JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq. -- The coffee shop and deck are crowded with soldiers wearing t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops while Jimmy Buffet music videos play on a projector.

For one day, the soldiers of Oregon's Charlie Company medevac are able to feel like civilians.

“Unfortunately we can’t be blessed with the real mix," Flight Medic Sgt. Ben Sjullie of Springfield, Ore., says as he blends virgin Margaritas, Pina Coladas and Strawberry Daiquiris. "We have to use water and ice, but everyone seems to be liking them. So they’re going by quick and they’re coming back for more.”

Sgt. Eddie Ray Jeselink

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jeff Blankenship had the idea to celebrate Margaritaville in Iraq, which is ironic since it's never beer-thirty anywhere in Iraq -- unless of course you count non-alcoholic beer.

“This is the very first time I’ve been out of uniform, and many others too. It feels very good,” says pilot Blankenship, 52, of Prairie City, Ore.

Drinks are served in margarita glasses with tiny umbrellas.

“We’re here for a Jimmy Buffet party and cheeseburgers in paradise,” says pilot Cpt. Pete Emerson, 40, of Gresham, OreYeah., decked out in his Hawaiian best.

“I like paradise,” says crew chief Sgt. Brandon Names, 27, of Albany, Ore., in a mullet wig and colorful leis.

“I don’t like paradise; too much sand,” jokes Emerson. He has spent the last four months in the desert.

“It just seemed like the thing to do,” says Blankenship as he serves up burgers and hot dogs. “I’m a big fan of Jimmy Buffet.”

Cali Bagby is embedded with the Oregon Army National Guard from Charlie Company, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation, a Medevac Unit based out of Salem, Ore., for KVAL.com. Her work has been published in the Washington Post and the Eugene Weekly.
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