Editor’s note: PGA TOUR veterans Frank Lickliter II, Corey Pavin, Jerry Kelly, Donnie Hammond and Howard Twitty are spending Thanksgiving week in Iraq paying tribute to the soldiers stationed there as part of the USO’s “Operation Links Handshake Tour.” While he is there, Lickliter will be writing a blog for PGATOUR.com. This is his sixth and final installment.

ON THE WAY HOME -- As I write this it’s Monday night, and I am getting ready to go to the airport for our flight back to the States. We leave around 2 o’clock in the morning and fly to Germany. I’ll end up back in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., around 4 p.m. on Tuesday. I am really looking forward to getting home, but at the same time, I hate to leave.

This morning we drove about an hour into the Kuwaiti desert to Camp Buehring, which is named after Lt. Col. Charles Buehring, who was killed in a rocket attack in October of 2003. All the troops going to Iraq come through this base and spend a couple of weeks training here. We met a National Guard Reserve unit based in Cincinnati that flies Black Hawks. I was born in Ohio, so it was pretty neat to talk with them. They’ve been here since September and they’ve delivered something crazy like 2 million gallons of water to the base. There’s a gasoline storage facility there, too. The base is all about moving men and equipment. It’s like a Super Wal-Mart for the Army.

While we were there, we hit some balls at a driving range. There was a net at the end made from the same material they use for cover and shade. All the troops who showed up were golf fans, and there were some good swings among them. We gave a few lessons and just talked golf with the troops. Brian Pavlet, one of the long-drive guys, got up and drove a ball clear through the netting. It went another 200 yards farther and someone driving two streets over found the ball 15 minutes later. Art Sellinger hit one through the net, too, but it hit a backpack on a table -- which was lucky for us because our bus was sitting right behind that table.

One of the Morale, Welfare and Recreation guys was telling us today that we don’t realize what an impact our trip will have, and I agreed with him. We really can’t understand. We probably only saw 50 troops today since all the rest of the guys at Camp Buehring had shipped out to Iraq last week. But the MWR guy was saying that our visit would have a ripple effect. They’ll tell their buddies and their buddies would tell someone else, and they’ll talk about it for months. It’s a way of marking time for them. Their days over here are like groundhog days. He said our visit would leave a deep impression on the troops. I know it has on us, too. We just wanted the soldiers to know that they have tremendous support back in the United States. We know they are doing great things for the U.S. and for Iraq.

We also went to Camp Patriot today. What a fitting name. The base is located on the Persian Gulf, and as the sun was setting, we stood on the beach hitting balls into the water. A Marine Corps reserve unit from Texas took us out on their gunboats, too. There was a brick wall about 100 yards long right behind where we were on the beach. You can still see the pock marks from the bullets where Saddam Hussein’s men assassinated people when he invaded Kuwait. That brings it all into perspective. At Camp Anaconda, we saw where Saddam kept his soccer team. Between the soccer fields and the two Olympic-sized swimming pools, you saw where he had some of them killed. There’s a torture chamber there, too. That’s more than enough evidence to make you understand that our decision to depose him was righteous, in my opinion.

From left to right, Corey Pavin, Howard Twitty, Art Sellinger, Donnie Hammond, Frank Lickliter, Jerry Kelly and Brian Pavlet.

I am so glad I came over here. We’ve already been invited back, and it’s something I want to do again. I’ve met people I know I will keep in touch with for the rest of my life. Today has really been a day of reflection. This has been the chance of a lifetime. For me, too, it was the opportunity to spend time with some great guys. Brian and Art are two of the best guys you’d ever want to meet. Howard Twitty -- he’s 57 now, and I can’t believe that it’s been seven years since he’s been out on the PGA TOUR. Donnie Hammond was one of the first guys I played with when I joined the TOUR. Corey Pavin and I bunked together a couple of times this week. He and I were friends before, but now we’re really good friends. It’s the same way with Jerry Kelly.

It’s always a good feeling to come home. I can’t wait to get back to Florida. But I also can’t imagine what it feels like when you’ve been gone a year or more like some of these soldiers we met. They deserve so much. Some extraordinary things are happening over here in Iraq and Kuwait, and it’s because Americans are here.