Country star takes time to visit Minot Airmen

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  • By Senior Airman Jessica McConnell
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MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Current American Country Award winner for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Single of the Year, Chris Young, took time out of his tour schedule to sign autographs for Team Minot Airmen and their families at The Exchange here, July 27.

Young was in town for the North Dakota State Fair. As a strong supporter of the military, he said he wanted to make sure to stop by and show his appreciation for military members' service.

"I love doing stuff like this whenever I get the chance," said Young. "I've always been a supporter of the military and have been involved with supporting the military for a while now - ever since I went to Iraq a few years ago with an organization called Stars for Stripes. The first time I went to Iraq, we actually took two wounded warriors with us."

Young said one of the wounded warriors was Scott Lilley, a former Airman here with the 5th Security Forces Squadron. Lilley was notified of Young's stop in Minot, and made the trip with his family in tow, up to Minot from San Antonio, Texas.

Lilley was wounded while deployed to Iraq, and later was discharged for injuries sustained. The trip Lilley took with Young served as more than just making a few memories.

"He became a really good friend of mine - I mean, how many times does a person get to go to Iraq with someone who's been wounded there for a few weeks?" said Young. "It's not often that you get to meet people like that."

Young said he has several connections with the military, including his sister, who is a former Marine, his cousin, who is currently serving overseas as a sniper, and several of his good friends that he's met throughout his career. Young also serves as the youngest board member of Stars for Stripes, and says supporting the military will always be something he is very passionate about.

"The next thing on my list of things to do is to head over to Afghanistan," said Young. "One of the things I love about Stars for Stripes is that they don't do a lot of the larger base shows - they tend to focus on forward operating bases. We would chopper into those smaller spots with just myself and the guitar player and play for those guys."

Young continued to say he loves supporting these types of charities and couldn't imagine he would ever not be passionate about it.

"I supported the military long before that initial trip to Iraq - but that trip did it for me," he said. "The amount of time that I can give to these guys for their enjoyment is well worth it. A lot of people don't realize that when military members deploy, its 24/7 - they don't get a whole lot of time off. The people in all branches of the military are the same people making it possible for me to do whatever I want for a job. If I can spend two weeks over there - it's well worth it."