The Task Force First Armored Division (TF 1AD) had a singing competition for Independence Day, 2003. Soldiers at the Baghdad international airport, known earlier as the Saddam International Airport, lived in tents, bombed out buildings, or wherever they could. One bombed out building was christened the Hotel California by the soldiers who lived there. This song tells one perspective on life there.
By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA
Hotel California (TF 1AD) – sung and played to the tune of Hotel California by the Eagles.
Verse 1
At a dark desert airport, scorched wind in my hair
Warm smell of latrine fires, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw an RPG strike
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway
I heard the gunfire swell
And I was thinking to myself
This isn’t heaven its got to be hell
Then she fired off a tracer and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor
I thought I heard them say
Chorus
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
In a desert waste
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Every time of year
The Army sends us here
Verse 2
HUMVEE landmine twisted, she got the MRE bends
She’s got a lot of trigger-happy boys, that she calls friends
How they shoot in the courtyard, bullets eject
Some fire for ranging, some fire for effect
So I called supply sergeant, “Please bring me some ice.”
He said, “We can’t get cold water here, its too high a price”
And still first sergeants were calling from far away
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say…
Chorus
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
In a desert waste
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Every time of year
The Army sends us here
Verse 3
Bombed out, falling ceilings
Mosquitos, heat stroke, and lice
And she said “we are the new conquerors here, over Saddam’s vice”
And in the field kitchen
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their plastic knives
But they just can’t eat the meat
Last thing I remember I was
Running for the door
I had to find the convoy back
To the place I was before
Relax, said the General
We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave.
Chorus
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
In a desert waste
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Every time of year
The Army sends us here
Conclusion
The singer/writer came in second place to a gospel singer in the competition. Most importantly, the soldiers loved it. Our deployment lasted another year, and times like this helped overcome the stress. Thanks to then BG Martin Dempsey, the TF 1AD commanding general, who later became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for letting us have this competition.
