Iraq Veteran Shares ‘Heroic’ Story About Vince Vaughn Following Uproar Over Trump Handshake

Iraq veteran Colby Smith revealed a “heroic” story about Vince Vaughn following the uproar on social media over the actor’s handshake with President Donald Trump.

Smith, who served as a combat medic for the scout platoon of 108th Armor, 48th Combat Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division after being deployed in May of 2005 to Mahmudiyah, Iraq, just south of Baghdad, didn’t hold back as he spoke to the Daily Caller on Wednesday about the day he met the 49-year-old actor in the “violent area” known as the “triangle of death” when Vaughn stopped by the FOB (Forward Operating Base) St. Michael. RELATED: Watch The Trailer For The Elton John Movie ‘Rocketman’)

“When we got there the marines had just pulled out,” Smith shared, as he took us back to that day. “We had lost a lot of guys. I want to say 11 guys within a few weeks before he [Vaughn] arrived. It was a very tough time.” (RELATED: Alec Baldwin Says Anger Management Made Him Realize He’s ‘Not That Angry’)

“Like we heard about the Denver Broncos coming to Baghdad and no one ever stopped where we were at,” he added. “We were getting shot at. I got hit by four IED’s myself. So Vince Vaughn came, we got mortared.” (RELATED: Alec Baldwin Blames ‘Trump Supporters’ For ‘The Near Moral Collapse Of This Country’)

The veteran continued, “He [Vaughn] had been fully prepped that this was not a safe place. He did this [visit] because he heard that there was no one else coming to see these guys.  And he did.”

Smith at one point notes that Sergeant First Class Bince Vattaglia responded to his original post on FB that, “all other celebrities decline to come to our area because its hazardous. Vince Vaughn and his manager(she) were the first and only who [accepted] the challenge to come visit soldiers that had so little entertainment.”

“He was perfect,” Colby went on to explain, noting how he lifted them all at a time they so desperately needed it. “He smiled, he was happy.  One of the guys in the unit made a sign that read,  ‘if you can dodge an IED, you can dodge a ball.’ He [Vaughn] thought it was great, so he was running around with the sign.”

“He figured out where the medic station was,” he added “[Vaughn] said, ‘I wanted to come see you guys.’ And he just hung out. He didn’t ask questions.”

Smith continued, while recalling how this “A-list actor” just sat there and played an X-box NCAA football video game with him.

“The way I felt, he was more in awe of all of us then we were of him,” Colby said.  “And that was really cool.”

“I don’t care who it is. It would be amazing [to shake the president’s hand],” he added, while explaining why he decided to share the story. “And it made me really mad because this was a man [Vaughn] who supported me in my endeavors and to me it was a very heroic and amazing thing to do.”

Smith concluded, “This guy they were bashing was not just a good guy, but a hero. It was not safe. He was not going to the Green Zone. He really went into a war zone to entertain some guys who desperately needed it.”