Photo By Chief Warrant Officer Bryan Nygaard | Supermodel Mayra Veronica sits in the back of a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected...... read more read more
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CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – Bob Griese drops back to pass. He sees his target is wide open, and with a quick release he delivers the football to his receiver’s hands.
Except this time Griese was not playing in Joe Robbie Stadium and he was not throwing to his favorite receiver, Paul Warfield. The NFL Hall of Fame quarterback was at Forward Operating Base Hanson, Helmand province, Afghanistan, throwing to Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Carlo Carbonell, a hospitalman with Headquarters and Support Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment.
Carbonell, a native of Rockville, Md., just so happened to be throwing a football with his buddies when the two-time Super Bowl champion walked through the Hesco barriers alongside supermodel Mayra Veronica. Griese quickly spotted Carbonell and said, “I’m open!” Carbonell obliged him, not realizing he was throwing to a former NFL star.
“I thought it was just a one-time thing, but he threw it back,” Carbonell said. “Then he kept wanting it. I played catch for about a minute with a Hall of Fame quarterback. That’s pretty cool. Not a lot of people can say that.”
Griese, of Evansville, Ind., along with Veronica, a popular pinup girl among Marines, visited Marines and sailors of 2/8, for a USO tour in Afghanistan, April 20.
This was Griese’s first time participating in a USO tour.
“It’s a pleasure to get out and see our young men working in the field,” Griese said. “I’ve always been interested in the USO and going out and seeing our troops in different countries. Coach [Don] Shula went on one and said he had a great time.
“The more you see the background, you just know that [U.S. Forces] are really prepared. We know what we’re doing and it makes me feel safe.”
The one thing that really stood out to Griese was how Marines work as a team.
“Wherever I go and whatever camp I’m in, I see a bunch of over achievers, team players that are molded together by some of the finest men running the team. These guys could play on any one of my teams.”
For Veronica, who is also an official spokesperson for the USO, this was her fourth tour visiting troops in Afghanistan. However, this was her first time being able to visit a FOB. Hanson, which is located outside of Marjah, is considered one of the safer FOBs in the area, but only after a year of hard-fought battles with insurgents.
“I’m not going to lie, it is a little bit nerve-racking at times,” said Veronica, of Miami. “It’s nothing compared to the work the troops do for us. They’re here battling it out every day.”
Though this is not her first time visiting Marines, Veronica says she is the one who benefits the most after being with them.
“One of the things I’ve always taken from the Marines, and the service members in general, is the sense of heroism that you don’t see often see in the states,” Veronica said. “They are brave souls. The way they give back to us is so amazing. You leave here a new person. You leave here with a different set of values and priorities.”
| Date Taken: | 04.22.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.22.2011 10:23 |
| Story ID: | 69169 |
| Location: | CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF |
| Web Views: | 945 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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