Edwards Airmen spend Veterans Day with Jay Leno

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Angelique
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
BURBANK, Calif. --  Some 25 Airmen from Edwards joined servicemembers from all five branches to attend a special Veterans Day tribute on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", Nov. 11, in Burbank, Calif.

Guests included celebutante Kim Kardashian, comedian Dennis Miller, and music artist Soulja Boy.

The show began with Mr. Leno being greeted by a standing ovation, hoots, cheers and high fives from servicemembers.

"We've got a great show for you tonight," he said. "The lovely Kim Kardashian is here. A great friend and comedian, Dennis Miller is on the show as well. Tonight, Dennis will be doing stand-up for the very first time. And music from Soulja Boy."

Mr. Leno performed a skit titled, "Products that Should Never Merge," in which two or more popular products were combined to make an even more popular super-product.

"For example," he said, "Crest toothpaste merged with Scope to make Crest Plus Scope. Brilliant idea; it's doing fantastic. However, a lot of these mergers sadly do not work out so well."

A number of products were lined up on his display table. One of his creations included putting together a box of doughnuts, hot sauce and hazelnut spread.

"A box of Dunkin Donuts... you couldn't be happier," said the host. "Throw in a little Tabasco sauce. Sounds pretty good so far... spicy doughnuts. Nutella. Nutella."

"What do you come up with?" he asked the audience. "You come up with this product here... Donutasco Donutella. You Donutasco. You Donutella."

Everyone laughed. He went on to create several more products.

"This one's a bit of a stretch," he said. "Canola oil. But for this sake, I'm going to go with, 'Can'ola oil joins forces with the whipped cream makers, and then brewers up Bass ale. And then... comes up with this one here. Can O' Whip Ass."

"And, look... endorsed by General Petraeus right here." Mr. Leno pointed to the whipped cream-shaped can with a photo of the general holding the product.

The room filled with laughter.

U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus serves as the commander of International Security Assistance Force and commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan.

Kim Kardashian entered through the audience to the stage escorted by a U.S. Navy Sailor. She had initially intended to cancel her appearance due to a very busy schedule. When Mr. Leno mentioned the show was for a very special military audience, she immediately jumped onto a private aircraft and flew from New York, where she currently resides, to California that morning, only to fly back right after the show. The servicemembers showed her much love and appreciation.

Ms. Kardashian is a celebutante, socialite, television personality, producer, actress and model.

Mr. Miller garnered lots of laughs and expressed his deepest gratitude for military members and their service.

"You know, when I was a kid I used to read books about ancient Troy, and Achilles and guys like that," he said. "And you always wondered, did they know they were living next to a guy like that? And then, you meet guys like you, and you remember at some point they're just a group of kids with balls the size of Macy's balloons that go out there and give us every single luxury and freedom we have in this country. And we love you for it."

Mr. Miller is a stand-up comedian, political commentator, actor, sports commentator and television and radio personality.

Soulja Boy ended 'The Tonight Show' with an energetic performance of his newest single, "Speakers Going Hammer," and a "Happy Veterans Day" shout-out to all military members.

"It was pretty exciting; it was a lot of fun," said Senior Airman Misty Flores from the Air Force Flight Test Center Legal Office. "Honestly, I think Soulja Boy was my favorite part. Yea. 'Everybody put your hands up.'"

She was referring to Soulja Boy's endeavor to get everyone moving and involved in his performance with The Tonight Show Band.

"You know, you see people on TV you usually only talk about," said 1st Lt. Nathaniel Knight from the Air Force Research Laboratory. "But being able to be a part of something like this, you can brag about it and say, 'Hey, I did that,' and it was pretty awesome. I liked it a lot. The music was awesome. I loved, of course, Jay Leno, and the whole delivery. Of course, Miller. I love watching him on TV. He has the brains behind what he's saying, and he's able to put together all the current things that are going on with humor."

Lieutenant Knight and Airman Flores were two of Edwards' Airmen who were chosen to sit in the very first rows of the audience and were allowed to run up for an attempt to give Mr. Leno a high five in the beginning of the show.

A 20-year fan of 'The Tonight Show' and his wife said they very much enjoyed being a part of the show.

"I've been a fan for the past 20 years, so I was really excited about it," said Capt. Michael Baker, 418th Flight Test Squadron. "I remember I used to watch (Jay Leno) when he filled in for (Johnny) Carson. I really liked the Miller monologue. He really shows his support for the troops."

"It was awesome," said, said Captain Baker's wife, Capt. Sarah Baker, 95th Medical Operations Squadron.

At the end of the filming, each branch of service crowded around Mr. Leno for group photos.

The night concluded with a free dinner buffet in a dining facility patriotically decorated in celebration of Veterans Day.

Transportation to and from the event was provided by NBC.