Improv host Howie Nave visits troops

You said Kuwait smells like an $80 billion surplus?

The minute you leave the Kuwait Airport it literally reeks of oil in the air. I mean it really smells. How strong? If you hang out at a large metropolitan airport on the runway all day and smell what the jets give off as they take off that’s what it smells like. Those who have been in Kuwait for a while don’t even notice the smell anymore, which is kind of scary. Because of that and even though technically it’s Iraq that has the $80 billion surplus while our country tanks, I used the line in both countries during my comedy tour: “Hmmmmm smell that? That’s our $80 billion surplus that should be coming home to America any day now.”

You saw a soldier whose mother lives here?

No, an aunt actually. When I returned to the air Monday, Oct. 6, I received a good number of calls and e-mails from listeners saying it was “nice to have you back and thanks too for what you did over there entertaining our troops.” One e-mail though really hit home. It was from a Juliette who lives here in South Tahoe and thanked me for coming home safely and also for giving her the best birthday present ever. Turns out her nephew, Jeff was one of the soldiers who we performed for at one of the bases. The world became very small that day. I e-mailed her back thanking her for the nice words.

What is the most memorable thing you saw or did?

There were so many memorable experiences but one in particular comes to mind. We were convoyed from Baghdad to the IZ — International or Green Zone — on short notice to do a show at a place called Freedom Rest. Whenever a standstorm hits the area all flights are canceled so we were convoyed in these armored vehicles called an MRAP — Mine Resistant Ambush Protected — to a place that used to belong to Saddam’s Republican Guard. This place is an oasis in the middle of the desert complete with swimming pools and these huge arches since it used to be a palace. It still is but now it’s used as a place for healing our men and women in uniform. They send soldiers here for a variety of reasons ranging from both physical to mental injuries to sort of detox, if you will, until healed. It was Sgt. Richardson of Freedom Rest who requested us and could we come do a show at his facility? We did of course and after the show did the meet-and-greet talking to soldiers from all branches of the military. We were invited to go swimming and spent more time with some of the soldiers in the pool while helicopters and the occasional mortar sound could be heard in the distance. It’s difficult to explain but once you’re accepted into their circle you become family. The show may have ended at 8:30 p.m. but we stayed up until 2 a.m. just chatting about everything under the sun. One of the soldiers went back to his room and came back with his laptop and showed us video he took while on patrol set to the music of Jimi Hendrix. The images that he took of his battalion while on patrol were amazing and showed us firsthand what these young men and women go through on a daily basis. It’s the kind of stuff that they only share amongst one another and not something you would see on CNN neatly edited in war-like sound bites. Here is this kid maybe 20-years old tops showing us images of war that he shot from a Humvee where I would normally watch from the safety and comfort of my Tahoe home and he is right there in the middle of it. Beyond surreal. Of all the places we performed at I would have to say that this ranked right up there at the top. Getting e-mails from all of the soldiers at the places we performed at also ranks very high and I make sure to reply to every one no matter how busy I think I am.

Will you go again?

You know after I got back it took a few days to even remember where I went and it’s still sinking in. You find out what’s really important in this life when you come back to a safe and sane environment. I told (my girlfriend) Nancy I never wanted to see the color tan or sand again unless there was an ocean or lake attached to it. You forget what time of the day it is or even what day it is and constantly try to get sleep whenever you can. We would try to cram in as many bases as we could in a day and always had to hydrate (drink tons of water it felt like) so as to not pass out from the heat. You have to remind yourself that you’re constantly in a war zone and not just doing a regular comedy tour because you don’t have to wear body armor when doing shows here in the States. Will I go back? Yes.