Back from Germany- overview, part 2

posted 5.4.10 at 12:00 am
 After a whirlwind Wednesday in Landstuhl, Germany, Thursday was shaping up to be the busiest day of the entire trip!
Luckily for us, the Hotel, Art Hotel Lauterbach, put out an awesome breakfast spread every morning.  Fresh fruit, proscuittos, cheeses, sausages and fresh bakery along with made-to-order eggs and mineral water (Gas water, as it's referred to... hee hee)

The first stop of the day was the Kleber Warrior Transition Unit in Landstuhl.  
As far as I could tell, the majority of soldiers we drew for here were those who actually worked in the treatment facility (stationed in Germany), and their families.


From Kleber, it was then off to Ramstein Air Force Base.
Here, the USO had something really cool planned as a surprise for us: we were all paired off with an officer of the base and given individual Flight Line visits.  Whichever officer we were paired with, we'd go get a tour of what that officer's team does on the base.  Ray Alma got to go to the air control tower and firehouse, for example.
Me, I got paired up with the maintenance workers, the guys who clean and prepare the planes for their next trip.  I also got a tour of the machine/welding shop.  
The C-130s were being worked on at the time (I really hope I got the name of that aircraft right!  If not, I'll hear about it!), and though I drew everyone who worked in the hanger and machine shops, I did get to play a little bit...

Next up was a wonderful dinner, hosted by the USO as a thank you to the cartoonists.  We were taken to Dino's Italian(!) restaurant in Hohenecken.  In addition to all of us was the photographer, bus driver, and the USO Europe's Regional VP, USO Germany's Country Director, USO Kaiserslautern Director, as well as the entertainment coordinators for the USO Europe.  What a group!
We were treated to a 5 course 'flight of Italy', with spectacular Italian food, and copious amounts of wine.
(And yes, I got pictures of most of the dishes... The truffle ravioli with cream truffle sauce didn't last long enough to be captured on film.  Nor did the tiramisu.  My bad.)


After the dinner (uh... and the wine...) we rolled on over to the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility (CASF).  

This is a transitional space for soldiers injured in action.  They are shipped from the Middle East directly here to be patched up and evaluated to either go back into the action or home, much like how it worked on M*A*S*H.  Except, to the best of my knowledge, M*A*S*H didn't have internet and Guitar Hero.

CASF is a very comfortable spot on the base; it's goal is to make soldiers feel as comfortable as possible in this difficult transition period.  The ones in good enough health have access to a big HD TV, free phones to call home, internet stations, food, video games, you name it.  

Soldiers who aren't healthy enough to come play are given medical care and a bed.  We were given a tour of the sleeping/recovery quarters, and all of us were incredibly moved by what each and every soldier gets:


Every and every bed has a hand written note on the pillow by an American grade schooler.  This really hit close to home, and after reading a few of these, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.  Very moving.

At around 8:00 (20:00!), a group of 25 or so wounded was choppered in.  So, the greeting and drawing begins!
That's it for day 3 in Germany.  That night we all got to go out and see the German nightlife, if for only a few hours.  The last two days had been exhausting, and we had to catch a bus to Frankfurt in the AM!  

The next night we got to chill out in Washington DC.  I don't have many pictures of that night, but I do have this, courtesy of Rob Harrell:
These are the Exorcist steps in Georgetown, Washington DC!  Super cool shots!  Thanks Rob!


If I get more pics from the trip of our doings outside of drawing, I'll try to do a post about that fun we had.
Regardless, this was a remarkable trip, and it was an honor to be apart of this group!

edit:  As I was posting this, Stephen Silver posted this great slideshow on Youtube.  Thanks Stephen!


      

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