LOS ANGELES – US presidents aren’t the only ones who make surprise visits to troops in Afghanistan. “The Fighter” Mark Wahlberg made his own trek to the war-torn country in December, but with little media attention that typically follows dignitaries and Hollywood stars. Dressed in jeans, leather jacket, bullet-proof vest and battle-ready helmet, Wahlberg stepped off military transport and into the former home of a Taliban drug lord who had been ousted by US troops. There was no Hollywood-style shootout, although he says he might have felt better with a gun in his hand.
The 36-hour visit days before Christmas was made without much fan fare because, he said, he didn’t want any publicity.
He said he wanted to see for himself the conditions under which the troops and the Afghan people were living.
Wahlberg, 39, rose to fame as a young rapper and later became a movie actor and producer of hit HBO show “Entourage,” which is based on his own life as an up-and-coming star. He even portrayed an ex-military marksman in “Shooter,” and said that when he was young and in legal trouble he considered joining the US Marines. His trip to Afghanistan was the first time, he said, he had a chance to visit troops.
The quick in-and-out was arranged by Bill White, ex-head of New York’s Intrepid Air Sea and Space Museum, who met Wahlberg through a friend. Wahlberg told White he’d like to go to Afghanistan. White said he would see if he could arrange it.
Wahlberg, a married man with four kids, said traveling into a war zone before Christmas was not an easy decision, but his family understood.
When asked if he was scared, he smiled and said, “I probably would have felt a little safer had I had my own weapons.”
While at camps in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan, the actor showed “The Fighter,” an inspirational film about a boxing champion played by Wahlberg, to some 3,000 troops. He ate with them and visited them in hospitals. They asked questions, took pictures and collected autographs.
He said he was surprised to find that, not only did US troops know him, but Afghan people and troops did, too.
