2012 Puget Sound USO Gala

SAS Badge. A super cool elite unit of AU

Charles and I were invited guests at this year’s local USO Gala by a good friend Brian. Brian is one of the Co-Chairs of the P.S. USO Chapter. He

My lucky day to sit next to “Mr. SAS” and “Mr. Ranger”

bought a couple of tables and also made sure there were a few spots for local servicemen to mix in to the group. It so happened that I sat next to two, “John” from Australia and the other, “Bob” who has been based out of our local Fort Lewis. I am changing their names because they would have to kill me and you if I mentioned them. Not only was I lucky to sit next to two really good looking gentlemen, (Charles is rolling his eyes) but John was a member of the elite SAS. Sorry ladies, these two are happily married. To be honest I was not even aware of the SAS unit. I thought I had learned quite a bit of the military lingo from Charles since he served in the USMC and is a huge history buff. But SAS I had not heard of. Charles was much more excited than I and was annoyed he was not sitting next to him. His eyes grew big when he noticed the SAS pin on the uniform.

The SAS is basically a special forces unit of the Australian Army. It is modeled on the

2012 USO Gala Auction

British SAS and shares the motto “Who Dares Wins”. This is for sure a bad ass unit! John has been at Fort Lewis for a couple of years as a liaison officer and will be returning to AU in a few weeks. “Bob” is a Platoon Sgt. with the Rangers. He had some incredible stories of his deployments. He has been deployed 13 times!!! These two happen to be very close friends. They met during some travels and realized they would be stationed together at Fort Lewis. The great part is that Bob and his family moved to AU only two days after this USO event and will be stationed very close to where John will be returning to. Especially for Bob and his family it will be great to have some familiarity there.

One forgets how much the USO does for the men and women who serve our country. I always see the USO room at airports but wondered what they provided for the travelers. Anything they possibly can. At the airports they will provide small things such as food and drinks and cab fare needed to get to the next spot. On a bigger scale they will house and help with medical expenses and much more. Remember the Bob Hope specials around the world entertaining our troops? Those were USO events.  The USO is all volunteers. I was so happy to hear that just from the live auction portion over $130,000 was raised. And this was an estimate. What a night and what an organization! But most of all a huge thank you to all of those who serve our country. It almost seems cliché these days to say this anymore. But now more than ever these men and women need our support and prayers. Next time you see someone in uniform say thank you. I realized that night that they never get tired of hearing it.

30CalGal – Shoot Like A Lady! If You Can……….