that Brian Winterringer was actually stationed in Ramstein. The military transported him to the concert, and he was brought on stage during Vandel Snook's set to hold his father's flag.
When Vandel Snook played one of its first shows back on home soil in Parkville, Mo., on April 20, Dan Winterringer was in attendance as usual. Mr. Vandel gave him back his flag and the pictures taken of it on his trip. And within those pictures were some of his son, safely and joyously holding the flag of his father.
A New Duty
Mr. Vandel and Mr. Snook made the safe journey home to their families and have gone back to performing, but they still feel like they have a job to do. Mr. Vandel says the experience made him want to make his life simpler so he would be able to make another trip back. Immediately upon his return, Mr. Snook typed out additional notes in his digital trip itinerary, like when he and seven others took a Blackhawk helicopter from Balad to Baghdad and were startled by the sound of troops test firing helicopter weapons over an open lake. It's an experience they will carry with them the rest of their lives and for their new duty, the details are worth getting right.
"There's nothing on the television or radio or anything that can prepare you for what it's like there ... There's no camera on Earth that can capture what it is," Mr. Vandel says. "We also carried the burden of kind of having to tell the stories for those who can't tell 'em ... Now, it's our responsibility, we feel like, to share that with people."
Lifestyles reporter Blake Hannon can be reached at blakehannon@npgco.com
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Credit: St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
Globemaster III flying to Balad, Iraq, prepared to land, the main lights went out in the cabin. The secondary lighting system cloaked the plane's interior in a hot red glow. The aircraft swooped back and forth, spiraling downward to avoid possible enemy fire as it landed safely.
The 75 kevlar-covered passengers aboard, including country musicians Matt Snook of Camden Point, Mo., and Phil Vandel of St. Joseph, were now in a war zone.
This is one of many memories the musical duo known as Vandel Snook has of a nine-day trip overseas for the troops. The group had already performed at benefits for wounded veterans home from Iraq and Afghanistan for America's Huey 091 Foundation. With the contacts they'd made through their work, they were asked to join an American Airlines-sponsored trip in cooperation with Operation Iraqi Children (OIC), which delivers much-needed clothing and school supplies to Iraqi youth. They were civilians armed with guitars instead of guns. Their mission was more about care and camaraderie than combat. Throughout the trip, they would fly dozens of hours on commercial and military vehicles and perform for thousands of troops in Germany, Bahrain, Kuwait and Baghdad, Iraq. They would play and sign countless autographs alongside celebrities like actor Stephen Baldwin, model Leeann Tweeden, singer Tony Orlando, former Miss Americas and the Branson musical ensemble Country Tonite.
But throughout the trip, certain moments both profound and perilous occurred that left a lasting impression on these musicians. These are a few of their stories.
The Dangers Of Giving
On the morning of April 12, Easter Sunday, U.S. troops transported Vandel Snook, OIC officials, flight attendants from American Airlines and a former Miss America to a school called Golden Hills just north of Balad, Iraq, to deliver school supplies, candy, clothing and Croc sandals. They all rode in three Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles meant to withstand IEDs, accompanied by five soldiers per vehicle.
They took a narrow dirt road lined with trees on a rain-soaked day, conditions that made Mr. Snook regret wearing his cowboy boots.
They were accompanied by additional Iraqi police two miles outside of the school. As they approached the school, young children were waiting excitedly outside for their arrival, but the MRAPs stopped short. They would have walk in the open.
"That's when you kind of realized that it was pretty real," Mr. Snook says. "I was like, 'We're going to have to get out. Here we go.'"
"You're just with a handful of armed soldiers," Mr. Vandel explains. "And if things turn bad there, there's not a lot of protection."
While the U.S. military constantly secured the perimeter, Vandel Snook entered the open-air school. It was small with a roof overhead, but the windows had no glass to offer complete protection from the elements or relief from the smell of burning trash. Even though the children were from another country and culture, Mr. Snook noticed common traits.
"Kids are just kids everywhere. They were absolutely eager and appreciative and almost giddy to think that they would get everything," he says. "I was looking into the eyes of kids that looked just like kids over here, and they looked at us like hope."
While Mr. Vandel was glad to help to deliver supplies, he noticed that while the kids spoke mostly Arabic, they knew English words like "mister" and "gimme, gimme." He knows he was doing something good for these children, but he wonders if giving is merely enough.
"Every time they see an American, they're going to expect they're getting something," Mr. Vandel says. "I'm all for helping people -- that's why I went over there -- but I also believe you've got to help people help themselves."
The Golden Hills trip was a success. Not one soldier or civilian casualty. But Mr. Vandel and Mr. Snook would learn later that the danger they felt was very real. Just an hour after they returned to base in Balad, a serviceman was injured on the very same road by an IED, rendered a quadruple amputee.
Songs By Request
On the day that started with the school visit, Vandel Snook spent its evening performing for nearly 400 troops at the Joint Base Balad, formerly known as Anaconda. But things didn't go according to plan.
American equipment doesn't always mix with European power sources, so the band was blessed with an inoperable P.A. system for a 45-minute set before Easter dinner.
It was a blessing because it forced the duo to go around the cafeteria and play for picnic tables, asking what the troops would want to hear. The first request: Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama." Others wanted to hear Alabama's "Dixieland Delight" or the Zac Brown Band's hit "Chicken Fried." Pretty much anything to give them a little taste of what they're so far away from.
"We just totally made it about them," Mr. Vandel says. "What they need from you is that little something from home."
A song that Vandel Snook brought as its calling card is "Welcome Home," which the duo has performed at countless military fundraisers, functions and concerts. It is what they would say to all the troops fortunate enough to return, and it took on a new meaning when it was performed for troops on active duty.
"What we found is that it was a hopeful thing," Mr. Vandel says. "It was a way to say 'We can't wait to say this when you come back.'"
A Father's Flag
Mr. Vandel was preparing for his departure on April 8, making sure his passport was handy and his taxes were filed. He didn't bring any sentimental items on the trip for fear of losing them. However, he did carry one prized red, white and blue possession given to him by his friend and retired Kansas City police officer Dan Winterringer of Kansas City, Kan.
"He asked if I would carry his flag with me on the trip, and that kind of became my personal goal ... to make sure I had that flag with me at all times," Mr. Vandel says.
The flag didn't just stay bundled up in his backpack. In Mr. Vandel's five gigabytes of digital photos, you'll notice it is present in many of them, taken with the other celebrities and performers and with troops they met along the way.
When Mr. Winterringer sent the flag over with Mr. Vandel, he couldn't help but think of his son, Brian, who was stationed in Germany. Neither Mr. Vandel or Mr. Snook even knew Brian's first name. But before Vandel Snook's last performance at the Lundstahl Regional Medical Center in Ramstein, Germany, the duo told the story of Mr. Winterringer's flag and learned that Brian Winterringer was actually stationed in Ramstein. The military transported him to the concert, and he was brought on stage during Vandel Snook's set to hold his father's flag.
When Vandel Snook played one of its first shows back on home soil in Parkville, Mo., on April 20, Dan Winterringer was in attendance as usual. Mr. Vandel gave him back his flag and the pictures taken of it on his trip. And within those pictures were some of his son, safely and joyously holding the flag of his father.
A New Duty
Mr. Vandel and Mr. Snook made the safe journey home to their families and have gone back to performing, but they still feel like they have a job to do. Mr. Vandel says the experience made him want to make his life simpler so he would be able to make another trip back. Immediately upon his return, Mr. Snook typed out additional notes in his digital trip itinerary, like when he and seven others took a Blackhawk helicopter from Balad to Baghdad and were startled by the sound of troops test firing helicopter weapons over an open lake. It's an experience they will carry with them the rest of their lives and for their new duty, the details are worth getting right.
"There's nothing on the television or radio or anything that can prepare you for what it's like there ... There's no camera on Earth that can capture what it is," Mr. Vandel says. "We also carried the burden of kind of having to tell the stories for those who can't tell 'em ... Now, it's our responsibility, we feel like, to share that with people."
Lifestyles reporter Blake Hannon can be reached at blakehannon@npgco.com
Comments
There are no comments on this story. Click here to start the discussion.
Story Tools
Hyperlink Legend
E-mail story
Print friendly version
iPod friendly version
Today's Top Headlines
Launched into limelight, respected by history
Lawson deal will benefit victims
'Votes were left on the table'
Swine flu outbreak fuels tracking concerns
Commencement at Northwest
Credit: St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
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