A Brief Duet with a Country Singer
I can’t sing. I know I can’t. But I did get a pretty cool high five.
For the record, I’m not a Country Music fan. For a short period of time while stationed in Texas, I gave it the old college try. I went in ears opened and worked my way through country music. It never resonated with me but I learned who was who in the zoo. That being said, let’s get to the story.
Every year, the Army celebrates its birthday, June 14th. These celebrations happen all around the Army but the biggest one, for obvious reasons, is in DC where all the generals and senior civilians work. I was stationed at the Pentagon in 2012 and that year the Army held its birthday ball in the MGM Hotel at the National Harbor, about a 15 minute drive from the Pentagon.
The venue was brand new and it was a great space to have a formal ball. It just so happened that my best friend Roberta Brondolo from high school in Cairo, Egypt was in town with her family. I had dinner with her and her parents the night before the ball and I mentioned that I was going solo because I couldn’t, or rather didn’t try to, find a date. Robbie’s mom suggested Robbie should be my date. It took a lot of cajoling and her mom, dad, and I finally cornered her and twisted her arm until she caved. In the span of 24 hours she went from adamantly refusing to being all dressed in a gorgeous dress. We both cleaned up nicely.
Of course, being in close proximity to Robbie brought back a lot of liberal applications of vices, like drinking copious amounts of alcohol. We had fun, did shots, and danced (at least I tried). Let me tell you, dancing in a wool dress uniform (complete with bowtie) with all that stuff pinned on your chest will wear you out. Anyway, the dancing broke for an interlude of stand up comedy which was quite funny and perfectly timed for us to catch out breath. Robbie and I decided to do a few more shots. By this time, I was completely bombed and it was time for the headline entertainer of the night.
The headliner was Phil Vasser, an award winning singer/songwriter. His lead off song was ‘Charlene’, very popular in its time and actually one I didn’t mind when I went through my country music exploration. It sure got the room moving and by the time Robbie and I made it up to the dance floor, a few rows of women were dancing and swooning over the dashing singer on stage. Robbie and I decided to play the groupie card and join the rows of ladies dancing. I noticed, in my alcohol induced fog, that I was the only uniformed person up there…and the only male. I also noticed there were no barricades or security separating us from him and the stage was very low in comparison to the others I’d seen over the years. Now, one thing I had no idea about was Phil Vasser loved to perform at military balls and his M.O. was to grab a soldier out of the crowd and sing a duet with them.
During one of his songs, I came up with dumb drunk idea of telling the assembled ladies that they should join the star on the stage. Those ladies knew more than I did and they all pointed to me and started yelling. For years I thought it was because I was fun and cool. Nope. They knew about Phil Vasser ‘s antics when performing at military functions.
After a few seconds of this hullabaloo, Phil Vasser pointed at me then reached down, grabbed my arm, and hauled me up on stage. The lights were so bright and I couldn’t see anything but there I was on stage. My eyes adjusted just enough for me to see the Armed Forces Network cameras training their lenses on me and Phil. Yikes. Was this live? Standing next to the camera, I could see the outline of the Chief of Staff, Army and a smaller gentleman with glasses. I surmised that guy had to have been the Secretary of the Army.
Phil Vasser talked about something on stage briefly with me but I was completely tuned out. He cued the band to start playing and the song was, ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ by Bob Marley. Easy stuff. I knew all the lyrics. He started singing and when we came to the first bridge, he shoved the microphone in my face. I missed the first beat but reacted well enough. I let my voice go and after a few horrified looks, Phil yanked the microphone back and I was summarily dismissed while he finished the song. Embarrassing.
The following Monday morning, I walked into the building early. I had a briefing at 8 am that I had to be prepared for. As I walked down one of the corridors, two people emerged from one of the stairwells. It was the Secretary of the Army and his aide. I nodded at them as I passed and managed a professional greeting. A second later, he yelled out at me.
“Hey Captain!”
“Yes, Sir?” I said as I walked back toward him.
“You’re that guy that was on stage with Phil Vasser at the Army Birthday Ball,” he said pointing to me.
I was pumped.
“That’s right, Sir!” I said excitedly as I raised my arm up.
He followed suit and I high fived him. He laughed and his aide was taken aback. That’s right. I high fived the Secretary of the Army and he liked it!
That was a fun weekend that I will always remember. Thanks for going with me, Robbie.
Wish w e could have heard your duet! :)
Nice writing, Darius! Thanks for taking us along :)