The Tigers’ win over the Sooners for the national championship was a dream come true for more than just the team and students – it was an inspiration for some American military personnel.
Maj. Kevin Moffett, a 1988 University graduate and member of the 519th Military Police Battalion stationed in Baghdad, had only two Christmas wishes – for LSU to win the Sugar Bowl and for his soldiers to go home in 2004.
As Tiger fans around the world witnessed either via television or in person at the Superdome, Moffett’s first wish came true.
His second Christmas wish came true, in part, when he and other members of his battalion came home for the holidays. Moffett got to see his wife, Sabrina, and children Kaz, 10; Kelsey, 7; and Koby, 4.
It is unknown if Moffett will get his second wish in its entirety – American military may or may not end large-scale occupation of Iraq this year.
Moffett’s second wish “sweetened,” however, when he and Sabrina got a coveted pair of tickets to the big game in New Orleans.
“I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Moffett said about his Christmas wish list in a telephone interview from Fort Polk Army Base near Leesville, La. He returned to Iraq in mid-January.
The 519th battalion’s duties include assisting Iraqi police in street patrols and keeping the peace.
“We’re helping them get back on their feet,” Moffett said.
For Moffett, the daily activities of his “nine straight months in uniform” before his Christmas trip home became monotonous.
“We have long days – 12 to 16-hour days,” he said.
Moffett and other members of his battalion watched college football on The Armed Forces Network, a satellite TV service that provides American programming for military personnel. Moffett said college football helped break the monotony of his battalion’s long days.
“It’s a great break,” he said.
Moffett said his Baghdad headquarters is not lacking proof of his loyalty to LSU.
“I fly the flag in my office,” he said.
Moffett, whose home is in Bossier City, does not hesitate to tell about his home state and university. He said the 519th battalion has members “from all over” and he is proud to represent Louisiana in a group of soldiers from diverse states and backgrounds.
“I’m still walking around with a big smile on my face,” Moffett said about sharing his LSU pride with his battalion and anyone else he sees.
Moffett is not the only Louisiania native military officer celebrating LSU’s Sugar Bowl victory.
Capt. Mark Allen is a Tiger fan and the commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s 1083rd Transportation Company. The company is stationed at Camp Arlington, Kuwait.
In an e-mail from Kuwait, Allen said the Tigers made “a significant impact” in keeping up his company’s morale during football season.
Allen’s wife, Karen, spoke with The Reveille via a phone call from Bossier City. She said Mark made an excited phone call to her the night of the game.
“It was 3:30 [a.m.] when he got up to watch the game,” she said.
Mark said Sugar Bowl game time was 4:30 a.m. Jan. 5 because of time zone differences between Louisiana and Kuwait. He said the majority of his company was on missions in Iraq the day of the game, but the few who were able to gather in the camp’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation Tent and watch the game were decked out in LSU garb just like they would be in Tiger Stadium.
He described the scene of the company’s early-morning, breakfast tailgate party as a hodgepodge of “purple and gold faces, do-rags and one purple, pimp-style hat.”
“Most of the soldiers looked like they should have been in the student section and not at war,” he said.
A solitary Oklahoma fan, who Mark described as “quiet and outnumbered,” sat among the rowdy Tiger fans of the 1083rd company.
Mark has been in Kuwait with the 1083rd company since April 2003 – a long time for a husband and father of a 3-year-old boy, his wife said. Being away from home is sometimes discouraging for the company.
“He said what a morale booster it [the national championship] was,” Karen said. “They had something to look forward to.”
Chancellor Mark Emmert said it “is a wonderful feeling” to know that LSU pride and the national championship encourage American troops.
“One of my hopes is that the success of our football team will serve as a demonstration of what can be done when high expectations are set and we commit to competing at the highest levels,” Emmert said. “That the Sugar Bowl served as an inspiration reinforces this point.”
Capt. Allen ended his e-mail saying he would like to thank football players and coaches for his company’s morale booster.
“It is obvious that the team is made up of team players, winners and leaders,” he said. “The Tigers demonstrated the Esprit de Corps that is needed to win wars.”