CityView Magazine

“Most people don’t realize what these tours entail,” Jones said. “It’s not about singing and dancing on the Army’s dime. It is by no means a gravy train.” While it’s easy to understand the benefit of the Army Soldier Show to soldiers and families in duty stations all over the world, the performing soldiers themselves are often subject to questions regarding how a staged re- creation of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” for example, is related to the serious business of defending these United States of America. But the U.S. Army Soldier Show – entertainment for the soldier, by the soldier – is rooted in tradition. It was established during World War I by none other than Sgt. Israel Beilin, a Russian immigrant soon to become better known as Irving Berlin. He conceived and directed the very first Army Show – “Yip, Yip, Yaphank” – on Broadway in 1918. Berlin went on to re-invent, write, direct and produce a Broadway version during World War II, under the title, “This is the Army.” The 1943 film version of this production featured military cast members Ronald Reagan, Gene Kelly and Joe Lewis. The 25th anniversary marks the modern-day show that originated in 1983. For Schaefer and Jones, it was an experience they will never forget, not just because they were able to travel and tour all over the United States and Europe, but because in a very real way, it made them both better soldiers. “I’m going to go back (on the 2009 tour) as a lighting technician,” Schaefer said, adding that when her “run” with the show comes to a close, she will likely remain in the Army and pursue a desire to become a part of what she describes as the Army band – the U.S. Army Band known as “Pershing’s Own.” Jones will not be back for this year’s tour. She is in the process of leaving the Army and has been accepted at the State University of New York, where she will pursue a law degree and, depending on how things turn out, eventually return to the Army as an officer. For now, she remains in something akin to awe about her stint with the U.S. Army show. “I hate to say things like this because it seems so typical, but it’s no cliché,” she said. “The 10 or 15 minutes after the show, when we’d be out there shaking hands with people as they left and autographing programs for the children, (that) was the sole thing that motivated me throughout the tour. “The comments, the faces,” she added. “When you realize what it is that you’re doing, that you’re performing for soldiers’ wives and families whose morale is sometimes at the breaking point and you hear them say things like, ‘We really needed this,’ or ‘It meant the world to me.’ “You become more in touch with being a soldier,” Jones said. “You think, at first, that you’re breaking away, but you interact with families, with the greater Army community, and you become more in touch with that. I don’t think if I’d been a rigger, and lived in my own little bubble on a post somewhere, that I would have developed that sense of what being a soldier really means. “It was one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done.”CV 24|February/March • 2009

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