As fate would have it, about a week later, Cantafio, an average Joe, was invited to a private fundraiser for U. S. Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert in Joe’s hometown of Barrington. He brought Cliff Russell and FDNY firefighter John Olivero. Mr. Hastert singled out Russell, Olivero and Cantafio during his speech, and when the opportunity arose, they asked him to help get them over to the troops so they could entertain them. They wanted to bring them the message, “ … Never forget September 11^th and thank you for all you are doing for our country!”

With the help of Capt. Sergio Rios of Armed Forces Entertainment, Mr. Hastert and his staff helped make their wish come true.

On February 5^th – 25^th, 2004, after Joe put together an awesome band, called The 101^st Rock Division, they were sent overseas to entertain America’s finest.

Illinois Republican Whip, Senator Peter Roskam, provided them with flags from about forty Chicago communities to give to the soldiers.  Joe and the band decorated their stages with the flags. The faces of these men and women looking at their hometown flags were priceless.  At the end of a show, if a soldier would say’s “Hey that’s my hometown,” the band would cut down that flag and give it to them. 

Cantafio met Senator Roskam in New York during the Let Freedom Sing Tour. Roskam was delivering signed Chicago-area flags to New York firehouses as part of his “Ground Zero Flag Tour.”  Cantafio figured his friend Roskam could find him the flags he needed for the troops.

Cantafio and his 101^st Rock Division performed two concerts at Camp Wolverine and at S-Pod in Kuwait. Joe and bassist Jonathan Brant (formerly of Cheap Trick) had the opportunity to walk the streets of Kuwait City. Sticking out like a sore thumb, (6” 1’, 220 lbs) a man walked up to Joe with tears in his eyes, folded his hands together as if he were praying, and then grabbed his heart, softly pounding it as he bowed. Joe was sure that the message the man was trying to express was meant for the soldiers of the 1^st Gulf War. Joe guessed the man was trying to say, “Thank you for liberating us.” They smiled at each other, passed, and not a word was spoken.

After Kuwait, they flew into Baghdad International Airport. They also performed at Camp Falcon, Camp Martyrs Monument and Camp Victory in Baghdad. They played American “rock and roll” on the steps of Saddam’s Palace, and afterwards, Joe asked to use Saddam’s golden toilet. The sound of the “flush” brought a cheer from the soldiers outside the door. Joe said afterward, “I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that I could entertain the troops doing that!” 

They headed up north to perform two shows at Camp Anaconda in Balad. Before their show, Joe was standing on the soccer stadium stage ready to perform, when an Army Major pointed out to him that less than a year ago, Iraqi people were being tortured and murdered in this stadium. Now, on this sunny afternoon, a rock and roll concert was about to begin. As the show began, doves lined the top of the stadium.

They spent two days at the air base in Tillil. While in Tillil, an Airman drove them to see Abraham’s tomb, now being protected by U.S. troops, a very humbling experience.

Joe witnessed the opening of two new schools in Tillil to add to the over forty new schools built by the USA in Iraq alone. An Air Force C-130 pilot showed him the new roads and fresh water irrigation lines being run up to Iraq from Kuwait. Cantafio had lunch with highway and electrical contractors who are rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure. He spoke with free, liberated Iraqi citizens. They laughed together and hugged each other and it was real happiness he felt from them.

They entertained the “support teams” and the Coalition Forces at Al Udied, and at Central Command at As Sayliyah in Qatar. Again, the troops looked great. They even set new attendance records, and the “3-drinks-per-day-maximum” was lifted to a “5 drink max.” 

After Qatar, they headed off to the United Arab Emirates and met with Col. Patrick “Bull” Sheets and his team, who headed-up the U.S. side of the Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, where the refueling of air missions over both Afghanistan and Iraq are staged. They met with the U2 pilots, a different breed of men. At the performance, moral was at a new high, and so was the drink maximum once again for their audience.

Next, they were off to Djibouti, Africa at Camp Lemonier to entertain the “Special Forces” who fight “al Queda.” According to these brave men and women, they are really dealing some horrific blows to these cowards. Cliff Russell had a smile from ear to ear when he heard how many of these bad guys, like the ones that killed his brother, were getting to meet Allah, just like they say they want to. One Marine told them, “… they all want to meet Allah, and we are making those appointments as fast as possible!”

Joe said, “I can’t list the many times we heard soldiers tell Cliff after shows that for the first time they made the connection in their hearts, between September 11, and their roll in Iraq.”

On the last day of the tour, they flew into Bahrain and performed at the NAS Navy Base. After the show, they had about thirty minutes of downtime before they headed to the airport, and then home. The band choose to spend that time with the Navy Seals.

And hey, as it turns out, even after being turned down to serve in the Armed Forces over two years earlier, in a roundabout way, Joe did just that, he served his country and had the smallest roll in fighting terrorism and he has the uniform to prove it! … Only in America.