When military units are deployed to a warzone they adopt all sorts of nicknames and mascots to identify themselves. It’s a long-held tradition of humanizing the experience as well as providing a mechanism for creating a bond between the men and women in the unit. For one National Guard unit deployed to Iraq (Bravo Company of the Iowa National Guard), which specializes in late night Chinook helicopter flights, Lionel Ritchie has become the unlikely meme which has resulted in his famous face becoming the mascot on everything from their shirts to their badge and practically every single object on their base which can take spray paint. Bill Whitaker of CBS This Morning tells the story of how this came to be, and what happened when Ritchie himself paid a surprise visit to the unit in Iraq on his way to his European tour. I guarantee you, you will never hear his iconic song “All Night Long” in quite the same way again.
