![]() I knew that and had a chance to speak to him and I was like, "I'm going to do my first USO tour, what should I expect?" And he just looked at me and said, "Expect to feel guilty when you come home." And that's all he said and he walked away and I thought, "Well, a little more than that I was hoping for." After Bob Hope, Wayne Newton really kind of became the USO guy and did a lot of USO stuff over the years. What are some of the reactions when you perform for troops?īefore I ever went to do my first USO tour, I was at an event, I can't remember now what it was, but Wayne Newton was there. We left and we hadn't been gone very long when the war started, and they started dropping bombs on Baghdad and I knew that some of those bombs I signed were probably in there. When we left, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I signed a bunch of bombs and stuff. Then we went out to the USS Abraham Lincoln and did a show for those sailors and Marines on that ship. My first USO tour was 2002, and we went to Bahrain and did a show at a naval base there. When did you start doing things for the military community? He's done his tours, but he's still a soldier. If they called him he'd go back, that kind of thing. He's transitioning well and everything's going well, but he's still a soldier. It's just a guy and he's home now and he's trying to readjust to normal life and everything. I got a new song on my new album called "Soldier," and it's different from any of the other songs that I've done like that. I make a good target with that cowboy hat on. They don't always tell you where you're going because they don't want us telling everybody where we're going. I know we have a show in Bahrain and a couple shows in Kuwait. Photo Credit: National Defense Industrial Association Eisenhower Award on Thursday near Washington, D.C. I can always say it's not Bastogne cold." That's what we say sometimes, me and my guys, when it's hot and we're about to do a show, and we're like, "Yeah, but it's not Iraq hot."Īcting Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy and NDIA Board Chair Sid Ashworth present Trace Adkins with the Dwight D. It reminds me of an old veteran that said, "It doesn't matter how cold it gets. Sorry." You get in those kinds of situations and some of those that we would go out to, they make the living conditions as good as you can make them, but still it's like camping out in the desert. I was in Iraq in the summer one time when it was so incredibly hot, I just thought, I would probably get discharged and sent home because someday I would just go, "I'm not going outside today. Sometimes we want to complain about things, you know, the traffic or my flight was delayed or my hotel's not up to par, whatever, and it's just so silly compared to some of the conditions that those guys are in. What do you think you've learned or gained from meeting service members and veterans? Never hurts to be in the company of brave, courageous heroes. Maybe some of what they have will rub off on you. I tell people when asked, "Why do you do so much stuff with military and veterans organizations?" My response is very simple: If you have an opportunity to hang out with, associate with, heroes, you should do that because it's a very rewarding experience. What does it mean to you being able to meet service members and veterans? USO Photo by Dave GatleyĪdkins performs his first USO show in Japan for airmen and their families stationed at Yokota Air Base in November 2012. Among the first entertainer to travel to the Middle East with the USO in 2002, Adkins has lifted the spirits of more than 29,000 servicemen and women over the eleven year span. Country music star Trace Adkins performs his first USO show in Japan for airmen and their families stationed at Yokota Air Base on November 27, 2012.
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