January 20, 2003 5:58 AM

So, what did you do on your vacation?

Roger Clemens won't forget trip to Persian Gulf

Most of us try to go someplace fun and relaxing when an opportunity for a vacation presents itself. Roger Clemens? He went to Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf- places you won't find on most travel itineraries.

A few days before Christmas, Clemens and his longtime friend and agent, Alan Hendricks, and comedian Drew Carey accompanied Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on a United Service Organizations tour of American bases in and around the Persian Gulf.

In a whirlwind four days, they made a dozen stops, including one on the USS Constellation, an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, and spoke to "I'd guess 10,000 to 20,000 troops," Clemens said.

At times, he was moved to tears. At other times, he was inspired beyond words as he struggled to say the right thing to kids preparing for combat.

"It was the neatest thing I've ever done professionally or privately in my life," he said. "The World Series rings are nice, but it will never amount to that. To feel their energy and spirit is amazing."

One day last week, he invited a reporter into his home to discuss the trip, to look at the dozens of photos he has stored on his laptop and to try to explain how he had been affected by it all.

There was the young soldier so convinced he would die he stopped Clemens in a receiving line and asked him to write his family after it happened.

"I told him sure," Clemens said, "but I wasn't prepared for that. How do you respond to something like that?"

There was the delayed landing at Bagram Air Force Base in Qatar as honor guards moved the body of a dead U.S. soldier into a transport plane.

There was a 30-minute flight in total darkness because the plane was dangerously close to restricted air space.

There was the morning Clemens, unable to sleep, decided to go for a 5 a.m. run on one base and found himself surrounded by eight gun-toting troops.

"My first thought on that first stop, `I hope they're our guys,' " he said.

When they recognized him, he was escorted around the base, presented with gifts and allowed to lead the men on their morning workout routine.

There were the times security personnel reminded him not to step from the paved areas because the Taliban had planted mines across the landscape.

At one rally, he was ordered to wear a bulletproof vest. At another, an officer whispered: "If anything happens, head for that door. It's a bomb shelter."

We live in a world where pampered, coddled, spoiled-beyond-recognition professional athletes are the rule rather than the exception. It's nice to find out that at least one athlete is willing to go the extra mile for something besides a contract extension.

Clemens also makes a very good point, one that often gets lost in the chatter surrounding the possibility of war. Whether or not you support war with Iraq, and I still have some decidedly mixed feelings, we should be proud and supportive of our men and women in uniform. These folks are true professionals.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on January 20, 2003 5:58 AM.

And here I thought they all marched in lockstep was the previous entry in this blog.

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