Colbert Goes Commando in Iraq

June 8, 2009— -- Television host Stephen Colbert did not let his rare medical condition -- "cowardice," as he called it -- stop him from suiting up and landing in Baghdad to entertain American troops in Iraq this week as his show, the "Colbert Report," broadcasts from Camp Victory.

To prepare for the trip, Colbert went through some brief basic training exercises that consisted of his running around armed and in full camouflage, playing paper-rock-scissors with other members of his squad to avoid the more dangerous tasks.

"I went through basic training," Colbert told "Good Morning America" before he left. "I would recommend, if you're going to do the crawl through the sand pit under barbed wire, wear underwear. I thought going commando ... meant you go commando."

Colbert also took to the wild-blue yonder in one of the world-famous Thunderbird fighter planes and was proud to say he did not pass out, although he begged officials not to let him do it again.

"This is when I was screaming like a giddy little girl," he said.

But he didn't do it all for the pure terror. The "Colbert Report" will be broadcasting from Iraq in part to remind Americans what the troops are doing there.

"[There are] still 130,000 men and women over there, and we just don't talk about them anymore," he said. "We're so concerned with our pocketbooks and our 401(k)s that we consider that over. But not much has changed for them. Military families' houses default on their mortgages at four times the national rate. They're over there serving, and there's nothing they can do back here to help.

"I think it's important for us not to forget that they're still going through the same things they went [through] before, whether or not we're still talking about them. ... The war is not over," he said.

So, while the troops serve abroad, Colbert has joined forces with DonorsChoose.org to help out at home by supporting donations to classroom projects for teachers and schools that serve military children.

"They want to teach 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' but their school can't afford 25 new books for their students," Colbert said. "What would make the troops feel more supported than us doing something absolutely concrete."