By Shannon Wayne Turner
Most of us - Country Music stars included - are used to celebrating the holidays in the usual rush of shopping, parades and music among friends and family. But Mark Wills and Darryl Worley spent their last Yuletide in a decidedly un-Christmas-y environment. Wills and Worley joined comedian Al Franken, actress Karri Turner (who plays Lt. Harriet Simpson on CBS Television's "JAG,") and others on "The Hope and Freedom Tour 2003" USO Tour, led by the Army's Sergeant Major Jack L. Tilley, entertaining U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.

Although the entertainers were there for just ten days, Wills reports he came away from the experience profoundly changed.

"When we went, there was a small chance that we weren't going to be able to get back on Christmas Eve," he said. "That weighed heavy on my heart because that meant that I might miss my new daughter's first Christmas. But that was selfish. The men and women who are over there miss their Christmas' and Thanksgivings and birthdays all the time. . I was going over to let the men and women of the United States Army know that we were there for them."

During the trip, Wills had several once-in-a-lifetime moments.

"We got to experience wonderful things over there that nobody ever gets to experience," he said. "Like sitting on Saddam Hussein's throne. Sleeping in his palace. Hanging out of the back of a Shinook helicopter wearing Kevlar vests."

The group also got a first-hand look at the struggles of the Iraqi people.

"What you don't hear about on the news are the Iraqi citizens who are so thankful that they have some freedom, and that they have some people defending them from the thugs that were basically brutalizing their country," he said. "What you don't see are children over there, who are basically living in dirt. I'm a dad ... and it makes me sad."

It was hard to tell whether the entertainers or the troops were having a better time while the USO troupe performed, Wills said.

"It was really well-received," he said, "maybe mostly because it was Christmastime, and these guys were looking for a little piece of home."

Wills brought the crowd to their feet with "19 Something" and "And The Crowd Goes Wild." And when Worley took his guitar out and played "Have You Forgotten?," in one of Hussein's palaces, the soldiers cheered.

"I sat underneath that huge chandelier and it was such a surreal feeling to know that Saddam had been caught thanks to our troops," said Worley.

Even amidst the merriment, however, Wills said he was always conscious of being in a war zone.

"When you see a truck fly past you because they think there could be a bomb ahead of you, that gets you a little nervous," said Wills. "When you're stopped, and the people in the car next to you could be Saddam Hussein loyalists, that's when you feel like you're laying it on the line. I'm a singer. I didn't really sign up for that.

"But at the same time, it made me feel so proud to get to be there and entertain our men and women."

Wills said he keeps in touch with some of the soldiers he met via e-mail, and hopes he meets them again when they arrive home.

He met one soldier stationed in Afghanistan who was preparing to leave on a mission.

"He said, 'I wish I had something for you to sign,'" Wills recalled. "And I didn't have pictures or anything, either. And I said, 'Open your gun.' And we opened the gun, and I took out the first bullet out of his gun and said, 'I hope you don't have to use this tonight,' and he said, 'I hope I don't, either.'

"He wasn't there looking forward to killing people. I signed it and said, 'If you don't use that tonight, take it home with you and bring it to me at a show somewhere, and I'll get you in. Just bring it back to me, and come home safe.' And I hope I see him. Maybe it'll happen."

from CMA Close Up News Service