MINOT AIR FORCE BASE - Airmen at Minot Air Force Base and their families will be able to meet country star Chris Young prior to Young's concert at the North Dakota State Fair next week.
Young will be signing CDs at the Base Exchange Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m. The event is open to those with base access.
Young is a board member of Stars for Stripes, a nonprofit organization that provides quality, celebrity entertainment to internationally deployed U.S. military forces in remote areas. The organization works in conjunction with Armed Forces Entertainment, US Army Europe, Multi-National Corps Iraq and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.
Article Photos
Submitted Photo
Singers Chris Young, left, and Craig Morgan, center, are shown with Air Force Staff Sgt. Scott Lilley, second from left, and Lilley’s parents, Frank and Jolene Lilley, before boarding a KC-137 military aircraft to fly from Nashville to Kuwait City in Kuwait in 2009 for the GAC special, “Stars For Stripes: Wounded Warriors Return,” shown in this photo by Chester Simpson, Rock-N-RollPhotos.com, courtesy, Great American Country. Both Young and Scott Lilley will be at Minot AFB Thursday when Young signs CDs before his concert that night at the State Fair.
Scott Lilley, a former member of Minot AFB's 5th Security Forces who was seriously wounded in Iraq in April 2007, will also be at the CD signing. Lilley, now of San Antonio, Texas, was on tour with Young in 2009 for a Great American Country-TV special "Stars For Stripes: Wounded Warriors Return."
Lilley received serious head injuries in Iraq when a roadside bomb hit the Humvee he was in, and he was hit by shrapnel.
He and his dad, Frank Lilley, of Roswell, N.M., went to Iraq with Young and singer Craig Morgan in October 2009. There, Young and Morgan entertained the troops while Scott Lilley and another wounded warrior, Sgt. 1st Class Joe Bowser, told their stories. Frank Lilley also was able to address and thank the troops.
They visited the site where Staff Sgt. Scott Lilley was wounded in Baghdad, went to the hospital in Balad where he was flown and then stopped at the hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. Shows were given to troops along the way.
The Iraq visit resulted in a one-hour documentary made by Stars for Stripes and Great American Country TV and shown on GAC TV.
Lilley received a medical discharge from the Air Force in December 2010. As a civilian, he is working in Information Protection with the 502nd Air Base Wing at Lackland AFB, Texas.
Lilley is married to the former Candi McCloud of Belcourt. Their family includes Mikisha McCloud, 16, Jarron Otto, 12, and Mikaylie Lilley, who was born Dec. 14, 2011.
Scott Lilley said they plan to attend Chris Young's concert Thursday night at the State Fair.