Mothers-to-Be, Get Oprah Salute

The Boston Herald

You gotta love Oprah. She threw a surprise baby shower for 640 mothers-to-be and that shower was her show Wednesday. She flew her crew from Chicago to Kentucky, turned an Army base into a theater, dialed up some celebrity friends, enlisted the help of a few businesses and gave some young, amazing women not just a boatload of gifts for their babies. She gave them a gift, too. She honored them. She said, “Thank you'' in a big, dramatic way.

It all started nine months ago when hundreds of Fort Campbell husbands and wives were reunited when the legendary 101st Airborne returned home from a grueling tour of duty in Iraq,'' Oprah said in her introduction. ``The result of those happy reunions? You guessed it. Fort Campbell's biggest baby boom ever.’'

It's not unusual to see give-aways on TV. But this was no “Queen for a Day.'' This was a tribute to all 640 pregnant women soldiers and soldiers' wives who are going about their lives trying to ignore the ax over their heads. 

“It's very hard being the wife of a soldier,'' Haiti Grigsby said. “I was a soldier for a long time and I thought that was hard, but it was nothing compared to wondering how my husband's doing and if my kids are going to have a father to play with every day.’'

“I know I'll probably have to go back to Iraq after I have my baby,'' Spec. Takita Elky said. ``It's very hard to think of you missing your first child, everything, you know? The way they grow up and their first steps and first sayings.’' 

Oprah dispelled, for a while anyway, the sadness that dogs these women. She threw a perfect party. Everything was extravagant: the giant cake, the music, the cheerleaders, all the gifts, celebrities - Sharon Stone, Ben Affleck, Cindy Crawford, Heather Locklear, Denise Richards, Elle Macpherson - presenting their own gifts.

Graco gave every woman a baby travel system and Johnson and Johnson gave, in addition to its products and a digital camera, every mother-to-be $1,000 so they can fly in a family member or friend to be with them when they give birth. 

TV is TV and everything is staged and it's all about ratings and companies give away products, not because they're good people, but because it's good PR. 

But Oprah knows how to work this.

A baby was born during Wednesday's show. This makes for compelling TV, too. New life in the middle of what already feels like an old war. Hope was what this show was about. Hope multiplied by 640.

“Hi. My name is TW2 Tracey Bailey and I'm expecting twins in three weeks. I'm a Black Hawk pilot and I'm married to an Apache pilot. Both of us were over in Iraq together for a year. After a year, you get used to the mortars and you get used to people shooting at you, believe it or not, and it's just business as usual. Being pregnant and being in the military, nothing stops for you.’'

The baby shower was a welcome intermission. Thank you, Oprah.