Once we arrived at Ramstein Air Force Base it was all business. We had a lot of people to meet and greet and we couldn’t wait to get started. Well, we weren’t disappointed. Fred had efficiently planned every moment of our visit so we didn’t have to worry about keeping busy. Probably the highlight for me was when we went to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to visit the wounded troops. We arrived just as the staff was unloading an ambulance bus of wounded soldiers. They had been transported on the bus from Ramstein AFB (about a 15-minute ride) where their plane from Iraq had landed just minutes before. It is incredible to see how efficient the medical staff is. Within an hour of seeing the troops unloaded we were able to visit some of them in their rooms and provide autographs, goodie bags, and some very sincere "thank-yous" for what they are doing for us.

Typically, a soldier who is injured in Iraq is stabilized in Baghdad, transported to Ramstein, further evaluated and treated, then flown on to a hospital in the United States for final treatment and rehabilitation. The incredible part is this entire process from Iraq to the United States is typically accomplished within 72 hours from when the soldier was injured. I was in awe of the professionalism and dedication of our military and civilian personnel who make this happen. The staff love what they do, and perform their mission with a passion. They have such a commitment to our troops and an appreciation of what those troops are doing for our country. It was awesome to be able to see first-hand, how this process really works.

Another big part of our mission was visiting the regular troops and their families so we could let them know how much we appreciated them being in Germany to support the overall mission of our armed forces. We did autograph sessions at several of the base exchanges (shopping mall for the military base). These created a great amount of interest and activity because we got to meet and talk to the families of the troops and once again show them our appreciation for all of the sacrifices they have made for our country. Their response made the entire trip worthwhile.

As a perk, Fred had arranged for us to travel to Spangdahlem AFB, about an hour away, so that we could actually sit inside the cockpit of a couple of cool fighter planes. At SAFB both the pilots and the ground crew that maintained the aircraft gave us a briefing on the mission and operations of the F-16 and A-10 fighter planes. Talk about cool! Maybe next year we can get a ride in one of those babies! We’ll have to put a good word in with Fred.

Well, I could go on and on with stories about our trip, but I don’t think we could get it all in my blog. The one thing I do want to mention is the positive attitude of everyone involved in this goodwill mission. No matter how hard we worked or how tired we were, we were all just so pumped to be involved in such a worthy cause that we would have stayed for as long as they would have allowed us.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and before I knew it I was back on a plane soaring across the Atlantic Ocean headed home. After arriving in Detroit, clearing customs, and saying goodbye to my fellow racing friends, I boarded my flight back to DC with my head full of memories and a greater appreciation of the massive effort that the soldiers of this country are involved in. Without them and all they do, we could not live the life we live today in the "land of the free and the home of the brave."