USO TOURS IN IRAQ

(via The Stars & Stripes) Last week it was Bruce Willis and his rock group, The Accelerators, who performed for the troops in Iraq. The audience from the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul was delighted. Willis also visited units along the Iran-Iraq border.

This past Friday, comedian Drew Carey and six others put on two shows at the Baghdad airport for a predominantly 1st Armored Division audience. On Saturday, they went to Tikrit to entertain 4th Infantry Division personnel. A reviewer said:

Much of Carey's performance, thick with Army jokes, brought loud cheers from the audience and even a few smiles from the assembled front-row brass.

Carey's only boos came when he announced that he was a former Marine. Some enterprising soldiers held up a large sign stating, "We forgive you Drew."

Kathy Kinney, who played the makeup-heavy Mimi on TV's Drew Carey Show, followed his opening, talking to the troops who filled in between helicopters and equipment at a large hangar at Saturday's airport performance.

She received a large cheer from male soldiers when she explained one benefit of being away from home. "The longer you're here the closer the Olsen twins get to being legal," she said. The two girls, who starred in TV's Full House, will turn 18 on June 13, Kinney said.

This week, actor Brian Dennehey and comedians from the Laugh Factory will be visiting troops at various locations in the region.

The spirit of Bob Hope is alive.