P.O.D. Bassist Humbled By Visit With Wounded U.S. Troops

January 13, 2006

P.O.D. recently had their thoughts put into perspective with a visit to see U.S. troops wounded in action in Iraq at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center in Washington D.C. Speaking with Rockdetector.com's Garry Sharpe-Young, P.O.D. bassist Traa confesses to being deeply affected by the experience.

"We were on tour in Maryland and this visit got arranged while we were on the road," he explains. "We were on a real whirlwind of touring and activities, so it was kind of last minute for us. Anyhow, I thought that it was a very cool thing to do but I had this dumb idea that I would walk in and see these soldiers in band aids and shoulder splints, y'know, just like the movies, but... They took us first to the head trauma unit. We weren't expecting anything like that and I have to say we were both shocked and filled with pride about what our men and women are doing out there."

Rockdetector.com: It must have been humbling.

Traa: "Yeah, I think that's the word. I mean, we are musicians, we're artists, we're entertainers, so we live in this false kind of world all the time and then we were suddenly put into the very real world where people get maimed and killed. It was totally intense. There were guys in the head trauma unit that were very badly wounded, I mean bits of their heads were missing. It was... I can't really describe it. You know, this was the real deal, not what you see on television. So there we are, this dumb band of musicians taking this in and just feeling totally stunned but the guys were great. They wanted to tell us that they listened to our music in Iraq and that things like that, just simple music, kept them going.

"I used to be in the military so I kind of had another viewpoint because I was with these guys. Some of them couldn't even speak because of their wounds, and I obviously thought to myself, 'That could have been me.' It made me appreciate what freedom was really all about. We take too much for granted in this world but all of those things we have, that we're able to discuss, criticise and disagree about because of the freedom we have."

Read the entire interview at Rockdetector.com.

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