Radio Australia Today Editorial

Entertaining the Troops in Dili.

18 June 2008

Bob Hope started the trend way back in the second world war.

He went into war zones with a troupe of singers and other comics and played to the troops to keep morale up during that most horrific of wars.

In this time of relative peace, we might forget that Australian soldiers are still on duty across the world. From hot places like Iraq and Afghanistan, to relatively stable centres like East Timor, Australian soldiers are in place trying to keep the peace, but are always in danger.

And entertainers are still doing their thing, doing their best to keep morale up.

This was brought to attention only a few weeks ago, when one female entertainer was wrongly accused of sleeping with soldiers in the Middle East in the midst of one such tour. It was a nasty allegation that was muishandled by all concerned, including the military.

That has been bad publicity, but shouldn’t take away from the good work that so many artists are doing.

This morning we spoke with one singer who is heading off to East Timor this weekend.

Amy Pearson is a young singer, barely out of her teens, and who already has a slew of hits behind her. She is also the voice of Australia’s beijing Olympics anthem.

So next time you think of the soldiers in hotspots, why not take a couple of seconds to think of the civilians who go there to make the soldier’s life just a little more pleasant. They’re good people.

– Phil