Ben-Gals return from Iraq
Cincinnati Enquirer
February 1, 2011
Eight Ben-Gal cheerleaders returned Saturday from a 10-day trip to Iraq, where they visited and entertained American soldiers.
“We’ve never been to a war zone,” said Charlotte Jacobs, director of cheerleaders for the Bengals. “This was a thrill going into a high-alert area. It was just really cool. They shot machine guns. They got into areas where it would be very rare any American citizen could even do it.”
Their sleeping arrangements ranged from sleeping in bunkers to staying one night in one of Saddam Hussein’s daughter’s palaces, said Jacobs, who accompanied the cheerleaders on the trip.
The Ben-Gals were one of three NFL cheerleading squads chosen to visit Iraq, according to published reports. Other squads were from the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins.
