A DAY AS A DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADER By LCpl. Derek A. Shoemake TASZAR, Hungary (July 7) -- She hadn't been feeling well since the plane touched down in Budapest, but when the doctor here said the word "appendicitis," Cheerleader Carolyn Clifton was definitely out, and someone else had to sing the Dixie Chicks' song. So in the top level of their two-story tour bus, I sat with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders - on the first stop of their tour of the Balkans, their 38th United Service Organizations tour - as they came up with an answer: Cheerleader Melissa Medlock would have to sing. But the only version of the tune to be found in the bus was the instrumental. With a little over two hours until show time, cheerleaders' coordinator Kandra Hall and I raced to Taszar's post exchange to hunt down a copy of the CD so Melissa could get familiar with the lyrics. Our search was fruitless. In a last-ditch effort, I improvised. Running into the adjacent recreational room I grabbed plenty !
of attention and a fair share of weird looks by screaming, "Excuse me, does anybody have a Dixie Chicks' CD?" After allowing a brief pause for the crowd to digest my request, I screamed again: "I'm serious! Does anyone in here have a Dixie Chicks' CD?" To my surprise, a woman in the corner spoke up, and we were back in business. As we walked off, CD in hand, to join the 11 most beautiful women in the state of Texas, I thought to myself, "I could get used to this." MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE She scribbled notes on a piece of paper as the Taszar-bound bus sat in a fog of traffic. "Right now a publishing company is looking at a children's book I wrote. But at this very moment I'm working on my notes for the Website," she said, waving the paper in front of me. If a giggling airhead is what you expect from the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, you might be better off waiting for a time machine to take you back to the 50s. When not busy cheering or writing for the Cheerleaders' Page of The !
Dallas Cowboys' Website, www.dallascowboys.com., 29 year-old Pamela Jagger is a free-lance writer with a triple component Bachelor of Arts degree in writing, sociology and psychology. She's part of the rule, not the exception. Cheerleader Terra Watson owns her own business and the other ten girls are college graduates or students on their way there. "Most of the time people think less of us before they meet us, and we always want to try to change that," said 22 year-old Cheerleader Megan Willsey. I had not been aboard the bus 20 minutes before the conversation turned to world events and the role our nation played in the air campaign against Yugoslavia. "Our director looks for smart women," said Megan. In fact, it is a prerequisite. In addition to their cheerleading duties, which pay only $50 per game, each girl must maintain either a full-time job or be a student. "We all have normal lives outside of the squad," said 22 year-old first time Cheerleader Kenia Brown, who works in!
 administration for American Airlines. For the 12 girls who tour with USO, explains Marine Captain Will Rosser, with the Pentagon's Armed Forces Professional Entertainment Office, this can be especially tasking. "These are the best of the best," he said. "They are the Show Group. These girls represent the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders represent America." In addition to cheering with the other 31 members at every Cowboys' game, the 12-member Show Group is also tasked with Department of Defense tours, national telethons, state and county fairs and sporting events. Whatever the screening process, it works. As we pulled through the gates of Taszar, I realized the three-hour bus ride had only felt five minutes long. SMALL STEP FOR MAN, GIANT LEAP FOR MORALE Happy is the look on your face after seeing Ed McMahon on your doorstep with a blank check. But the faces of servicemembers here as they watched the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders exit the bus was !
elation. I noticed one soldier who was counting the girls, dressed in blue and white spandex shorts with matching spandex tops, as they stepped off the bus and in front of the chowhall were it was parked. The only time his eyes were in their sockets was to make a disappointed scowl when he saw me. It was a look I would learn to get used to throughout the day. Already behind schedule, it would be a quick meal. And since most of "meal time" would be spent talking to servicemembers and taking pictures, that translated into hardly any meal at all. But the Cheerleaders are used to it, and in fact, embrace it. According to Megan, pictures, autographs, and fanfare are perks in their part-time celebrity lives. "You get the best make-up artist and photographers," she said. "For some of these girls, this is there first time seeing a photo of themselves in (the Cheerleaders') uniform." "I can't believe I'm signing my name on my picture," said excited 18 year-old first-time Cheerleader Am!
ber Strauser, as she autographed fliers that would be given out to those who could not make the show. "It's hard to imagine guys will be screaming for me," added Amber, of what would be her first time on-stage as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. "Normally I'm the one out in the audience screaming for someone else." But with a new status comes prices. "You have to take responsibility," said Megan. "I am not just Megan, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. I am part of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and whatever Megan does is going to have influence over that. People will think, 'That's how they all are.' It is especially hard on the rookies." Twenty year-old Melani Feinberg is one of these rookies. "I was at Texas Stadium one day and saw a cheerleader putting up fliers," she said. "Then I saw I flier on my car window. And when I got home my dance instructor had left a message on my machine saying I should go try out. I figured it was a sign." The sign turned out a positive one. So far!
, Melani said her part-time life is worth sacrificing a busy social life. "I think I might cry," she said of her thoughts of performing for those deployed to Taszar. "It is one of those things you can't tell people what it's going to be like. You just have to experience it for yourself." She would have her experience in less than three hours.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE You could say it took an act of Congress to get the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders to the Balkans. Or at least the acts of a Congressman. His accent sticks out in the room full of southern belles like a rock-and-roll song on a country music radio station. But Congressman Vito J. Fossella, who presides over New York's 13th Congressional District, is a vital part of this team. "Frankly, I believe we can't do enough for our men and women in the armed services. They are willing to put their lives on the line, and is clearly being demonstrated in the Balkans, just as it is in the Persian Gulf and all over the globe," he said. "So we decided to express our thanks by bringing a piece of home to these men and women." Raising more than $60,000, mostly from Staten Island and Brooklyn residents, Fossella's office was able to help finance the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' 38th tour of entertaining deployed troops. It doesn't end there, USO and DoD Overseas Tours, who were r!
esponsible for planning and organizing the tour, also enlisted the help of corporate sponsors Nicorette, AT&T, USAA and Yahoo. According to Rosser, the funds are used to provide lodging, meals, transportation and other expenses incurred during the tour. Wherever all that money goes, it does not go to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Their time is free, and they couldn't be happier about it. "We are here for free because we love (the military)," said Tara. "They are our quarterbacks. They are America's team. We're not America's team - they are." "The smallest thing we can do is come by and say thank you," said Pamela. "The show is a lot fun for us and (anyone watching)." LET THE FUN BEGIN Even though she didn't seem to think so, Melissa' first and only rehearsal of the Dixie Chicks' "Wide Open Spaces" went well, especially for someone who learned the words just an hour beforehand. As Carolyn was being flown by helicopter to a military hospital in Germany, Melissa and the rest o!
f the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders took their final moments before show time to relax, double-check makeup, and get ready to make a few hundred folks go nuts. They took the stage, dressed in the internationally recognized boots, blouse and shorts that sport the Dallas Cowboys' colors, amid more screams and excitement than orders back home. The outdoor show, featuring an assortment of outfits, dances, music, and singing, was a hit. Airmen, Marines, sailors and soldiers alike were pressed against the sides of the stage as they cheered "America's Sweethearts" on to another routine. I couldn't help but notice it was like Michael Jackson concerts I'd seen on television, without the agony if Michael Jackson. The only mistakes made were those so insignificant that had they not told me afterward, I would have never known. As far as Melissa's rendition of the Dixie Chicks' song, you would have never known she wasn't suppose to be the one singing it. After the show the Cheerleaders had t!
o chance to meet their audience at an autograph session. "It was awesome," said Marine Corporal Colton Palmer, his white T-shirt plastered with autographs. "It's great to see stuff from stateside like this. It lets you know people care." "These girls don't have to be here," said Marine Sergeant Robert Tickner. "They chose to be here. They look like they are having fun when they do their routines. I don't know if they always look like that, or if they always do the dance routines to patriotic songs, but it was very fitting right here, right now. "I've been part of Allied Force and this made it worth it," he said. "If I know I can see (the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders) every time I deploy - then I'm ready to go." "You see this beautiful girl on stage," said Rosser. "You think to yourself 'That is what we fight for. Those are the girls we fight for.'" "I find it so ironic that they think it is a big deal for us to come out and see them," said Pamela. "We think it is a big deal tha!
t they would come out and watch us on their night off. It is a mutual respect. Maybe we are in awe of each other." THE NEXT STOPS At a late dinner in a private room of the chowhall, the girls got their first real break of the day. It was almost midnight. The next few days would be no different. They would return to Budapest to rest for the night, after which they would spend the next nine days performing in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia. The Cheerleaders would be online July 7 as part of a Yahoo chat, where they would talk via computers to service members deployed throughout the Balkans. Hopefully Carolyn would be well enough to meet up with them later. But now was a time to rest and reflect before heading back to Budapest. "I'll always treasure and remember this," said Melani, who along with the rest of the rookies now had one show under her belt. "The best thing about it was the crowd response," said Megan. "We like to hear our audience. They were the best."!
 "Everybody was cheering and giving us energy," agreed Kenia. "We were able to pump that same energy right back into them. It was great." After getting my own autographs it was time for me to part with the 11 gorgeous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and return to my tent of 11 male servicemembers. I felt cheated. As I said goodbye each girl wrapped her arms around me in a big "Cowboy hug," and walked off. While I watched the bus drive away in the darkness I thought again, "Yeh, I can really get used to this."