Robin Williams USO Tours Now News?

How is it that all of a sudden, the press is interested in Robin Williams going all over the world to spend time entertaining our troops? Why didn't they care before this?

Comedian Robin Williams greets soldiers stationed in Ramadi, Iraq prior to a USO show at the base. Dec. 19, 2007. Williams was joined by award winning recording artist Kid Rock, Miss USA Rachel Smith, comedian Lewis Black and seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong on the 15-stop, seven-country tour thanking the forward deployed troops for their sacrifice and service. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

Robin Williams' USO tours made him a familiar face to military crowds
LA Times
By CHRISTIE D'ZURILLA
August 12, 2014

Robin Williams earned his first Oscar nomination playing U.S. Air Force Sgt. Adrian Cronauer in 1987's "Good Morning, Vietnam" -- but his real-life relationship with the military in the form of USO shows didn't get rolling until 2002.

Williams, who died Monday of an apparent suicide at age 63, went on his first tour that year to perform for troops in Afghanistan and Turkey, according to the USO.

His passport would eventually include stamps from doing shows in Bahrain, Djibouti, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Spain and the United Arab Emirates, the Military Times reported. There were visits in the United States as well.

One particularly noteworthy moment on the USO stage happened at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, in December 2007, the year after Williams got out of rehab. He was joking about rehab being a good thing -- "Because I was violating my standards faster than I could lower them" -- when all of a sudden the entire audience turned its back on him as a horn played.

"I'm not gonna forget that. I've never had an entire audience just go 'forget you'" he said, turning his back momentarily to the crowd. "I was also wondering what's coming from that way. When an entire group of military people turns that ... way."

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For some memorable moments with Robin Williams showing up for the troops go here.
Military Community Mourns Loss of Robin Williams