Pam Tillis rocks Holloman during ‘Spirit of America Tour’

  • Published
  • By James Matise
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFPN) --  Country music singer Pam Tillis entertained more than 800 Airmen and their families with a free two-hour concert here July 18.

“There’s a lot of feelings and emotions that come from getting to rub shoulders with you guys,” said Miss Tillis, who gave the concert as a part of the Spirit of America Tour, an initiative to bring headline artists to U.S. military installations.

“People in the military are giving everything they have to give, and in some small way we hope to repay that,” she said. “I’m just kind of in awe. They say, ‘Oh, we’re so glad you’re here,’ but no, the awe is all mine.”

Robert Rosenthal, Spirit of America Tour creator and president, started the tour in 2002. Mr. Rosenthal and his wife decided they wanted to do something for America, and came up with the idea of entertaining U.S. servicemembers.

“My wife is English and she lived through the blitz in World War II, and she remembered inviting American Soldiers over to their houses,” Mr. Rosenthal said. “I saw no one was doing these shows domestically.”

Mr. Rosenthal was a retired lawyer living in Burbank, Calif., during the Sept. 11 attacks and said “he could sit around playing backgammon, but this is much more fun.”

At that time, he was on the board of the Western Music Association. He and another board member broke away from the association and approached the Department of Defense with the idea to bring entertainment to U.S. military installations.

Three years and 57 shows later, Mr. Rosenthal said the tour has been a great success and will continue, at least for the near future.

“We’re pretty much funded for the next five years,” he said. “This is the first year we’re starting to look for contributions. We want the tour to be self-contained.”

Miss Tillis’ tour schedule included performances in the nearby cities of Alto and San Juan Pueblo. She said her producer got a call from Mr. Rosenthal asking if they wanted to give a performance here, since they would be passing through the area.

“We’ve been trying to get together (with Mr. Rosenthal) for a long time,” Miss Tillis said. “What he’s been doing since 9/11 is just very cool.”

Miss Tillis said her father, singer, songwriter and actor Mel Tillis, served in the Air Force before she was born. She also has cousins who served in the Persian Gulf.

“It touches everybody’s life … to have somebody away that you’re thinking about, worried about,” she said.

During her performance, she said she was nervous about performing in front of the Airmen.

“I just want everything to be so great,” Miss Tillis said. “It might help if I had somebody to sing to.”

She then invited Airman 1st Class Brandon McDonald up to the front of the stage and sang a song while holding his hand.

Brig. Gen. Kurt A. Cichowski, 49th Fighter Wing commander, said events like these have a positive effect on the installation and Airmen in a number of ways.

“The fact that named artists come here is a testament to what we’re doing and it shows us how important we are to them,” he said. “It (also) … shows them how important they are to us.”