Last night, resourceful and charming WWE television producer, Heather Mitchell, informed me, cameraman Sean Sellman and still photographer Kristin Prouty that she had somehow arranged for us to be fortunate enough to attend and document the opening of a new school in Western Baghdad, and that we would be traveling off base on the ground or "outside the wire."

I had no idea what "outside the wire" meant until I was instructed that I had to wear a kevlar helmet and vest and asked,

"What is your blood type, sir?"
"Excuse me."
"I need to know your blood type, sir."

"WHAT!?"

At this point, four fully-armored Humvees each manned by a driver, a medic and a gunner pull up with our "tour guide," Lt. Col. Monty Willoughby, a man in his mid-40s, shaved bald and seemingly made of ice. For those of you keeping score at home, that's 13 soldiers and four armored vehicles with bulletproof glass to drive four WWE employees to the opening of a school.

Lt. Col. Willoughby is very prominent in Western Baghdad because he and his soldiers have greatly improved the quality of life of those who live there. He instructed us that if we were fired upon, we should stay in our vehicles and let them handle the situation. (Really? That's too bad. I was hoping for a good gunfight to work off breakfast.)

During the 30-minute drive, our driver, Soldier Khamo of Chicago, shared with me that last month a convoy of Humvees was attacked on the very road we were on and one of the vehicles was knocked on its side. (Please stop talking. Do we get satellite radio in this thing?)

Upon our safe arrival, we were indeed blessed to witness the opening of the Karama School which will educate more than 1,000 young male and female Iraqi children. We had the pleasure of interviewing a proudly smiling Lt. Col. Willoughby and an Iraqi three-star brigadier general. The school auditorium was standing room only, filled with Iraqi media, proud educators, local government and many of the soon-to-be students of the brand new school which still smelled of fresh paint.

After the ceremony, we four humble WWE employees, members of the United States Army, members of the Iraqi Army, Iraqi policemen, parents, students, teachers and local dignitaries celebrated together by sharing a meal.

As we packed up our gear in preparation for our journey back to the base, I looked up and saw a smiling United States soldier get down on one knee and put his sunglasses on a 3-year-old Iraqi girl who was beaming right back up at him.

Any remnants of anxiety that still remained inside me immediately dissipated as I realized that Baghdad and Iraq as a whole were growing safer by the day thanks to primarily anonymous heroes like Monty Willoughby of Colorado Springs and the brave young servicepeople following his selfless example.

Editor's Note: The preceeding was relayed from e-mail message reports from the WWE's Tribute to the Troops mission. Names of the bases visited have been omitted at the request of the U.S. Army, so as not to divulge WWE's location in Iraq. For more of Joey's photos from Baghdad, see his Tribute photo gallery.

For complete coverage of Tribute to the Troops, visit the Tribute section on WWE.com. Also, Leave your holiday messages for the troops in the Forums on WWE Universe.