Remembering Robin Williams
He loved the troops, and they loved him back
(In December of 2007, Chaplain Col. Robert Bruno was asked to accompany a USO tour of military bases in Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Italy and Spain. Headlining the tour was Robin Williams. Bob reminisced about their travels following the comedian’s death this week.)
Actor-comedian Robin Williams was "deeply concerned" about folks in uniform.
I have been reflecting on that December 2007 trip to Southwest Asia. It was the USO Holiday Tour for our deployed service personnel. Among the entertainers were Robin Williams, Kid Rock, Lance Armstrong and Ronan Tynan. We logged a ton of flight hours, scheduled to do 15 shows in seven countries in six days. Each performer had their on-stage and off-stage persona. Off-stage, Robin was genuinely interested in and deeply concerned about the well-being of our folks in uniform. He was very much informed as to their circumstances and issues. I had the feeling that he maintained personal relationships and correspondence with many of them.
On-stage, he was the center of gravity and synergy of energy. Upon being introduced, he just exploded into hilarity. He drew energy from the audience and returned it to them a hundredfold. There was something of a script as he went from show to show, but no two of his performances were the same. He tried to personalize each one as circumstances permitted.
Fr. Bob Bruno, OFM, (center) during a deployment in Kuwait in 2010
Robin was very respectful of me as chaplain and priest, expressing his gratitude for the support the Chaplain Corps provided our troops more than once. Shortly after we returned to the U.S., I received a package from his agent in Hollywood. It was a bound script of his movie License to Wed, in which he plays the role of a priest. On the inside of the front cover is a picture of him in a Roman collar on which he wrote: “To Father Bob: bless you forever”, followed by his signature. I’ve never watched the movie in its entirety, but now I plan to do so, following his written script.
Depression can be deadly
An estimated 19 million Americans suffer from major depression, the illness that reportedly drove actor-comedian Robin Williams to take his own life. To learn more about depression and how to help those who are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
This article was originally posted in the SJB News Notes, August 14, 2014, edited by Toni Cashnelli
