By Carol Pipes
BAGHDAD (Iraq)--The sound of a banjo tuning bounces out the door of the coffee house at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq. Before you know it, the familiar tune of "Rocky Top" fills the air.
BAGHDAD (Iraq)--The sound of a banjo tuning bounces out the door of the coffee house at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq. Before you know it, the familiar tune of "Rocky Top" fills the air.
Every Sunday morning soldiers, airmen and marines make their way to Green Beans Cafe for a cup of joe and a chance to escape the chaos of living in a combat zone.
A little more than a year ago, a chaplain and a Southern Baptist deacon formed the Baghdad Bad Boys. Chaplain Jeff Houston and LTC Greg Rawlings, both with the 18th Airborne out of Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, discovered a mutual love for bluegrass and decided to start a band. One-by-one they added instruments - first a banjo, then a mandolin, next a fiddle and finally a harmonica.
They started playing on Sunday mornings for the Protestant worship service at Hope Chapel on Victory Base Complex. The next thing they knew they were invited to entertain patrons of Green Beans Cafe, the military's version of Starbucks. Every Sunday after church, they entertain the troops as they sip their lattes and cappuccinos with bluegrass standards - "Rocky Top," "Seven Bridges Road" and "Salty Dog Blues."
For a couple of hours each week, the band and those around them are transported out of the desert to a simpler time and place. Sitting in the coffee shop, you'd never know that 800 meters away lies a combat zone where the enemy reminds the troops of their presence with the occasional mortar round.
"This is our therapy," said Rawlings, only half joking. "The object is to knock the dust off our boots and go back to North Carolina for a couple of hours."
They started playing on Sunday mornings for the Protestant worship service at Hope Chapel on Victory Base Complex. The next thing they knew they were invited to entertain patrons of Green Beans Cafe, the military's version of Starbucks. Every Sunday after church, they entertain the troops as they sip their lattes and cappuccinos with bluegrass standards - "Rocky Top," "Seven Bridges Road" and "Salty Dog Blues."
For a couple of hours each week, the band and those around them are transported out of the desert to a simpler time and place. Sitting in the coffee shop, you'd never know that 800 meters away lies a combat zone where the enemy reminds the troops of their presence with the occasional mortar round.
"This is our therapy," said Rawlings, only half joking. "The object is to knock the dust off our boots and go back to North Carolina for a couple of hours."
Said Houston: "We have a great time of fellowship. The few hours that we play together helps us get through the week."
The group has changed over the past year as individual deployments ended and new ones began. New players are always welcome. Like most country or bluegrass musicians, the group's dream is to one day play at the Grand Ole Opry.
It might not be the Opry, but the audience at Camp Victory couldn't be more appreciative of their performance.
The Baghdad Bad Boys wind down their set with a rousing version of "Rocky Top."Folks join in on the chorus whether they are from Tennessee or not, each thinking of a place back home.
Carol Pipes is editor of On Mission.
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