A group of Iowa soldiers in the war zone is enjoying Iowa’s appearance in a New Year’s Day bowl just as much, and perhaps more, than stateside fans. Ray Reynolds, an Iowa Army National Guardsman who’s serving at military headquarters in Baghdad, says 15 to 20 people in the compound are actively involved in rooting for the Hawkeyes. Reynolds says one of his colleagues was an Iowa State cheerleader who lost a bet on the outcome of the Iowa/Iowa State football game, and he has to sing the Iowa fight song every morning at seven o’clock. Reynolds says Armed Forces Network broadcast many of Iowa’s games, and the group did a little “tailgating” with chips and salsa and pop as they watched the games. Reynolds went to the Orange Bowl and has friends in Florida. Reynolds says he would have gone to the game since his friends live in Tampa and it would “have been absolutely fabulous,” but he says “duty calls” and he’ll be in Iraq on January 1st. Reynolds is from Denison.
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