Just now saw it on the news…did anyone else see that?? I heard it before I saw it and when I went running over to see, it showed a soldier leaning against a building in an Iraqi town, just playing away on what looked like a Feadóg high D! The person doing the commentary said he was an Irish soldier, pausing to make music in Iraq!
Blackhawk and I have gotten together and sent five D whistles to Afghanistan as part of some care packages I was sending out to those troops deployed there. I don’t think Blackhawk had much hope they’d be well received…but I think they will!!
If it was the 4 infantry div and he was a corporal it could have been my nephew he play the whistle and just got shipped over there. He is Irish American so they could have gotten that mixed up. I do not think there are any Irish troops committed to Iraq.
I’m pretty sure the player was identified as a member of the Irish Guards, which, confusingly, is a British regiment.
Another advantage of the whistle. How many other instruments are sufficiently small, light, portable, durable and dare I say, disposable, to take into such a situation?
I suppose the other instruments which have been used thusly are mouth organ, rec***er, and ocarina. Also, Patrick’s Viking panpipes might have such potential (see thread).
I think Serpent needs to get a move on with his whistle of mass destruction and send a bunch of them over there quick. They could hit the 3rd octave D and then clobber the enemy with em after they finish playing a tune!
Actually there is at least one Northern Irish (which is still Irish born in my opinion) outfit fighting in Iraq, so it might have been one of thier guys.
There was, when I was there in the early 70s, all
sorts of wonderful music being played on
the streets of Kabul. Fiddles, drums, don’t
remember seeing whistles or flutes, but
I’ll be they are there. Best
I don’t know! I think it was channel 2 here in Tulsa…NBC, the news that comes on at 11am.
I couldn’t believe my ears when that happy tune came out of my TV, in the middle of a war report!
I don’t know about those deployed in the Gulf, but I do know the soldiers in Afghanistan can listen to CD players. My connection there told me they like to listen to CDs and even watch DVDs on hand held players!
Needless to say, my friends and I sent them The Fellowship of the Ring, Extended release of course.
Sure there are a few Irish Regiment out in Iraq, they are all Regiments of the British Army. Theres the Irish Guards, and the Royal Irish Regiment as far as iam aware.
The Irish Gaurds are based in Germany just down the road from where I live, both regiments are made up of Irish and English guys.
If I get deployed then iam going to be taking a whistle as well, its good for moral!!! If I see a BBC camera, I will make up a sign saying “chiff and Fipple” !!! For you guys.
Also many of the guys have access to CD players, and DVD, maybe not during combat!! but definalty as part of the overall welfare package.
Yes, the military personnel in the Gulf are allowed CD players. In fact, the local oldies radion station out of Philadelphia, along with the USO, has been conducting a “Classic CD Deployment” for which they were asking people to donate CDs, still in the “shrink wrap” to be sent to the people over there. It’s culminating this afternoon at the Phillies home-opener which will be attended by 63,000 people. Wow, if only a quarter of them brought CDs along…
Perhaps while we are sending our troops all those good music CD’s we could send Saddam’s Republic Guard all our AOL discs that we keep getting in the mail. It would be a kind of psychological weapon.
Well, if I hear anything about the whistles that Blackhawk and I sent to Afghanistan, I’ll post it here. I sent my friend a disposable camera so he can take pictures…maybe he’ll send me a picture of someone checking out the whistles!
As a matter of fact, I’ll change the title of this thread to “Whistles Deployed” so if anyone sees anything else (or has a little story about) whistes in the military, they can post it here.
I don’t know if this is true, but I heard that during the fight in Panama to capture Noriega our boys set up loudspeakers to play obnoxious music outside Manuel’s headquarters in an effort to force him out of hiding…
So, perhaps we should be sending our troops in Iraq Generation high G’s??? Or maybe get the Scots Dragoon Guards going withe their highland pipes…Talk about your mass-surrenders!
They could hit the 3rd octave D and then clobber the enemy with em after they finish playing a tune! 
